Pros and Cons of Living in Buffalo, NY

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hello!

My wife is originally from Buffalo. I am originally from Toronto, and that is where we are currently living.

My wife would like to move back to Buffalo in the next few years. She has a much larger friends and family base there than I do here, and the cost of living is lower.

I am not adverse to the idea and agree that there are many benefits. However, most of what I know about Buffalo comes from visiting on weekends (when my wife and I were dating), watching Irv Weinstein growing up on Channel 7, the thousands upon thousands of jokes that revolve around “fires in Tonawanda”, and watching the Bills lose 4 straight Super Bowls.

So I would like to get some impartial opinions on living and working in Buffalo. What are the good and the bad? Schools and raising a family? Job opportunities (I work as a Financial Analyst/Accounting role)? Cost of living?

Thank you!

2

Well, you can have one of those cool astro-turf carpeted garage rooms in the summer.

Seriously, I have never lived in Buffalo, but for some reason a lot of Buffalo folks end up in Michigan at some point, and every single Buffalo person I have ever met has been great to know. I’ve seriously thought about asking the government to test the water there or something.

delphica is from Buffalo. Maybe she’ll scoot in here and have some insight.

3

You rang?

Full disclosure – I’m from Buffalo, but I don’t currently live in Buffalo. That is telling, I suppose. Like your wife, I want to move back there, and I plan to sometime within the next 2 years.

Jobs – depends on what field you work in. Education and health are big fields in the Buffalo area. Jobs in technology have not really caught up to the national average. Finance is tricky. Buffalo is not a mecca of high finance. This might be a challenge for you, and you may have to think more creatively about job possibilities. People who currently have good jobs in finance are fairly entrenched in them, it’s not a particularly fluid field in Buffalo. I don’t think it’s impossible, I’m just trying to be very realistic.

Living/Lifestyles – one interesting thing about Buffalo is that the city is very much connected with the surrounding suburbs, yet each of the 'burbs retains its own personality. Depending what you like, you could no doubt find a suburb that appeals to you and your lifestyle. Lately, there has been much talk about an exodus from the city proper, the upside of this is that housing within the city is cheap and easy to find.

Schools – I don’t have children, so I can’t really speak to this. I know the quality of schools varies greatly from district to district. Catholic education is still alive and well in Buffalo. Private (which almost always means “catholic”) education is opted for by a fairly significant number of people, including non-Catholics.

In general, the reasons I personally plan to move back there – like your wife, I still have a network of family and friends there. Everyone from Buffalo has a network of family and friends there. I miss living in a city where I know people when I walk into a store, bar, or restaurant. Running into a friend on the street isn’t at all unusual. It’s a city that is large enough to have a variety of entertainment and cultural activities, yet small enough that it’s possible to enjoy them. I’m not describing this very well, but I always feel more like an active participant at an art show, or concert, or parade, or whatever in Buffalo as opposed to a lemming moving through a sea of millions. It’s close to Toronto. It’s close to Lake Erie, which is clean now. It’s easy to be out-of-doors in Buffalo. Boating, hiking, skiiing, skating, etc. Food is excellent, and it’s not all chicken wings and beef on weck. Cost of living is moderate. It’s conceivable that an average income family could keep a boat on the river, or horses in Clarence, or a ski share without feeling financial strain.

Downsides – crime is very high, depending where you are. Parts of the city are still very segregated, racially, culturally, by class, etc. It is almost easy to avoid these issues by avoiding those areas of the city, and I personally find that sad and creepy that so many Buffalonians are happy to go with the avoidance policy rather than try to address these problems. It is not nearly as clean as Toronto, but then again, what is? (I swear I would eat food off the sidewalk in Toronto, it is that clean.)

Things that might be downsides, depending on your personality – architecture in Buffalo can be beautiful, much of the cityscape, however, has a weird sort of “American Industrial” look. Some people find this depressing, some people find it interesting. The winter weather is obviously a factor, but probably not for Canadians. It is not a cosmopolitan city at first glance, certainly not like Toronto. However, the university community is more cosmopolitan, and there is a diversity to Buffalo’s population (although, for the most part, not so much in terms of recent immigration). The population tends to be conservative. People in general tend to like Buffalo (why else would they stay there?) so there is an annoying tendency for people to have absolutely no desire to visit Toronto, or Chicago, or New York. There is some inertia in terms of looking beyond one’s own backyard.

I think it is hilarious that you mentioned the fires. Everyone I’ve ever met from Toronto talks about this, and honestly, Buffalonians don’t even notice it.

