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I grew up in Pennsylvania, but moved to Buffalo in 2008 to work for S.U.N.Y. -- and while I'll admit that there are many great things about the area (like the architecture and history and parks), I found that many of my students (I was a professor) had to move away after graduation to find "good" jobs (i.e., positions that paid more than $9 an hour and offered career development possibilities). After leaving S.U.N.Y., and as a highly educated person, I also found that Buffalo and WNY offered me, well . . . nothing . . . as far as job prospects. For years a few friends and I, and a few die hard "Buffalo is the next big thing" advocates, got into major arguments about the area's "purported" growing greatness. Admittedly the region is changing, and in many ways for the better. However there can be no real and sustained growth until Buffalo/WNY address the fact that they are still almost entirely supported by Government funding and a low-wage, low-skill service sector; sure there's been job growth, but its mostly been in crappy paying jobs.
Who cares how low the cost of living is -- if the quality of life you can have there stinks because you cannot find decently paying work?
I moved South in April 2015 along with my partner (who got a great job here in a week; $16 a hour plus full benefits and profit sharing) and besides getting MUCH better weather, the economy here is 1000% healthier.
I just don't understand why some folks can't "get real" about Buffalo and actually work on solving their real issues. Oh well.
I grew up in Pennsylvania, but moved to Buffalo in 2008 to work for S.U.N.Y. -- and while I'll admit that there are many great things about the area (like the architecture and history and parks), I found that many of my students (I was a professor) had to move away after graduation to find "good" jobs (i.e., positions that paid more than $9 an hour and offered career development possibilities). After leaving S.U.N.Y., and as a highly educated person, I also found that Buffalo and WNY offered me, well . . . nothing . . . as far as job prospects. For years a few friends and I, and a few die hard "Buffalo is the next big thing" advocates, got into major arguments about the area's "purported" growing greatness. Admittedly the region is changing, and in many ways for the better. However there can be no real and sustained growth until Buffalo/WNY address the fact that they are still almost entirely supported by Government funding and a low-wage, low-skill service sector; sure there's been job growth, but its mostly been in crappy paying jobs.
Who cares how low the cost of living is -- if the quality of life you can have there stinks because you cannot find decently paying work?
I moved South in April 2015 along with my partner (who got a great job here in a week; $16 a hour plus full benefits and profit sharing) and besides getting MUCH better weather, the economy here is 1000% healthier.
I just don't understand why some folks can't "get real" about Buffalo and actually work on solving their real issues. Oh well.
It is interesting that the area has more people working since the 1990's.
What I thought was a little misleading is that the writer mentioned is the state median household income, which is a little under $58,000 or about 16th in the country. However, the area COL is lower than the national figure/average. So, given the range in terms of COL within the state, that has to be considered.
Family/household size in relation to pay also needs to be considered.
With that said, the economy does need a boost, considering the other information.
I knew this poster would be back...perpetual whiners all follow pretty much the same pattern and are especially prone to the common city-data disease of inability to have perspective beyond that of your own.
I do agree that quality of life is what matters most and contrary to the op, that's exactly where I see Buffalo excelling.
I knew this poster would be back...perpetual whiners all follow pretty much the same pattern and are especially prone to the common city-data disease of inability to have perspective beyond that of your own.
I do agree that quality of life is what matters most and contrary to the op, that's exactly where I see Buffalo excelling.
I totally agree. The OP should change his screen name to 'ProfessorNegativity' because all he posts is negative stuff about Buffalo, as in this thread from 2014: Getting Ready to Leave Buffalo.
I grew up in Pennsylvania, but moved to Buffalo in 2008 to work for S.U.N.Y. -- and while I'll admit that there are many great things about the area (like the architecture and history and parks), I found that many of my students (I was a professor) had to move away after graduation to find "good" jobs (i.e., positions that paid more than $9 an hour and offered career development possibilities). After leaving S.U.N.Y., and as a highly educated person, I also found that Buffalo and WNY offered me, well . . . nothing . . . as far as job prospects. For years a few friends and I, and a few die hard "Buffalo is the next big thing" advocates, got into major arguments about the area's "purported" growing greatness. Admittedly the region is changing, and in many ways for the better. However there can be no real and sustained growth until Buffalo/WNY address the fact that they are still almost entirely supported by Government funding and a low-wage, low-skill service sector; sure there's been job growth, but its mostly been in crappy paying jobs.
Who cares how low the cost of living is -- if the quality of life you can have there stinks because you cannot find decently paying work?
