Cost of living comparisons (Buffalo, Charleston: real estate market, apartments, rental)

[Vex]

Originally Posted by jblake78728

Buffalo is in a good position to capitalize during the nations rebound from its current economic woes, whether it does or not remains to be seen but the opportunity does exist. Just in the last few days Business Week has listed what it considers to be the 40 strongest metro economies in the US, the haters will be disappointed to know they ranked Buffalo at #21 (Rochester was #20 & Syracuse #27).

Forty Strongest U.S. Metro Economies: Employment and Economic Muscle - BusinessWeek

How is Buffalo in a position to capitalize from anything? WNY pays some of the highest utility rates in the nation, has high taxes, tons of red tape, and a huge union presence. Buffalo is not going to improve because there is no compelling reason for a business to locate here. Add in the political risk due to the state's precarious financial situation, and the all but certain prospect of higher taxes, and you can be sure WNY is going to continue to decline.

[donbuy]

Originally Posted by jblake78728

Do you honestly believe this is a problem specific to WNY????











Las Vegas jobless rate soars to record 13.4 percent - Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 | 6:50 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun


The construction jobs that left Vegas are never coming back. The city saw unprecedented boom & growth for 20 years, while it may still continue to grow it will be nowhere near the rate it had been. When you build your economy on gaming, construction & adult entertainment this is what you get ............



LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Study ranks Nevada among worst places to live in ...




Gang Activity Spreads to Unlikely Areas - Las Vegas Now




LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Report: State dropout rate second-worst in nation




Superintendent Talks About Low Math Test Scores - KTNV ABC,Channel 13,Las Vegas,Nevada,News,Weather,Sports,Entertainment,KTN V.com,Action News .:.


While Vegas may be a great fit for you VegasRocks, as a parent I don't think I would be able to live with myself if I moved my children into an area where they were destined to academically fail.

Wow, thanks for the links. I knew Vegas was an architectural cesspool but I never really how totally they tanked economically.

Of course most of the jobs will never come back. The bloom is forever off the gambling rose now that most states have some form of casino gambling.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by Vex

How is Buffalo in a position to capitalize from anything? WNY pays some of the highest utility rates in the nation, has high taxes, tons of red tape, and a huge union presence. Buffalo is not going to improve because there is no compelling reason for a business to locate here. Add in the political risk due to the state's precarious financial situation, and the all but certain prospect of higher taxes, and you can be sure WNY is going to continue to decline.

Where there's a way, there is a will. The city government here in Boston has had it with unions as well and are finding ways to skirt around them such as hiring employees in the guise of "contract" workers without benefits or starting its own form of semi-autonomous charter schools. Even in the private white collar sector, many positions are not unionized. The thing about Buffalo is that it is still holding on to its blue collar unionized past. Once that fades away though, it is prime opportunity for the city to reinvent itself and attract businesses who are not unionized.

I may not know enough of NY politics but I do know that California has high tax rates and high utility rates but is still gaining population. Its financial status is even more messed up but no one so far has said they really hate California and am dying to leave the place, even those who are struggling to afford to live there. Now how can that be? You tell me.

[Vex]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

Where there's a way, there is a will. The city government here in Boston has had it with unions as well and are finding ways to skirt around them such as hiring employees in the guise of "contract" workers without benefits or starting its own form of semi-autonomous charter schools. Even in the private white collar sector, many positions are not unionized. The thing about Buffalo is that it is still holding on to its blue collar unionized past. Once that fades away though, it is prime opportunity for the city to reinvent itself and attract businesses who are not unionized.

I may not know enough of NY politics but I do know that California has high tax rates and high utility rates but is still gaining population. Its financial status is even more messed up but no one so far has said they really hate California and am dying to leave the place, even those who are struggling to afford to live there. Now how can that be? You tell me.

Well good for Boston for realizing that unions have outlived their usefulness and place an undue burden on tax payers. Unfortunately, politicians in Buffalo are pro-union and seek opportunities to get unions involved.

California is a bad example. California has been experiencing significant losses in net domestic migration for some time. However, this has been offset by the large amount of immigrants coming to the state (many/most of which are illegals)

I thought this article illustrates the importance of state policies and their consequences: online.wsj.com/article/SB124260067214828295.html

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Vex

How is Buffalo in a position to capitalize from anything? WNY pays some of the highest utility rates in the nation, has high taxes, tons of red tape, and a huge union presence. Buffalo is not going to improve because there is no compelling reason for a business to locate here. Add in the political risk due to the state's precarious financial situation, and the all but certain prospect of higher taxes, and you can be sure WNY is going to continue to decline.

