bills_fan Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 I work with alot of people from NYC & I always get a kick out of how they think they are living the good life & thinking there sh*t dont stink. It is funny though, when I actually talk to them about the quality of life. They usually say they live in a small apartment, pay 2 grand in rent. If they want to go golfing they usually say unless you belong to a country club forget about golfing. Most of them said their commute time was at least an hour, no matter where you had to go. A few of my clients came in a few weeks ago. After work, I took them back to my house for a BBQ. They could not believe how nice the suburbs were in buffalo & when I told them how much I paid for my house in Lancaster 2 of them nearly fell off their chair. Never been impressed with NYC, & I go there for business once a month. Too crowded, too much of a rat race. The people on the subways just look beat & miserable. You could keep your 6 figure salaries & your claim to fame that you made it in the city, I will keep my $80K salary & my high quality laid back life. Wasn't trying to be insulting at all. But they are wrong about the golfing, I don't belong to a cc, and before my son was born would golf 3xs per week. You get the best of NYC, you come, enjoy the city and go home.
Gordio Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 Wasn't trying to be insulting at all. But they are wrong about the golfing, I don't belong to a cc, and before my son was born would golf 3xs per week. You get the best of NYC, you come, enjoy the city and go home. Oh I know man, I wasnt trying to give you a tough time. That is surprising about the golf. I have a few friends that live in Hoboken & they said if you want to golf on the weekends & do not belong to a country club, it is very difficult. IMHO on NYC, I think it would be a great place to live if you made a ton of money.
rockpile Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 We need decent jobs to afford even those rock-bottom house prices. And please don't forget the high taxes you pay on those cheap houses. For tax purposes, my assessment has been bumped three times in nine years, increasing about $40,000. Each time I contested it and each time the response was a miniscule compromise by the town. I expect to pay close to $6K in school and property taxes annually on a house appraised around $140K. I was born in Lackawanna, grew up in Hamburg and Silver Lake, lived for a couple years in Jersey, and have spent the past 27 years in Rochester. I love WNY, but there is little to keep the next generation here with no jobs. There is little to keep retirees here on fixed incomes and taxes that are about the highest in the nation. I love the WNY lifestyle - now if the government will just get out of my pocket, maybe I will retire here some day.
bills_fan Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 Oh I know man, I wasnt trying to give you a tough time. That is surprising about the golf. I have a few friends that live in Hoboken & they said if you want to golf on the weekends & do not belong to a country club, it is very difficult. IMHO on NYC, I think it would be a great place to live if you made a ton of money. I lived in Hoboken for a couple years. I played on Staten Island without a problem. The round would take 5-6 hours, but you could play.
kota Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 I live in LA currently. I would move back to Buffalo in a heartbeat if i could. Even with the cost of living increase here in LA i still make more money here then i could in Buffalo. It's the only reason why i am not currently in Buffalo.
Gordio Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 For tax purposes, my assessment has been bumped three times in nine years, increasing about $40,000. Each time I contested it and each time the response was a miniscule compromise by the town. I expect to pay close to $6K in school and property taxes annually on a house appraised around $140K. I was born in Lackawanna, grew up in Hamburg and Silver Lake, lived for a couple years in Jersey, and have spent the past 27 years in Rochester. I love WNY, but there is little to keep the next generation here with no jobs. There is little to keep retirees here on fixed incomes and taxes that are about the highest in the nation. I love the WNY lifestyle - now if the government will just get out of my pocket, maybe I will retire here some day. I agree with this to a certain extent. I will still argue though that the high taxes are more then offset by the low housing costs. The only arguement against this is that in other places the real estate appreciates alot more then in WNY.
ax4782 Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 I agree with this to a certain extent. I will still argue though that the high taxes are more then offset by the low housing costs. The only arguement against this is that in other places the real estate appreciates alot more then in WNY. The property taxes are even higher here in Detroit. Be glad that Buffalo has a competent city council (by comparison) which realizes that paying for good education and roads are two of the most important investments for the here and now and for the future. And our housing market may be even worse. You can buy a house here for 50,000 and I don't mean a tiny one bedroom either. As for Rockpile's comment, people are so worried about the next generation and how they are going to succeed, and in the same breath whine about have to pay some money for it. Talk about Janusesque. I'm always amazed to see people who can talk so eloquently from both sides of their mouth.
bills_fan Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 As for Rockpile's comment, people are so worried about the next generation and how they are going to succeed, and in the same breath whine about have to pay some money for it. Talk about Janusesque. I'm always amazed to see people who can talk so eloquently from both sides of their mouth. Plenty of ways to keep taxes low and pay for it. Increase revenues and decrease costs. When was the last oil refinery or nuclear power plant built in the US? Think Buffalo could maybe tap that market? Why does a town of 100,000 people (Cheektowaga) have 7 school districts? With 7 superintendents and assorted other administration? I see a chance for consolidation there.
obie_wan Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 Plenty of ways to keep taxes low and pay for it. Increase revenues and decrease costs. When was the last oil refinery or nuclear power plant built in the US? Think Buffalo could maybe tap that market? Why does a town of 100,000 people (Cheektowaga) have 7 school districts? With 7 superintendents and assorted other administration? I see a chance for consolidation there. you do realize that the revenue of a govt comes in the form of taxes and fees? For a govt to increase its revenue, someone will have to pay more. The trick is to increase the pie. However, in a stagnant market, tax rebates and incentives are used to bring in new business.
sweetbaboo Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 What exactly happened to Aunt Rosie's Loganberry? I went to Mighty Taco after being absent for a year and found out that it's been replaced by some generic version. It also tastes like apple juice.