I moved South in April 2015 along with my partner (who got a great job here in a week; $16 a hour plus full benefits and profit sharing) and besides getting MUCH better weather, the economy here is 1000% healthier.
I just don't understand why some folks can't "get real" about Buffalo and actually work on solving their real issues. Oh well.
You claim you were a "professor" at SUNY, and you claim to be a "highly educated person", and you think a $16-an-hour job is a "great job"? Seriously, $16/hour is all of $33,280 a year. I don't care what they offer in benefits or profit-sharing. It's a "great job" only if you don't have one.
I disbelieve your entire spiel. I worked in academia years ago as a teaching assistant while working on my PhD, and I've been in administration at a SUNY school for 17 years. Faculty don't call themselves "professors" unless they've earned that academic rank, and even when they've earned it, many prefer simpler titles. Most collegiate staff at the faculty/professional level do not talk compensation in terms of a sum per hour but in terms of salaries. I can not imagine any professional working at any SUNY college thinking a full-time position offering a $33k annual salary as a "great job".
My guess is that you're either a) an embittered blue collar worker because a HS grad looking for manufacturing work would, indeed, think $16/hour is "great" or b) a college student, possibly a recent grad, with little experience. You could also just be an unemployed 50-year-old college dropout with a sketchy job history who has never moved out of Mom's house and who has created a much more "interesting" alter ego on the Internet. You might actually live in Buffalo or somewhere in WNY ... or you might live in Timbuktu because even when you purported to live in Buffalo, your posts always referenced information available on the Internet or stereotypes and never had any personal or local info that people would get from living in/around the city/area.
As for the Fisher article, what he's talking about is a national problem, not just a Buffalo or WNY problem, and nothing demonstrates that more than you, a supposed "highly educated person" calling a $16/hour job "great".
There is some sectors which are seeing job growth in well paying fields in Buffalo these days. Continued growth around the medical campus is generating more jobs for skilled workers. The Solar City project, although a startup fed with public money, also is going to initially generate a lot of well paying positions.
They are beginning steps, and whether it all sustains or not is yet to be seen, but it is definitely more progress in the labor market around here than has happened in my lifetime.
You claim you were a "professor" at SUNY, and you claim to be a "highly educated person", and you think a $16-an-hour job is a "great job"? Seriously, $16/hour is all of $33,280 a year. I don't care what they offer in benefits or profit-sharing. It's a "great job" only if you don't have one.
I disbelieve your entire spiel. I worked in academia years ago as a teaching assistant while working on my PhD, and I've been in administration at a SUNY school for 17 years. Faculty don't call themselves "professors" unless they've earned that academic rank, and even when they've earned it, many prefer simpler titles. Most collegiate staff at the faculty/professional level do not talk compensation in terms of a sum per hour but in terms of salaries. I can not imagine any professional working at any SUNY college thinking a full-time position offering a $33k annual salary as a "great job".
My guess is that you're either a) an embittered blue collar worker because a HS grad looking for manufacturing work would, indeed, think $16/hour is "great" or b) a college student, possibly a recent grad, with little experience. You could also just be an unemployed 50-year-old college dropout with a sketchy job history who has never moved out of Mom's house and who has created a much more "interesting" alter ego on the Internet. You might actually live in Buffalo or somewhere in WNY ... or you might live in Timbuktu because even when you purported to live in Buffalo, your posts always referenced information available on the Internet or stereotypes and never had any personal or local info that people would get from living in/around the city/area.
As for the Fisher article, what he's talking about is a national problem, not just a Buffalo or WNY problem, and nothing demonstrates that more than you, a supposed "highly educated person" calling a $16/hour job "great".
I call BS on the OP's statement as well. There isn't a professor in all of SUNY making under $35k/yr. I would guess even part time they'd be over that.
But it sure is fun to role-play on the internet...
In defense of the op, the post indicates that the $16/hr is in ref to his/her partner. I agree though, it's certainly not something to brag about and I also find the "professor" naming funny, seems a desperate means to gain respect.
I'm glad others are seeing the BS. Sometimes, said posters make statements that totally contradict what they have been saying or doing previously. So, they end up "playing themselves", as the kids say.
I also, for some reason, wouldn't be surprised if some of these posters are students or even international students/residents.
I call BS on the OP's statement as well. There isn't a professor in all of SUNY making under $35k/yr. I would guess even part time they'd be over that.
But it sure is fun to role-play on the internet...
Adjuncts make nothing. Look it up. Not that that was even his claim. I guess you're still recovering from your winter off the grid in Franklinville.
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