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I lived in Buffalo for almost 35 years and, comparatively, made a decent living there...I left when my company made a hefty layoff, even though I survived, I looked around and realized that there was absolutely zero likelihood of making the same or better money in Buffalo so I packed up my family and moved. I tripled my income, cut my tax liability in half, got the same level of services and quality of life (it's amazing what happens when you aren't hidden from the sun for weeks on end in the winter).
Buffalo certainly has it's charms but those charms don't put food on the table and a secure future for my family. it's great to have ethnic foods and festivals, Niagara Falls and the like close etc but none of that means jack if you have to scrimp together your pennies to take advantage of them.
Buffalo's fundamental problems are: politicians are more concerned with obtaining, consolidating and wielding power than they are in serving their electorate AND the electorate just sits with their thumbs in a brown, smelly place and allows that to continue and then whines and complains about the overall economy (while not stellar has areas of strong growth) and the decline of the middle class (which is nothing but political talking points BTW, try what this, liberal, economist has to say about the middle class: 5 Myths About the Poor Middle Class - washingtonpost.com).
My advice to anyone from Buffalo who is stuck at a professional deadend is to pick a place, pack your bags, take a deep breath, jump right in: make the move and (most importantly) keep an open mind about the change.
You will find that people in other parts of the country are just as friendly as folks from Buffalo, there are just as many things to do as there are in Buffalo (but they are different: no Italian Festival but there are Pig Days, no Allentown Arts Festival but a Pottery Festival). All that you have to do is keep an open mind and stop telling people how "it was done back home", they don't give a crap: you ain't there anymore.
I find that lists like this are a bit iffy. I looked at the top 10 on this list and by my count 8/10 on this list are suburbs of a major city or part of a continuous sprawl of cities. So why is cnn judging the suburb and not the city itself? That would be equivalent to saying Orchard Park or Amherst is a good place to live but not Buffalo.
I'm surprised a list like this is getting attention as it's based on outdated data. First, the national unemployment rate for July was 5.7% not 4.3% and the loss of population is based on an estimate not a census. Further, Buffalo is NOT in the same category as Charleston WV and Flint Michigan. And Scranton is beginning to turn around, too. Forbes - go blow!
Indeed, but it's funny how this was just released - it was all over the local news yesterday.
So what if Buffalo is getting smaller? As was discussed elsewhere in this forum, that might actually be a good thing. NYC is huge, but unless your young, rich or dream of making it big, does anyone really enjoy living in NYC? Or Houston? LA? I like living in a city (provides all the ammenities/activity that only a city can attract) but which has a village feel (walking distances, friendly neighbors).
Very true, my only concern with the declining population, is that we will loose our great sports teams, and more of our great people as it becomes less attractive for buisnesses, etc.
I find that lists like this are a bit iffy. I looked at the top 10 on this list and by my count 8/10 on this list are suburbs of a major city or part of a continuous sprawl of cities. So why is cnn judging the suburb and not the city itself? That would be equivalent to saying Orchard Park or Amherst is a good place to live but not Buffalo.
of course any comparison is not going to be perfect and open for interpretation and criticism but short of knowing someone who has moved there or actually living there and spending time there, this is a good starting point.
Suburbs are the modern day equivalent of urban neighborhoods - surely you wouldn't say that living at/near the corner of Fillmore and Best is preferable to living at/near the corner of Parkside and Hertel?
additionally if you drill into the report you will find details on Amherst and Orchard Park to compare to Buffalo proper.
I love the term sprawl and it's application. If an outsider looked at where I live based upon info on a map I'd be considered to be part of the "great suburban sprawl". Once drilled into you would quickly find out that, in reality, it is not. My area is almost 100% self contained: 3 elementary, 2 middle and1 high school, 2 full service supermarkets (one mid scale and one upper scale) , 12 screen movie theater, 2 gas stations, more than a dozen restaurants, a library, 30 or so (and growing) small businesses (covering a complete range of services and products) all within 2 miles (walking distance) of the geographic center - in essence a small town that just happens to be in city limits. It is quite possible to almost never have to leave.
Sprawl - nothing but bedroom communities - is an issue but something that forward looking areas/developers have begun to really cut back on.
Last edited by mbossman2; 08-06-2008 at 09:47 AM..
3. The only way people cope with the middle-class meltdown is by falling into debt.
You've probably heard that the average U.S. household carries $9,300 in credit card debt. But that misleading statistic includes the debt of the self-employed and some small businesses.
Some? How many? What percentage? Also that doesn't make it misleading, its widely known that Americans carry a lot of debt and live on credit cards and can't save.
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U.S. companies are being reasonably generous with retirement benefits, too.
hahaha
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Just look at the ever-proliferating suburbs, the high rate of home ownership, and the thriving market for new cars, HDTVs and videogame consoles. Inequality is certainly up, but it's the bottom 20 percent of the population, not the middle class, that's really struggling. Just don't tell the presidential candidates.
Wow... This sure is something to be proud about, America
Also those "ever proliferating" suburbs are getting hit hard with foreclosures and filling up with squatters... and they were when this article was written too, thats the funny part.
"Id be just as broke in Charlotte, NC as I am here."
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Check this out.
You might be just as broke but it would take much longer and you would have much more "stuff" that made you broke.
I guess it really is just all about the bux and how much sq feet you can buy.. no matter how awful the community and the surroundings. Case you're gonna be spending most of your time holed up at work, on in your car on some freeway.
I actually feel sorry for people like you
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Originally Posted by deno088
Check this out.
You might be just as broke but it would take much longer and you would have much more "stuff" that made you broke.
I guess it really is just all about the bux and how much sq feet you can buy.. no matter how awful the community and the surroundings. Case you're gonna be spending most of your time holed up at work, on in your car on some freeway.
I actually feel sorry for people like you
Actually I feel sorry for you. You admit you are broke in Upstate NY and that there is no hope for you anywhere in the world. I will never understand why so many people from Upstate think this way.
Actually I feel sorry for you. You admit you are broke in Upstate NY and that there is no hope for you anywhere in the world. I will never understand why so many people from Upstate think this way.
Because it's true. We like our community atmosphere and would'nt leave it for anything - not even a high paying job someplace else that is 4 times the amount we currently make. This resembles true WNYers and Upstaters.
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