Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is too bad the people who post negatively on anything north of NYC (I'm over by Buffalo) as "upstate". let them go to Atlanta.... I bet the people griping will gripe there as well.
I am just glad s/he left town.... Depends on where he was in Parkside -- some is nice, some going downhill. I taught in the area for years. And I bet s/he will find things to gripe about in the south just as here.
Last edited by BuffaloTransplant; 11-29-2007 at 06:52 PM..
Reason: add
I am from Bronx, NYC and I am surprised about upstate. Its been years since I moved from NY now. I guess its only NYC that is the so called "melting pot". I realized after I moved that the black population there is less than 20%. I suspected that it was even lower in upstate areas. Long Island and Staten Island are whitebread too. As an African-American I would just look for a diverse neighborhood in a medium income range. Its hard to pinpoint them because they can be anywhere. We lived in one in Georgia and we live in one in Tennessee. Keep asking on these threads. This forum is fantastic.
NYC A melting pot?
easily 50% of the threads over there on the NYC forum are about what race can live in what neighborhood and what neighborhoods you should stay away from if youre white/black/hispanic/whatever
Can anyone be specific and tell us what month to month apartments/ or rental homes are reasonable and in good neighborhoods where we can allow our 8 year old son to play outdoors?
We need to know asap. My husband is headed up to Syracuse to start a job and we do not know the areas at all!
Thanks!
I think you should pose that question on a new thread. You'll get more answers. And the same for "Stanejones"--
In your thread, you might want to be really pointed about your "must haves". Is saftey #1? Schools? Diversity? Commute (or lack thereof)?
I decided to buy a house rather than rent, because my family size (6) made it cheaper to buy...
Still disgruntled and befuddled after the Buffalo Experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant
It is too bad the people who post negatively on anything north of NYC (I'm over by Buffalo) as "upstate". let them go to Atlanta.... I bet the people griping will gripe there as well.
I am just glad s/he left town.... Depends on where he was in Parkside -- some is nice, some going downhill. I taught in the area for years. And I bet s/he will find things to gripe about in the south just as here.
Actually BT, I am quite happy in my new digs down south. However the truth hurts sometimes. Buffalo stinks of blatant racism and of course you would have to pull your head out of your caboose in order to smell it. Your comments would reflect of someone whose stuck, (if you'll excuse the pun) however BLACK PEOPLE, PEOPLE OF COLOR.....DO NOT MOVE TO BUFFALO.
There is something in the water and I do not think that it is ginseng or zinc. If an opportunity should arise to move to upstate, please get in contact with me as I am in a league of over 22,000 (folk of color) for you to cherry pick in order to get a response as to their NOW current experiences living in Buffalo. Most unfortunately, as creatures of habit, choose to endure while some of us, of great means, do not.
Actually BT, I am quite happy in my new digs down south. However the truth hurts sometimes. Buffalo stinks of blatant racism and of course you would have to pull your head out of your caboose in order to smell it. Your comments would reflect of someone whose stuck, (if you'll excuse the pun) however BLACK PEOPLE, PEOPLE OF COLOR.....DO NOT MOVE TO BUFFALO.
There is something in the water and I do not think that it is ginseng or zinc. If an opportunity should arise to move to upstate, please get in contact with me as I am in a league of over 22,000 (folk of color) for you to cherry pick in order to get a response as to their NOW current experiences living in Buffalo. Most unfortunately, as creatures of habit, choose to endure while some of us, of great means, do not.
Regards,
GPS
Im not going to disagree with you that there isn't a racial divide in Buffalo but uhm....
psst.. hey... maybe you better take a look at this thread:
Its a nationwide issue, you cant dump on one area vs another.. race relations in the US is a NATIONAL ISSUE.
You can make a legitimate claim that the south is more integrated (it is) but you can't make the claim that race isnt an issue in the south, Ill laugh in your face. It was an issue, it is an issue , it will likely continue being an issue, and who knows if and when that'll ever change.
You can make a legitimate claim that the south is more integrated (it is) but you can't make the claim that race isnt an issue in the south, Ill laugh in your face. It was an issue, it is an issue , it will likely continue being an issue, and who knows if and when that'll ever change.
I agree with both of you- yes, racism is a national issue, but the really odd thing is that in the "north" one seems to find a form of "aversive racism" (a term used by Gaetner & Dovido (U Delaware & Colgate) in their studies of Northern racial attitudes.
"Aversive racism" describes the type of racial attitudes characterized by many white Americans who possess strong egalitarian values, as opposed to "dominative racists" who act out their beleifs and are fully aware of them (Klan). "Aversive" racists beleive they are NOT racist and they are typically unaware that their feelings (usually discomfort, uneasiness, disgust and sometimes fear) toward "Other" and their feelings tend to motivate avoidance rather than intentionally destructive behaviors... Hence, for example, the very VERY large lack of integration in cities and suburbs, say for instance, Syracuse, and (I suspect) as GPS relates, Buffalo.
The thing in the Northern areas is that people, alot of basically good people, adamantly deny such racism exists. But it does exist, and until one experiences it or stands up against it (with others, en mass), it is a vicious circle which continues. This won't go away on it's own.... And it certainly won't go away by denying it exists, or citing instances where it didn't occur.
In the south, certainly, racism is there, but there are plenty of people who will NOT deny it. By not denying it, they pull back a curtain that it hides behind, and that is the first step to stomping it out. It's the "nothing to see here folks, move along now" attitude of some...the "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"... mentality.
