DirtDart Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 (edited) Cost of living has to be a big one. That matters more to many of them than you'd think.Cost of living, the people, and the food brought me back. Sure, I could have made more money if I had stayed in D.C., but it's all relative. Moving back was actually my Wife's idea. She had only been here four times. She fell in love with the place. I imagine it is the same for former players, and their families. The snow. As people fling crap @ Me! ;-) I love the snow, but it is a PITA. I like playing in it, but NOT working in it. I know, I know... I am near Chicago. BUT: http://goldensnowglobe.com/all-snowiest-us-cities/ Even during this past weak winter BFLo got around 77" of snow. Chicago doesn't even crack the top 50. @ aroung ~20 or so inches. Average is ~35" and the all-time snow record is close to what BFLo gets in a "down year" like this past winter. Yeah BOS @ ~50"... CLEV/DET @ ~40", MN/NYC/PITT @ ~30"'.. That's around half for other NFL teams... Snow, I can deal with it... But it gets old, belongs in the mountains @ my age especially... ...Now that being said, I am not adverse to retiring in a snowy place, like the UP of Michigan, etc... But have other options to stay too. Death to the trolls.... We have a sense of community and togetherness many places don't. We have a small town feel but in a city. It's almost like we are a big family...we can make fun of ourselves but God help the outsider who makes fun of us. Years of being beaten down and being the brunt of jokes have only made that feeling of togetherness stronger...and plus if you've ever seen how people work together when we get a heavy snow event you'd know what I'm talking about...people snowblowing the elderly neighbors driveway and sidewalk and not expecting anything from them. People taking time out when they see a car stuck to help push it out. The list goes on...we've all been there, we know what it's like to be helpless from the snow, so we all pitch in to help others. What happened during the Blizzard of 77 with people opening their businesses to those stuck and stocked delivery trucks bringing food in for everyone was legendary and was an oversized example of what happens here on an everyday basis. Not to mention the weather here in the summer might be the best of anywhere in the US...75-80 and sunny most days with a nice breeze. And we are the festival capital of the US, having some of the biggest festivals in the country...Taste of Buffalo, Allentown Art Festival, Italian Festival, CanalFest, National Chicken Wing Festival, Dyngus Day, etc...and hundreds more. The saying here is people initially come kicking and screaming to Buffalo but after they've been here a while we can't get rid of them. 100% accurate. Great post... Edited June 7, 2017 by DirtDart
RevWarRifleman Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Matter2003 (post number 4) is excellent. Also, the fact that there's such a close relationship with the Bills players the people have. The Bills are like family to western New Yorkers. This is a relationship that got it's roots from the AFL years. The Rockpile was a stadium from another era when the bleachers came right down behind the players bench. So fan's input was heard, for better or worse, by the players. It was very direct. But I think mostly the fact that Buffalo is not a huge city, its not as imperson- able as many of those big cities in the NFL. But I like what Tim Russert said about this years ago. He said big cities have this, they have that, but Bufallo. we just have the Bills.
Jauronimo Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 I'll put the girls I dated in Buffalo against most places. But I'm handsome so my perspective is probs ly different than yours. If the Bills won, there would be zero complaints about Buffalo. Plus, Toronto and the Canadian Ballet are right over the board. If it was all about weather and women, why aren't SD and Miami better? You never miss an opportunity to remind us just how attractive you find yourself, C. Yeezy.
C.Biscuit97 Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 You never miss an opportunity to remind us just how attractive you find yourself, C. Yeezy. I'd post my picture but I don't want you to cyber stalk me.
ny33 Posted June 9, 2017 Posted June 9, 2017 Part of it might be the maturation of the players. If you are young and looking to go out to clubs every night, New York, Miami and other places can offer more. If you need to rub elbows with celebrities or your girlfriend needs to shop on Rodeo Drive once a week, Buffalo might not seem like a great place. When you get over that stage of life and you want to raise a family, you have cheap housing, great schools public and private, a short flight to New York or Chicago if necessary and few or no midnight traffic jams. If you can afford to snowbird it 3-4 months a year, it is fantastic. The Hockey players love it because it's close to Toronto without the Canadian taxes/Canadian dollar. It's a slower pace of life than NYC/Miami/LA et al, but when you slow down a bit it can be a great fit. LA is pretty affordable and laid back if you want it to be, and there are plenty of suburbs (Westchester, Northern NJ, and Fairfield County) for people who want to settle down and have access to the city in 30-45 minutes.
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