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This is Good news. It was the second poorest city in the nation. Now, it has shrunk to number 3. With Cleveland jumping ahead to second with Detroit in the lead of poorest poverty stricken cities of America.
More than one out of four people in Buffalo are poor, according to the latest estimates by the U. S. Census Bureau.
Figures released Tuesday on U. S. income and poverty show Buffalo still has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation — 28.7 percent in 2007.
Census puts poverty rate in Buffalo at 28.7%, one of highest in nation : City & Region : The Buffalo News (broken link)
Unfortunately this does not surprise me. The city of Buffalo, like many of other cities throughout the United States has had rapidly declining populations of the middle class. Even way back in the eighties one could see many areas of the city that were once solid neighborhoods fast becoming run-down and decimated by the effects of meth/crack usage.
Buffalo has always had a rather high rate of welfare families. I'm not talking about the occasional person who has had a tough period in their life and is accepting government assistance for a short time. I am talking about many folks who get caught up in the welfare system and become comfortable with the lifestyle. It is a vicious cycle and a difficult one to break. In my opinion, government assistance is too easy for people stay on. Sure they have programs where able bodies are required to work menial jobs, but because they pay no more than what they can get on welfare or because they offer no step toward any real attaining a real career many of these people perform their jobs in a poor manner. I know this first hand as I have seen it in action.
I would love to see the work for welfare program offer continued education so these people can not only work, but learn higher skills to allow them to look for better jobs. Perhaps those jobs are not in Buffalo, so be it, but that in the long run would benefit the city because it would remove people off the welfare system.
I'd also love to see the slumlords get prosecuted for allowing the houses they own to fall into such disrepair. One can argue, "but they renters are scum, have you seen how they take care of the places they rent?" Well yes I have, and I feel they are partially to blame. But really, when they can't get a broken window fixed or the heat fixed in the dead of winter, what motivation do they have to take care of what is already there? And please, we all know that the slumlords know full well what type of person is going to be renting from them. What I'd like to see, is the slumlords who allow their properties to fall into such deplorable condition be made to hand over the property to the city, and the city to give the homes away through an auction system or "earn to care" system in which families who otherwise could never afford a home, now have one and it is up to them to care for it. Make them take ownership on it. Of course, they will need financial assistance to make sure the electrical and plumbing is up to code, but other than that, it would be up to those new owners to ready up the property.
I also think that town- neighborhood HOA's would be a great way to curb litter in the front yards, prevent cars from being parked in the front yard, and would give people in the neighborhood a feeling of taking ownership for their neighborhood. They would be able to police the homes like a regular HOA (homeowners association) with limited rules (since trying to make everything uniform would be impossible because it would require too many funds in which the homeowners wouldn't have) but would allow the residents to participate in beatifying their neighborhood (or street) and teach them leadership skills at the same time.
I know the city require many city of Buffalo of police, firemen and teachers to in the city, and they are given a break on the price of their homes. I'd love to see those people get FREE homes with homeowner leadership positions (such as President, vice-president, etc.) of the neighborhood homeowners associations. Every are needs a leader, but too many of the poorest areas have none. The councilmen are worthless in my opinion and do little to alleviate the poor living conditions of the constituents they represent. Many cities have adopted such policies and they are very successful.
The only thing it would require would be enforcement of the slumlord laws. Having a neighborhood rental center where one could rent a lawn-mower, gardening tools , etc would be a great idea to help clean up the city also. I believe if it looks clean, people will want to move back. Once people who move back that are taking responsibility of the area, it would entice others who are better educated to move back. Which in turn, would hopefully bring back qualified teachers to help improve the dismal school system.
Right now, the suburban flight is mainly because of the crime and the city blight that is so obvious in Buffalo. Areas like South Buffalo (near cazanovia park), Elmwood, Delaware, and tons of other areas are prime examples of people taking ownership of their neighborhoods.
I wish I were still a resident of the city, because I would definitely run for a position and try my hardest to pass ordinances that would allow for improvement and make it easier for people to take ownership of their neighborhoods and once again instill pride in their lives.
There is a distinct difference between being poor and being dirty. There is no excuse for anyone to use their front yards as a dumping ground.
If you are poor or in poverty in the city of Buffalo, it is most likely your problem or family's problem in which you are either too lazy to get out of poverty, or are just unfortunately lucky to have no job or bad job that can't put enough food on the table. Then there are those who go their seperate ways at a young age, become homeless, then get into gangs and vacant homes in Buffalo, and a whole mess of things happen, including increasing crime. Poverty affects a lot of things in our Beautiful City, but we must remember that a lot of it comes from people who don't care about life and could care less =about others. It's sad, really.
Then, you have to think that in a state like NY and across the country, the dichotomy in terms of class seems to be increasing. Hence, terms like "the working poor".
Also, getting assistance or "welfare" doesn't necessarily mean that a person doesn't work or is lazy. It just means that they qualify based on a criteria and there are different forms of assistance as well. Actually, the biggest form of welfare that might be hurting our state and country is probably corporate welfare.
Notice there isn't a single person in that picture.
I'm sorry, I did forget to mention that it was taken on a weekend. (DEAD downtown weekend) and I also told the people to get out of the way so I could take the picture without having to ask them for permission to use the photo with them in it, just the train But actually, the weekdays on the downtown streets are jam packed with thousands of people, young and older, business men and tourists, all bustling to get to their locations. It is silly that the weekends are so dead compared to the lively weekdays in downtown Buffalo.
Notice there isn't a single person in that picture.
anyway, off topic.
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Time for a change!
jk jk jk 
But actually, the weekdays on the downtown streets are jam packed with thousands of people, young and older, business men and tourists, all bustling to get to their locations. It is silly that the weekends are so dead compared to the lively weekdays in downtown Buffalo. 