Not necessarily true, as Buffalo is in a good location with a very close proximity to Canada, to other major cities and water(Great Lakes, Niagara Falls, etc.). There are good school districts in the area, plenty of institutions of higher education and enough infrastructure to possibly improve upon.

[VegasRocks]

Originally Posted by jblake78728

1 out of 13 homes in Vegas received a foreclosure notice during the first 6 months of '09 .......... Phoenix was only slightly better with a 1 in 22 rate. There is just no spin for that as those numbers are staggering

Cities worst hit by foreclosures - Jul. 30, 2009

I really think you need to worry more about fixing your current city than our city as your house of cards in the desert has come tumbling down.

Nah,

In Buffalo 35% of the house's are vacant, Only place it's worst
is in Detriot & New Orleans

Albany and Washington shine light on Buffalo housing blight : Home: The Buffalo News


House sales are up 13% in the West
http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...sales1025.html
Less then 1 or 2 years after the national recession. area's are already seeing improvement, vs Buffalo's & WNY in it's own recession for the last 40 years.

[Ex-B-lo-nian]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I love how you continue to forget the part about fees. Yes, you do have taxes on possessions like your vehicles in Virginia. I know states in other regions like, Indiana has this and I believe other states do as well.

Also, there are Black folks doing well in the Buffalo area too. Considering the different dynamics in terms of institutions in the South and that 55% of the Black people in the US live in "the South", that isn't surprising. Quite a few of those Blacks in the South come from states like NY, MI, PA and Ohio, among others too.

I'm not sure about Whites being nicer in the South.

Sure, let's talk about the fees. Yes in some states you pay a HUT (highway use tax) on your vehicles. Which is easily offset by the lower cost of fuel ($.25+/gallon) on a 20 gallon tank =$5/fill up, @ 1 fill up per week = $260/year.
Lower sales tax means that you pay less up front for the vehicle (ex-in SC max sales tax on a vehicle is $300).
COL calculators typically don't account for mean income, therefore not taking into account any increase or decrease in income. This is important because even though, at the same income level, one place may look more costly, but in reality your wages increase and this will directly impact your discretionary income.
To your point about AC vs heating costs...for me and where I live...NOT EVEN CLOSE! I mean HVAC costs overall are half, if that for my home.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Ex-B-lo-nian

Sure, let's talk about the fees. Yes in some states you pay a HUT (highway use tax) on your vehicles. Which is easily offset by the lower cost of fuel ($.25+/gallon) on a 20 gallon tank =$5/fill up, @ 1 fill up per week = $260/year.
Lower sales tax means that you pay less up front for the vehicle (ex-in SC max sales tax on a vehicle is $300).
COL calculators typically don't account for mean income, therefore not taking into account any increase or decrease in income. This is important because even though, at the same income level, one place may look more costly, but in reality your wages increase and this will directly impact your discretionary income.
To your point about AC vs heating costs...for me and where I live...NOT EVEN CLOSE! I mean HVAC costs overall are half, if that for my home.

Then, what about home prices?

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by VegasRocks

Nah,

In Buffalo 35% of the house's are vacant, Only place it's worst
is in Detriot & New Orleans

Albany and Washington shine light on Buffalo housing blight : Home: The Buffalo News


House sales are up 13% in the West
Preowned home sales up in West for Sept.
Less then 1 or 2 years after the national recession. area's are already seeing improvement, vs Buffalo's & WNY in it's own recession for the last 40 years.

I believe that number is just for the city of Buffalo, while I believe the Vegas numbers are for the whole metro.

[Canerican]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Then, what about home prices?

In SC, pretty much every city except Charleston is less expensive than Buffalo, and Charleston isn't much more expensive.

There is the stupid circle that we always debate.

Buffalo's taxes are high -->

But other states have usage fees -->

They are still lower as an aggregate than Buffalo -->

But houses in Buffalo are cheap -->

Not when you consider the high taxes -->

But other states have usage fees -->


You see how this happens. Buffalo would be an affordable city but for the tremendously high taxes. Buffalo probably leaves the average working person with less money than most cities, the only good news is that you can change that by electing politicians who cut taxes, even if it means cutting a few services.