4

This is certainly my biggest concern. One of the reasons why we initially decided to live in Toronto was that there would be better and more varied career opportunities. I just hope things aren’t too limited in Buffalo. I’m hoping the “fresh blood” angle will help me… :slight_smile:

The 2 areas we would probably would be looking at would be Kenmore, where my wife’s mother lives and is more of a neighbourhoor setting, and Lockport, where you can get a nice large yard in a more rural setting.

We had my wife’s 16 year old cousin and her friend stay with us for a weekend a little while back and they gave us the negative aspect of almost every high school district in the area. I am hoping that there are some positives for some of them as well…

My wife is the same way. When someone up here finds out that she is from Buffalo, out come the “news reports of a fire in Cheektowaga” and she just gives them a puzzled “Umm… Yeah” look. :slight_smile:

Thank you very much for the information. Always appreciated and maybe we’ll bump into each other at Tops in a few years…

5

OK, well, this is my first post as a member. I thought my first post would be about something profound, but no, it’s about Buffalo.

I live in Buffalo, and have all my life, and I like it very much. I have travelled to many places around the world and in the US for work and pleasure, so I do have at least some modicum of experience with other cities (but no, haven’t lived in them).

I’ll just get right to some of the main points:

  1. The public education system in Buffalo is very poor. If you move into the City, send your kids to a private school. Or, move to the suburbs and do what you will. I’m not sure about Kenmore schools.

  2. I live in North Buffalo and it is probably the only decent place left (maybe South Buffalo isn’t that, bad it isn’t that great either) in the City itself. The West and East sides are in very bad shape and are places you simply should not live. Kenmore is the direct northern suburb of Buffalo - I live about a quarter mile from the “border.” North Buffalo and Kenmore are quite nice, very affordable, easy to get around, good housing, good community, etc. Kenmore’s eastern neighbor is Amherst, which has been (again?) voted the safest city in the country (in 2000 or 2001 I think). It is more upscale than Buffalo, or at least that’s what people from Amherst like to believe.

  3. All the suburbs are fine - Cheektowaga, West Seneca, etc. Lockport is fine.

  4. As far as things to do, there are lots of things to do. Maybe you actually have to spend a little time finding them, but they are there. Skiing, boating, theatre, hiking, parks; you name it, it has it.

  5. The people are great here.

  6. Economically, the area is not the best. Slow to expand, quick to contract. Finance - not the best area, but there must something downtown for you. Not much tech - but I’m a physicist working for a major defense firm, so there is some.

  7. Politics. My biggest knock on Buffalo (mainly the City, but the suburbs as well) is that it takes so long to do anything big. By this I mean the new bridge to Canada, new/improved zoo, Erie Canal commercial slip, etc. Debates drag on for YEARS and in the end it either gets done half-assed or not at all. I think it’s time for me to become Mayor and gets things straightened out. Yeah!!

So that’s about it. Oh, sorry you’re from Canada - aboot. I recommend living here to anyone. No, it’s not London or San Francisco or Miami, but that can be a good thing too, eh?

6

Hi Nimitz42, it’s always nice to welcome another Buffalonian to the boards.

mske, I hope you start to enjoy Buffalo as much as I do! Kenmore is a great area. I also love Lockport (I’m a huge Erie Canal geek) but you might want to keep in mind that Lockport is a bit of a hoof from the city proper. Definitely doable, but probably about the most distant you could be and still get into the city conveniently. Areas like Clarence are just a bit closer, and just as rural-ish.

It’s great that you live in Toronto, so you can probably do a great deal of visiting and interviewing before you move.

7

Con: The Bills.

8

I lived in the Buff for the last three of the four consecutive conference championships the Bills won, and I can say that people who in Buffalo are generally from Buffalo, echoing that well-knit society theme from natives. The personality of the sections of town are distinct, and almost clannish. Not in a bad way at all. I lived not only in Amherst, but in Williamsville, the snooty section of the snooty city. The people are almost universally nice, there is an abundant variety of recreational activities. I ended up buying a nice house on Getzville Rd., Amherst for under $100K in 1994. The city has more of a “Blue Collar” feel to it than any other area I’ve lived in, neighborhood bars are real neighborhood-y. I enjoyed my years there, but always felt like an outsider. Of course I moved next to Maine, and Buffalo felt like Home Sweet Home in comparison, but I digress.

The economy was tanking in the early to mid 90’s in many sectors, and the political scene was a true dark comedy, but Jimmy Griffin was ousted before I left.

It bears repeating, these were some of the nicest people I have met, as a group.