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Come to Illinois and stay around the ChicagoLand area to the South and towards NorthWest Indiana and you can get the best of everything BFLO has to offer and still be economically rewarded... Housing is cheap and it isn't a rat race like it is in the Northern Suburbs.
Tcali Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Plenty of ways to keep taxes low and pay for it. Increase revenues and decrease costs. When was the last oil refinery or nuclear power plant built in the US? Think Buffalo could maybe tap that market? Why does a town of 100,000 people (Cheektowaga) have 7 school districts? With 7 superintendents and assorted other administration? I see a chance for consolidation there. I see power (and possibly high tech--but i have my doubts about high tech) being Buffalo's renaissance. Would love to see a string of nuke power plants to go along with some wind and the hydro. Its time for Buffalo to jump on that. But will they? doubt it...sadly. Buffalo needs to say yes to nuclear power plants.We could supply power to a huge chunk of the country....and even get plants for electric cars to be powered by them.
Tcali Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 ... If you believe in something strongly enough then fight for it...don't run away from the problem and hope someone else can fix it someday. Help fix it---be a part of the solution...that is what I moved back here with the intention of being.... Matter....its great that people move back....and I am happy for you...but the only people who can really help Buffalo are the entrepeneurs and industry moguls who can create giant projects. Someone opening a sporting goods store or a dental office or a restaurant -while perfectly noble ways to make a living--are not contributing anything significant to rebuilding a Buffalo that is really an economic mess.
Gordio Posted June 20, 2008 Posted June 20, 2008 I lived in Hoboken for a couple years. I played on Staten Island without a problem. The round would take 5-6 hours, but you could play. That was kinda my point though. Who would want to play a 6hr round of golf when your waiting 10 minutes for every shot. We go every saturday morning, a foursome, & are done in 3hrs.
bills_fan Posted June 20, 2008 Posted June 20, 2008 That was kinda my point though. Who would want to play a 6hr round of golf when your waiting 10 minutes for every shot. We go every saturday morning, a foursome, & are done in 3hrs. It is annoying, no doubt. But when I lived in Brooklyn, I played in the mronings before work and was done in 3-4 hours. Playing on Sat/Sun is the only time it takes 5-6 and there are better/worse courses for that. One thing about Hoboken though, it rocks. Everyone there is basically just out of school and making decent money. So everyone goes out every single night in Hoboken. The town is actually only one square mile large and it has 100 bars. When I lived there, I loved it.
Chef Jim Posted June 20, 2008 Posted June 20, 2008 You know, after reading the title of this thread for the tenth time it hit me. We're not former Buffalonians. That's like calling someone an ex-Marine. There is no such thing. We're all Buffalonians (or WNYers in my case) that are on extended vacations from the winters. Mine's just lasted close to 30 years.
Gordio Posted June 20, 2008 Posted June 20, 2008 It is annoying, no doubt. But when I lived in Brooklyn, I played in the mronings before work and was done in 3-4 hours. Playing on Sat/Sun is the only time it takes 5-6 and there are better/worse courses for that. One thing about Hoboken though, it rocks. Everyone there is basically just out of school and making decent money. So everyone goes out every single night in Hoboken. The town is actually only one square mile large and it has 100 bars. When I lived there, I loved it. I love Hoboken. Used to go down there all the time before I was married to party with my friends. My one friend moved down there & lives in Hobeken now. He actually bought 2 condos, right connecting with each other, had a contractor take down the walls & make it one big condo. Says he has about 2500 sq feet now. Has 2 kids so he definately needed the room. I think it cost him about 1 million to buy the places & do the construction. Talking to him the other day, he was a not worried but a little concerned if anything ever happened to his job, or if he wanted to move back to Buffalo, if he could be able to get out from under his mortgage now without losing a ton of money. He once told me that Hoboken per square mile has the most bars then any place in the country. I definately believe it. Had some wild times there.
dhg Posted June 20, 2008 Posted June 20, 2008 Plenty of ways to keep taxes low and pay for it. Increase revenues and decrease costs. When was the last oil refinery or nuclear power plant built in the US? Think Buffalo could maybe tap that market? Why does a town of 100,000 people (Cheektowaga) have 7 school districts? With 7 superintendents and assorted other administration? I see a chance for consolidation there. Cheektowaga has 4 school districts. That is still probably 3 too many.
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted July 18, 2008 Posted July 18, 2008 There are two other projects going on that you didn't mention including a proposed 40 story tower that will be the highest building in Buffalo ( see this website http://www.buffalo-city-tower.com). At least accoring the to Buffalo City Tower Website, the building is approved and they are going to break ground on the building very soon. It looks like a spectacular building. Also, don't forget about the Statler Hotel Renevation project. Buh-Bye Buffalo City Tower. Another Buffalo News conceptual drawing bites the dust. Also note in that article where the same developer stopped the Statler reonvation in April due to lack of funds. More pie in the sky plans from half-assed developers up in smoke. Link Cue the annoyed response in five...four...three...
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