I agree with both of you- yes, racism is a national issue, but the really odd thing is that in the "north" one seems to find a form of "aversive racism" (a term used by Gaetner & Dovido (U Delaware & Colgate) in their studies of Northern racial attitudes.
"Aversive racism" describes the type of racial attitudes characterized by many white Americans who possess strong egalitarian values, as opposed to "dominative racists" who act out their beleifs and are fully aware of them (Klan). "Aversive" racists beleive they are NOT racist and they are typically unaware that their feelings (usually discomfort, uneasiness, disgust and sometimes fear) toward "Other" and their feelings tend to motivate avoidance rather than intentionally destructive behaviors... Hence, for example, the very VERY large lack of integration in cities and suburbs, say for instance, Syracuse, and (I suspect) as GPS relates, Buffalo.
The thing in the Northern areas is that people, alot of basically good people, adamantly deny such racism exists. But it does exist, and until one experiences it or stands up against it (with others, en mass), it is a vicious circle which continues. This won't go away on it's own.... And it certainly won't go away by denying it exists, or citing instances where it didn't occur.
In the south, certainly, racism is there, but there are plenty of people who will NOT deny it. By not denying it, they pull back a curtain that it hides behind, and that is the first step to stomping it out. It's the "nothing to see here folks, move along now" attitude of some...the "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"... mentality.
It's funny I was just having this discussion with someone the other day.
Upstate NY seems to have this overt I (being a non minority) can tell u who is racist. If I say there is no racism then there is no racism and even though you being black, Asian, or Hispanic decent have experienced racism you need to get over it because you are always whining. After all some of my best friends are ..... (fill in the blank).
But meanwhile there is this stay away from the city because surely these people in the ghetto will kill you attitude.
It's almost a condescending attitude. Racism is very much alive in Rochester. My son was pulled over in Irodequoit and questioned by the police as to what he was doing in Irondequoit. They asked was he coming from the city to rob some of the decent white folk. WTF? The irony of this is we were living in Irondequoit. The police department denied it and said that their police in no way are racist.
I am by no means bashing Rochester as I was born and raised there. You can live, work and raise a family there. I just want you to be aware that racism does exist in upstate NY.
Please realize that everything is relative. I do not tolerate racism or classism, but have found that Upstate New York is actually more progressive in their attitudes towards race and mix-race couples. My wife is from the Philippines and I am white, we live in Watertown, NY (which is pretty far north in NYS). We have never felt or percieved any "racist stares" or hatred from anyone while we have lived here. We have found that people were more prone to take a second glance or ask personal questions when we lived in Florida or in the midwest. Like many have said on here I'm sure there are racist idiots that live in this town (like anywhere, USA) but we feel really comfortable here. So much so that we are buying a house and plan on living here long term. Also, be wary of anyone from the city telling you that Upstate NY is backward and we're all a bunch of klansman up here. It's an absurd assumption that is generated by lack of experience in Upstate. We are more conservative than the city and don't tolerate some of the things that people living in the metro area have to put up with; but Upstate NY is more advanced socially than we get credit for.
Please realize that everything is relative. I do not tolerate racism or classism, but have found that Upstate New York is actually more progressive in their attitudes towards race and mix-race couples. My wife is from the Philippines and I am white, we live in Watertown, NY (which is pretty far north in NYS). We have never felt or percieved any "racist stares" or hatred from anyone while we have lived here. We have found that people were more prone to take a second glance or ask personal questions when we lived in Florida or in the midwest. Like many have said on here I'm sure there are racist idiots that live in this town (like anywhere, USA) but we feel really comfortable here. So much so that we are buying a house and plan on living here long term. Also, be wary of anyone from the city telling you that Upstate NY is backward and we're all a bunch of klansman up here. It's an absurd assumption that is generated by lack of experience in Upstate. We are more conservative than the city and don't tolerate some of the things that people living in the metro area have to put up with; but Upstate NY is more advanced socially than we get credit for.
Thank you for your statement. I've visited Rochester and didn't experience any blatant racism. But I'm also looking towards Ithaca, or Manhattan also. I'm more concerned of the job market for black professionals, as I'm single and not to trying to raise a family. I've researched the tourists-based websites for Rochester, Ithaca, and Manhattan. They're good starters and resource for general information. But the experience itself is what I'm more focused on. In the summer, I'm looking at visiting Ithaca to see Cornell University. Thanx for your comments.
There is certainly racism in upstate NY, however there is racism everywhere in this country and I would say upstate NY has racism that is much more tolerable than other places that perhaps you would find down south. In upstate NY you would never hear of a black person being dragged behind a pickup truck like you would down south. There is very little to null white on black crime in upstate NY, in fact the same is nearly true for black on white. However the upstate NY cities do have very dense black urban areas and very rampant areas of crime which are almost entirely black on black. That is where most of the racism stems from in upstate NY... it comes more from observation than experience. Because of the dense black populations in upstate NY cities, there is a good deal of interaction between the races and each coalesce fairly well.
The point is, in upstate NY there is (comparably) very little active racism, the racists here for the most part keep it to themselves and you probably wouldn't even know you were talking to a racist. Of course there are people on this topic telling their horrific stories of upstate NY racism, but thats all they are... stories... statistical outliers that really have no bearing on what really goes on up here... Also what are you people trying to say... "Don't move to upstate NY if your black! Instead, move to Mississippi!" Be a realist... YOU CANNOT AVOID RACISM, there will always be a normal (bell-curve) distribution of racism to an area. However the type of racism in upstate NY is, again, far more tolerable than other areas of the country.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Still disgruntled and befuddled after the Buffalo Experience