9

Thank you all for responding. I appreciate the information. No decisions are final, but it is nice to know that Buffalo is a friendly place to live.

10

I have been many places and Buffalo is among the worst. I’m not only talking about the weather and the crummy football team that hasn’t been in the playoffs an NFL leading 13 seasons in a row. I’m talking about the people. Here’s what I observed and had verified by others not from here:

  1. They are OVERLY SUSPICIOUS of you if you are not from here, and DEFENSIVE if you say anything negative about the area. They are deluded into thinking this place is wonderful since most have not traveled much outside the area (abused child syndrome - this is all they know so this must be love).

  2. They are neighborly and charitable, I give them that, but THEY ARE NOT FRIENDLY as they claim to be. They are generally simple-minded people who do not like outsiders, but they will pretend to be friendly because they are nosy and want information from you (for gossip, mainly - this place has a small-town mentality). Best not to share anything with them. Telling them “it’s private information” can often do the trick. Don’t fall for the “nice” routine - it’s a disguise. There is also a lot of voluntary cultural segregation - the various groups like to stay among each other.

  3. Here’s a good example of what’s wrong with the people here. If they ask you which football team you root for, and you don’t say the Buffalo Bills, they are shocked and want you to switch loyalties to their sports teams. When I ask them, “Would you stop being a Buffalo Bills fan if you moved to another city, say, Miami?” They always answer “No” - yet they expect you to change your rooting interests. Yes, they are that homogenized and dumb in some cases.

  4. I have met some of the weirdest people ever here, but they don’t realize how weird they are because to them it’s normal! Too many examples to give, but if you listen for even a few minutes they could have you convinced that you’re the strange one. Just nod your head, smile, and walk away. Better yet, know when to walk away, know when to run (this is a run). When I asked some new acquaintances if they had any eligible friends I can potentially date, I was told their friends are “too weird” for a normal person like me, and proceeded to tell me about some bizarre things they did. This place is that scary-bad.

  5. Some of the local merchants are the dumbest people ever. They know little about business, less about customer service, and even less about being professional and courteous. Often I go right to the manager (if there is one, and who may be this same way) to get the proper action taken. Make sure to do this, because you’ll go nuts talking to the morons here.

  6. Keep this in mind: Buffalo was recently voted the Rudest City in America by an independent study. I think this is totally justified. There are many nice people here, but a lot of jerks. I have met a lot of both.

  7. Summary: Don’t be here if you don’t have to be - this place can be atrocious. Don’t bother with the locals here, but if you have to, do not tell them anything personal (I prefer to say, “Why do you want to know that?” or “Does it matter?”). Ask to speak to the manager or highest level person available when getting nowhere with the initial contact. Above all - do not believe anything anyone here tells you! I have never seen so many mistakes made (driving directions, etc.) although the intentions are good. One time I asked a well-intentioned person if he was “sure” of the directions provided because it meant a long detour if not. He looked at me and finally said, “No.” As it turned out, he was wrong and I would have been totally lost. There’s a lot of that here. That includes with the city politics, sports teams, and the unbelievable inertia in doing anything with the city’s waterfront - when every other city with a nice waterfront has done something with it. Always count your change - I almost was short changed many times. If the jerks shout at you, shout back, leave, and complain to their boss if they work there. Few good jobs here, and the companies also suffer from all talk, no action, but make you work hard and go in circles for nothing.

I would not recommend Buffalo - let the visitor or new resident beware. Avoid.

11

Psssst…this thread is 10 years old.

12

zombie or no

mske what did you do?

13

Seems to have shuffled off.

14

Much of what buffalobill says jives with my experience in Minnesota.

15

First thing I think of when I hear about Buffalo is lake-effect snow…

16

The SNOW. Best have something with all-wheel drive, because people get their cars stuck in city streets when shit gets real. I grew up in Syracuse, but I go/have been to Buffalo a lot because my cousins live there, and I spent plenty of time there growing up. I like it a lot, but I’m used to the snow. There’s a surprising amount of great restaurants. There are tons of things to do. And you can see Canada from your house :stuck_out_tongue:

Buffalo schools pretty much follow the same pattern as the rest of schools in and around a major city, (IME, in NYS, anyway): the schools in the city suck, the suburban schools are good. I think Williamsville is considered the best if nothing’s changed. Buffalo City School District is really bad. They compare to Syracuse city schools, which graduate less than 50%.

17

Heh - I just saw that this did get revived.

What happened to me - oh, the story it is. Can’t post it now due to lack of time, but I will.
…don’t you hate people who do that… :slight_smile: