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A simple question. I read about so many people who berate/disparage the Metro Buffalo area. Do Metro Buffalo & Suburban residents also think that Buffalo is an undesireable "loser" Metro City. I'm from Syracuse but I think that Buffalo is an okay city in spite of the depressed National economy which is currently affecting many of our cities across the country. Do you have/show "civic pride" for your home city of Metro Buffalo? Are you "pro" or "anti" Metro Buffalo/Suburbs area??
I think that Buffalo has some good colleges. You have some nice buildings and pleasant downtown area. You have a lot of events-festivals-live music throughout the year. Arts & culture. A major league football team. A great waterfront marina area. A second small-boat, large-marina on the Niagara River. Good quality of life. A good Metro area to raise a family. Affordable home buying prices compared with the whole country. And a lot of other good qualities.
I think that Syracuse & Rochester & Buffalo are the best Upstate New York State large cities.
If anything, Buffalonians are MORE hateful toward their city than people outside the city are about it, and this has been true for decades. Buffalonians say terrible things about the region, and especially the city itself, on a daily basis. This attitude having spread from one-time Buffalonians over the years is probably why the rest of the country has such a negative perception of it.
That said, the attitude seems to be changing pretty quickly. Sites like Buffalo Rising | Your Guide to Buffalo NY News, Arts, Events & Buffalo Restaurants have done a lot to show Buffalonians that the city actually has a lot of assets and there are starting to be quite a few Buffalo Boosters bucking the trend, mostly younger people but some older people as well. That, in turn, is starting to change the opinion of the some of the long-time haters. Having so much visible progress (lots of construction projects) happening downtown is also becoming hard for people to ignore.
You're right, Buffalo is actually a fairly nice place. It's got a historic downtown, good quality of life due to low costs, plenty of events, a good arts scene, some big-city amenities like a philharmonic orchestra and a botanical garden, no traffic ever, a pretty good transit system that makes it so that car ownership isn't an absolute necessity, two major league sports teams, a nice newly-constructed waterfront, an interesting and growing restaurant scene, a quick drive to Toronto, and generally beautiful weather (during the summer anyway.) I moved to Buffalo from Chicago and I like it here. For a few years, anyway :-)
I love buffalo. Now I am biased, and only have experienced the, ahem, somewhat "softer" suburbs. None the less, I spend a lot of time in buffalo proper. I drink, I eat and relax in a lot of great places.
So, no I dont hear the buffalo bashing. And if I do, I think I can speak somewhat intelligently about wht I like.
Now, there are things I dont like, and I have, in the past, expressed my opinions. Its all in good info.
I dont see much berating, then again, I see some decent things going.
If anything, Buffalonians are MORE hateful toward their city than people outside the city are about it, and this has been true for decades. Buffalonians say terrible things about the region, and especially the city itself, on a daily basis. This attitude having spread from one-time Buffalonians over the years is probably why the rest of the country has such a negative perception of it.
That said, the attitude seems to be changing pretty quickly. Sites like Buffalo Rising | Your Guide to Buffalo NY News, Arts, Events & Buffalo Restaurants have done a lot to show Buffalonians that the city actually has a lot of assets and there are starting to be quite a few Buffalo Boosters bucking the trend, mostly younger people but some older people as well. That, in turn, is starting to change the opinion of the some of the long-time haters. Having so much visible progress (lots of construction projects) happening downtown is also becoming hard for people to ignore.
You're right, Buffalo is actually a fairly nice place. It's got a historic downtown, good quality of life due to low costs, plenty of events, a good arts scene, some big-city amenities like a philharmonic orchestra and a botanical garden, no traffic ever, a pretty good transit system that makes it so that car ownership isn't an absolute necessity, two major league sports teams, a nice newly-constructed waterfront, an interesting and growing restaurant scene, a quick drive to Toronto, and generally beautiful weather (during the summer anyway.) I moved to Buffalo from Chicago and I like it here. For a few years, anyway :-)
I'm not from Buffalo, but I saw the opposite when I attended college there for 4 years. People from Buffalo seemed to be fanatical in defending their city and area, especially when they found out I was from Rochester. Almost like they wanted to "one-up" me about how Buffalo was better.
But in general, it seemed the vast majority had great things to say about that area.
I think for the most part Buffalo residents have pride, especially when you say you're from another city in New York. Now if you ask a Buffalo resident about their pride in front of someone from maybe San Diego, then they might act more berate.
It's good Buffalo people have pride. Despite it's problems, it is the best city in New York after NYC. I enjoyed living in Buffalo more than living in Albany.
I think the influx of college kids staying in Buffalo after graduation trying to forge their own way and hipsters relocating for cheap rents and large creative spaces are what is creating the good press. Rust Belt is in and Buffalo could be at the forefront. Pittsburgh embraced it, now Buffalo has to embrace it. Use it to create a hipster haven in Elmwood and Allentown (and have it stretch further out to the less desireable areas) and then recreate downtown to bring in real business and luxury places so people go to downtown more then just Sabres/Bisons games.
