Buffalo ranked second best city to relocate to in America

[Helpmenow]

 

This!

 

Listen, I love Buffalo and I'm proud to be from Buffalo but my God am I beyond thrilled with my decision to move my family out of WNY last September.

 

I've seen more development in my short time in Charlotte and just across the NC/SC border where I live than the past decade in WNY. Sad but true.

. I blew out that area in June most overrated place to move to. I' d rather live in buffalo. Friggin idiots down there who have trailers in front of neighbors homes. Best thing I did was to move outta there.

 

Tremendous architecture, beautiful homes, incredible parks, and no jobs.

. Not impressed with the south either, think twice before going there.

 

Also lost over 75 k on my spec built house in the area, all brick 3000 s.f three car garage on a quiet street. Took 16 months to sell. You tell me how nice the region is!

Edited December 5, 2012 by roush

[Marv's Neighbor]

Tremendous architecture, beautiful homes, incredible parks, and no jobs.

Sad but true!

 

I left in '70, for a better job. I've lived in; the DC (N VA) area, Chcago, Houston, Seattle, and now Richmond VA. I did what I needed to do to keep a job for 40+ years. When I left, BUF still had the Steel industry, and a much larger Automibile production presence. Now, not only are the jobs gone, but the factories are mostly gone too. I see the TV spots about NYS being OPEN FOR BUSINESS, and wonder what they're smoking?

 

Would I go back? Sure I would EXCEPT for one thing-not the weather either- it's the Taxes! Unless NYS and WNY ease the tax burden and encourage business to not only locate but to stay, WNY will continue to be in decline, and that is sad!.

[CodeMonkey]

The listed reasons (affordability, unemployment below the national average, growing healthcare and education industries) have zero impact on the life of an NFL player, particularly a marquee free agent. Quit deluding yourself; Buffalo may be a perfectly fine area for the average recent graduate, but it is far from the ideal location for football and lifestyle reasons for NFL free agents.

According to the US Dept. Of Labor website (http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ny_buffalo_msa.htm) which lists it as Buff + N. Falls, the unemployment rate is 8.2% while it shows the national rate at 7.9%.

It is below the NY rate though which is 8.7%.

 

I just noticed that the data for this was from 2010 so that explains it.

 

Nice to see some good press about Buffalo I guess, but there is a reason "The cost of living is 14.4 percent below the national average, and the average home price is $119,700, well below the national average of $171,700."

[Helpmenow]

Trying buying a house in the Phil's/nj area. The taxes are thru the roof. Compared to the southtowns where I lived,

 

171K get you 1200 s.f in southern nj.

 

Sad but true!

 

I left in '70, for a better job. I've lived in; the DC (N VA) area, Chcago, Houston, Seattle, and now Richmond VA. I did what I needed to do to keep a job for 40+ years. When I left, BUF still had the Steel industry, and a much larger Automibile production presence. Now, not only are the jobs gone, but the factories are mostly gone too. I see the TV spots about NYS being OPEN FOR BUSINESS, and wonder what they're smoking?

 

Would I go back? Sure I would EXCEPT for one thing-not the weather either- it's the Taxes! Unless NYS and WNY ease the tax burden and encourage business to not only locate but to stay, WNY will continue to be in decline, and that is sad!.

. Live in elma or east aurora, not the village, alot cheaper than the north towns.

[Acantha]

Every video of Buffalo like this shows city hall, Shea's, an an arial shot of Delaware park. Over and over.

 

They're right. All other cities are the same. Like my current city. There's the Washington monument, the White House, and the Vietnam Memorial in every city. Oh and Bethesda Row which has more nice bars and restaurants that all of Buffalo - minus everything being deep fried.

 

I love Buffalo because its my original home and my family lives there - but let's quit kidding ourselves.

To each their own. DC would be one of the last cities in the country I would move to. I lived in the area for years and hated everything about it (well, Spring was pretty awesome, but that's true in lots of places).

[Al Cowlings]

 

 

Somewhat agree, the winters aren't bad anymore

 

One warm winter and now Buffalo has mild winters. You are kidding right?

[stevestojan]

 

To each their own. DC would be one of the last cities in the country I would move to. I lived in the area for years and hated everything about it (well, Spring was pretty awesome, but that's true in lots of places).

 

I will say DC is not where I'll stay permently, and I have a pretty sweet set up. I actually live I Chevy Chase MD, a block from the DC line. My place is 50 yards from the friendship heights metro stop and I literally work across the street. But while I'm here I'm taking advantage of what a real city looks like. There are parts of DC you shouldn't go, and I don't. The traffic is beyond bad, but again I walk to work and I can actually get to the metro station through my apartment complex. But I've lived in West Palm Beach, FL, Tucson, Arizona, and Virginia Beach. Every time I go home to Buffalo to visit, I'm more convinced that I'll never go back. And yes, Tucson, as awful as that place is, at least has beautiful weather 10 months of the year. July and August are unbearable but everything is air conditioned. I hated Tucson, but Buffalo doesn't have much on it.

[Gordio]

These threads come up every so often & without you always get the usual posters sh*tting on them finding the need to tell everybody how great their life is & how much better it is wherever they moved to. Here is the thing. Buffalo/WNY is not for everybody but most people that live here actually like living here. There is not a ton of great jobs here but there are certain fields that are growing such as the medical field & I am in banking & that is growing also. I like that I only have a 15-20 minute commute each to work. i like that I am usually home by 5-5:30. I like the school districts & the job they are doing (at least where I live). I like having a nice back yard where me & my son could play wiffle balle 9 months a year. I like that my family is close around me & that my kids grow up knowing their grandparents. I like most of the guys I went to high school with that I hung out with are still in the area & get to go out with them. Even though they make me bitter, I like that the Bills are here. The stuff that Buffalo does not have that I often here people brag about in other cities(world sophisticated night clubs, world class art Museums, broadway shows, international world class restaurants, the ocean or what have you) I don't need that stuff & to be honest if I did have this stuff in Buffalo I would not take advantage of it anyways because that is not what interests me. I don't make a ton of money but I do alright. I just do not think I would be able to live the kind of lifestyle I live with the type of job I have in some of the other bigger cities. As far as the weather, I don't know. The winters just don't seem as bad as they used to. Last year I got out golfing twice in December, once in Febuary & 5 times in March. Yesterday it was 68 degrees here. I know there are nicer places that have nicer weather & lower taxes but I guess like with every place you take the good with the bad.

[BuffOrange]

Every video of Buffalo like this shows city hall, Shea's, an an arial shot of Delaware park. Over and over.

 

They're right. All other cities are the same. Like my current city. There's the Washington monument, the White House, and the Vietnam Memorial in every city. Oh and Bethesda Row which has more nice bars and restaurants that all of Buffalo - minus everything being deep fried.

 

I love Buffalo because its my original home and my family lives there - but let's quit kidding ourselves.

 

That's cool and all, but how often do you actually visit the Washington monument when you live there?

I know I never call up my friends and say "yo lets check out the Liberty Bell today".

 

Well said Gordio.

Edited December 5, 2012 by BuffOrange

[stevestojan]

 

 

That's cool and all, but how often do you actually visit the Washington monument when you live there?

I know I never call up my friends and say "yo lets check out the Liberty Bell today".

 

Well said Gordio.

 

You're right. It's not like every weekend the wife and I visit the capital building. But on the other hand we do hop on the metro every weekend and get off at one of 6 stops and find some new restaurant or wine bar. Each stop, from DuPont Circle, to Bethesda, to Adams Morgan, to Chinatown/MetroCenter, etc, etc, have more to do than I've ever done in Buffalo.

 

Outside of that, the several (a dozen or more) Smithsonian museums are something that you could do once a month or more for certain.

 

I'm not arguing with the points made by folks like Gordio, but he admittedly says CULTURE is not something he's into. For me, that's way more than museums and art. It's being able to hop on the metro, find a hundred year old bar that serves the worlds best tater tots hand made every week by one woman (yes, tater tots) and the next week be able to eat a steak made by one of the best chefs in the country, and the next week go to the Spy Museum. Now, DC is unique, but most big cities allow you to experience more than buffalo does.

 

And the one thing I cannot STAND, and in not sure this applies to anyone here, is those that market buffalo as one of the greatest cities ever, yet have never lived anywhere else. My sisters are a prime example of this.

[BuffOrange]

Ya it's obviously a cost benefit analysis depending on your preferences. I'm sure you realize you're pretty lucky to be able to walk to work. If your round trip commute were 2hrs as it is for a lot of people around there, that's like, a huge bummer on your quality of life, particularly if you have a family & maybe cool bars wouldn't be enough to offset that. Also the Metro blows away most cities' transit systems.

I always get a kick out of the traffic report on the radio when I'm visting home. "What traffic?!"

Edited December 5, 2012 by BuffOrange

[Helpmenow]

 

 

One warm winter and now Buffalo has mild winters. You are kidding right?

 

I think the winters are mild as compared to where grew up in the snowbelt of Erie county, let's see we're in December and no snow, that is mild in my book.

[Jim in Anchorage]

I never was bothered by the winters in Buffalo. The hot humid summers are what I hated.

[Helpmenow]

I never was bothered by the winters in Buffalo. The hot humid summers are what I hated.

. That's why I moved outta the south!

[ExiledInIllinois]

Meh. Stay away. I don't like traffic.

