The Bass Pro ultimatum, will it work?

[SouthBound47]

When I was born it had 620,000 people now it has under 300,000. When I was in college it was a top 10 metro n0w it is falling out of the top 25. And it's still bleeding

So when you where born (I would assume around 1958) Buffalo was at 540,000, now it's 270,000, pretty much exactly half. Ditto for Pittsburgh. (it's at 307,000)

The big difference is that Pittsburgh ranks pretty consistently as a great place to live. Yes, Buffalo gets occasional nods for cost of living, and for the arts, but I don't think that most people would prefer live somewhere with nothing going for it just because it's cheap to live there. And it's not like Pittsburgh is expensive.

I'm not saying that Pittsburgh is an amazing town. I wouldn't ever want to live there - but it is extremely comparable to Buffalo. I think that Pittsburgh has come to accept that things have to change though, and Buffalo just hasn't.

Either way saying Buffalo is better than Pittsburgh is like saying a 77 Pinto is better than an 82 DeLorean, I wouldn't drive either if I had the option. But since I have to drive one, I at least want to make it nice.

EDIT: You also mentioned Pittsburgh being top 25 now. We used to be #2, now we are slightly larger than the metropolis of Henderson, Nevada. Staggering.

[donbuy]

Originally Posted by SouthBound47

So when you where born (I would assume around 1958) Buffalo was at 540,000, now it's 270,000, pretty much exactly half. Ditto for Pittsburgh. (it's at 307,000)

The big difference is that Pittsburgh ranks pretty consistently as a great place to live. Yes, Buffalo gets occasional nods for cost of living, and for the arts, but I don't think that most people would prefer live somewhere with nothing going for it just because it's cheap to live there. And it's not like Pittsburgh is expensive.

I'm not saying that Pittsburgh is an amazing town. I wouldn't ever want to live there - but it is extremely comparable to Buffalo. I think that Pittsburgh has come to accept that things have to change though, and Buffalo just hasn't.

Either way saying Buffalo is better than Pittsburgh is like saying a 77 Pinto is better than an 82 DeLorean, I wouldn't drive either if I had the option. But since I have to drive one, I at least want to make it nice. EDIT: You also mentioned Pittsburgh being top 25 now. We used to be #2, now we are slightly larger than the metropolis of Henderson, Nevada. Staggering.

Buffalo was never ever number 2 it peaked at number 8 with a population of 318,000 over a hundred years ago. It's not like Buffalo was a big city then and a small city now it's just that 100 years ago there were only 3 or 4 big cities and Buffalo was not one of them. Buffalo's metro was never in the top 10. Having lived in Pittsbugh over 30 years and spending multiple weeks there ever since, and having spent the last 4 years in Buffalo i can say that having experience both citiesm that i truly enjoy both places. However to say that Pittsbugh has turned the corner where Buffalo has not is untrue. All of what a visitor sees when going to Pittsburgh are Taxpayor built facilities: two stadiums, a new hockey arena, a half empty airport, and a massive convention center ALL built with PUBLIC money. It is a false propsperity. Things have gotton so bad that they still have a hard control board. The transit system is in such turmoil that there is talk of ending Sunday service all together.

Pittsburgh is many things but it is a long way from being a community for anyone to model themseves afterI Buffalo should model itself after successful peer cities such as Louisville, Indianapolis or Colombus Ohio and not after a City and Metro that are still declining at a faster rate than Buffalo - that would just be silly.

[VegasRocks]

Atleast pittsburg taxpayers got something to show for there money

what's WNY taxpayers got to show for their money ?

keep putting money in to the Ralph, gotta be the oldest dump
stadium in the NFL

lot's and lot's and lot's of fancy pictures, blue prints and a
foot bridge over a small canal to know where and some grass

[Krisps]

I once heard someone joke that Buffalo should erect a museum on the waterfront displaying the decades of blueprints and sketches of development that never turn into reality. Maybe this museum should be the "anchor".