People in and around Buffalo don't really understand how good they have it.
I actually sort of agree at least a bit with almost everyone who has posted. Buffalo residents are all over the map with this.
You have the following types of haters:
a) People from here who make no effort to take advantage of what the city has to offer, or have super narrow interests (beer, tv, done) who think it's boring.
b) People from here who love their hometown but are super bogged down with the negatives (crime, poverty, etc) and have become bitter and lost hope.
c) People from here who only know the outside world based on tv and think everywhere is perfect except here; they don't realize other cities have many of the same issues or may lack our amenities (grass is greener syndrome).
d) People from bigger cities who can only look at what Buffalo doesn't have compared to where they are from.
e) People with Hollywood expectations of life - Buffalo is not polished, has litter and vacancy problems, etc. Some people see this and judge everything about the city solely based on that; anywhere that doesn't look like downtown Williamsville is "a dump," "ghetto" etc to these folks.
Then you see the following types of "pro" Buffalo people -
a) "I love it 'cause I'm from here" folks who don't really need a reason to like it; it's their hometown, end of story. These folks often will get aggressive if anything negative is brought up, even if its justified - this is the guy threatening to beat your face in if you say the Bills suck. You can appreciate their spunk, but they aren't great at converting people to Buffalove.
b) Those who embrace what the city has to offer and take an active role in finding stuff to do - these folks see the city for what it is, its diversity of activities, food, etc.
c) Those who only hang out/live in the "best" areas and have zero exposure to what 80% of Buffalo and its lower-middle class suburbs are actually going through - these folks see things through rose colored glasses because they just avoid dealing with non-perfect, non-hip areas. These are the folks who deny racism, extreme poverty, ignorant behavior, etc are real problems because the small circles they travel in offer only the crème de la crème of people, housing and businesses.
d) Neighborhood activists and community group members who see negativity as a waste of time and want to put out positive energy.
There aren't a lot of people who see Buffalo for what it really is - some good, some bad, fun as it is but still needing work, with a good standard of living but things that could definitely be improved (education system, better job opportunities, more dedicated home owners, etc). It's a very polarizing issue that is often drawn along lines of class - people with resources living in nice areas with access to transportation and funds for recreation tend to universally think it's great. People that feel life has shat on them tend to think the opposite and Buffalo has a LOT of people down and out for a variety of reasons.
I actually sort of agree at least a bit with almost everyone who has posted. Buffalo residents are all over the map with this.
You have the following types of haters:
a) People from here who make no effort to take advantage of what the city has to offer, or have super narrow interests (beer, tv, done) who think it's boring.
b) People from here who love their hometown but are super bogged down with the negatives (crime, poverty, etc) and have become bitter and lost hope.
c) People from here who only know the outside world based on tv and think everywhere is perfect except here; they don't realize other cities have many of the same issues or may lack our amenities (grass is greener syndrome).
d) People from bigger cities who can only look at what Buffalo doesn't have compared to where they are from.
e) People with Hollywood expectations of life - Buffalo is not polished, has litter and vacancy problems, etc. Some people see this and judge everything about the city solely based on that; anywhere that doesn't look like downtown Williamsville is "a dump," "ghetto" etc to these folks.
Then you see the following types of "pro" Buffalo people -
a) "I love it 'cause I'm from here" folks who don't really need a reason to like it; it's their hometown, end of story. These folks often will get aggressive if anything negative is brought up, even if its justified - this is the guy threatening to beat your face in if you say the Bills suck. You can appreciate their spunk, but they aren't great at converting people to Buffalove.
b) Those who embrace what the city has to offer and take an active role in finding stuff to do - these folks see the city for what it is, its diversity of activities, food, etc.
c) Those who only hang out/live in the "best" areas and have zero exposure to what 80% of Buffalo and its lower-middle class suburbs are actually going through - these folks see things through rose colored glasses because they just avoid dealing with non-perfect, non-hip areas. These are the folks who deny racism, extreme poverty, ignorant behavior, etc are real problems because the small circles they travel in offer only the crème de la crème of people, housing and businesses.
d) Neighborhood activists and community group members who see negativity as a waste of time and want to put out positive energy.
There aren't a lot of people who see Buffalo for what it really is - some good, some bad, fun as it is but still needing work, with a good standard of living but things that could definitely be improved (education system, better job opportunities, more dedicated home owners, etc). It's a very polarizing issue that is often drawn along lines of class - people with resources living in nice areas with access to transportation and funds for recreation tend to universally think it's great. People that feel life has shat on them tend to think the opposite and Buffalo has a LOT of people down and out for a variety of reasons.
This not only goes for Buffalo, but for Upstate NY cities, in general, give or take.
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