 

That is what I noticed... Traffic was horrible the last time I was in BFLO... Everybody must work @ the same time... Now I am in the Chicago area and it is pretty bad... BUT only in the city and the popular north, and west areas... Here in the south suburbs and south city along the Indiana line... Traffic is way better than our last visit to BFLO...

 

These threads come up every so often & without you always get the usual posters sh*tting on them finding the need to tell everybody how great their life is & how much better it is wherever they moved to. Here is the thing. Buffalo/WNY is not for everybody but most people that live here actually like living here. There is not a ton of great jobs here but there are certain fields that are growing such as the medical field & I am in banking & that is growing also. I like that I only have a 15-20 minute commute each to work. i like that I am usually home by 5-5:30. I like the school districts & the job they are doing (at least where I live). I like having a nice back yard where me & my son could play wiffle balle 9 months a year. I like that my family is close around me & that my kids grow up knowing their grandparents. I like most of the guys I went to high school with that I hung out with are still in the area & get to go out with them. Even though they make me bitter, I like that the Bills are here. The stuff that Buffalo does not have that I often here people brag about in other cities(world sophisticated night clubs, world class art Museums, broadway shows, international world class restaurants, the ocean or what have you) I don't need that stuff & to be honest if I did have this stuff in Buffalo I would not take advantage of it anyways because that is not what interests me. I don't make a ton of money but I do alright. I just do not think I would be able to live the kind of lifestyle I live with the type of job I have in some of the other bigger cities. As far as the weather, I don't know. The winters just don't seem as bad as they used to. Last year I got out golfing twice in December, once in Febuary & 5 times in March. Yesterday it was 68 degrees here. I know there are nicer places that have nicer weather & lower taxes but I guess like with every place you take the good with the bad.

 

I hear you Gordio... Why one of the reasons I live where I do now... I like BFLO, but here where I am is exactly the same thing w/better benefits of living near a major city and sparsely populated rural areas... BUT, yet I would NOT dare to tread any further to the north in the ChciagoLand area...

Edited December 6, 2012 by ExiledInIllinois

[Fan in San Diego]

These threads come up every so often & without you always get the usual posters sh*tting on them finding the need to tell everybody how great their life is & how much better it is wherever they moved to. Here is the thing. Buffalo/WNY is not for everybody but most people that live here actually like living here. There is not a ton of great jobs here but there are certain fields that are growing such as the medical field & I am in banking & that is growing also. I like that I only have a 15-20 minute commute each to work. i like that I am usually home by 5-5:30. I like the school districts & the job they are doing (at least where I live). I like having a nice back yard where me & my son could play wiffle balle 9 months a year. I like that my family is close around me & that my kids grow up knowing their grandparents. I like most of the guys I went to high school with that I hung out with are still in the area & get to go out with them. Even though they make me bitter, I like that the Bills are here. The stuff that Buffalo does not have that I often here people brag about in other cities(world sophisticated night clubs, world class art Museums, broadway shows, international world class restaurants, the ocean or what have you) I don't need that stuff & to be honest if I did have this stuff in Buffalo I would not take advantage of it anyways because that is not what interests me. I don't make a ton of money but I do alright. I just do not think I would be able to live the kind of lifestyle I live with the type of job I have in some of the other bigger cities. As far as the weather, I don't know. The winters just don't seem as bad as they used to. Last year I got out golfing twice in December, once in Febuary & 5 times in March. Yesterday it was 68 degrees here. I know there are nicer places that have nicer weather & lower taxes but I guess like with every place you take the good with the bad.

 

And who says there is no global warming.

[ExiledInIllinois]

One warm winter and now Buffalo has mild winters. You are kidding right?

 

BFLO has always had MILD winters. Mild does not mean it can't have a ton of snow. Those are dry winters or wet winters... BFLO's climate is tempered w/cool summers and warm winters. This doesn't mean lack of snow! For some people, snow means cold... Never quite figured it out why they equate snow with cold... ?? Here in Illinois and when I lived in Iowa... I never felt it as brutally cold in the winter (w/very little snow) and brutally hot summers! Again, BFLO is very tempered w/a ton of messy snow. Same thing with Detroit... Both very tempered climates, protected (alee) of the Lakes. Snow of course is in the equation and a place like BFLO gets a ton of it... That IMO, skews people's perception of the place.

[ExiledInIllinois]

And who says there is no global warming.

 

BFLO being an extremely tempered micro-climate... Just a few degrees can mean snow or rain AND in turn greatly change a person's perception. Just think if there was a way to turn off the "snow machine in BFLO?" Actually there is, freeze hard and cold early in the month Decemeber... BUT, then again... In May, one is standing next to a giant open freezer door!

[Pete]

I love where I live now but always contemplate moving back to buffalo. Maybe someday