Good things about being up north - no mosquitoes in the winter! Although I have pulled ticks off my dog recently, that is not the norm.
So many people focus on the snow and cold while ignoring the fact that there are no bugs up north in the winter! You might get a stray fly or lady bug indoors, but if you bundle up nicely the outdoors are very enjoyable in the winter. I don’t have a 4 wheel or all wheel drive, I just stick snow tires on my car.
Well, the tea’s not sweet because they used all the sugar in the cornbread. 
The thing is, you can get sugar packets for your tea. But if you have a serious hush puppies dependency, I’d reconsider the move. There are BBQ joints of varying styles in the North (though average quality is probably lower than in Memphis), but few of them do hush puppies well or at all. But then again, you can do wine tours in upstate NY, so I’m not saying everything is worse.
More seriously, the other issue with Buffalo besides lots of snow and cold is that you won’t see a whole lot of sun from October through April or so. Even when it’s not dumping snow, it’ll often be overcast, cloudy, grey, and not sunny. Some people get bothered by this. Others don’t.
The culture is going to be different: a little faster-paced and less chatty/friendly, but more efficient and honest. I suspect average political bent up North is slightly closer to yours. But really, things are getting more and more homogenous across the country, and it’s not like it’s going to be a different planet. The difference in attitudes and style between two groups of people in Buffalo is going to be bigger than the average difference between groups from Buffalo and Memphis. So it really depends on who you meet and hang out with.
I live in Maine and I love it. I’m anxiously awaiting the first snowfall. I grew up outside Chicago so I’m used to the cold weather but if you’re not, it’s a big change. And needless to say, the fall is absolutely gorgeous. Although raking the leaves, not so much fun. That said, I waited for most of mine to blow away before I even attempted it - they were a good 6 inches deep.
It’s a great place from which to look down on the South.
Two words: Love Canal
I personally really liked living in that part of NY (I spent 4 years in the Rochester area). Winters can be cold, but that to me is better than wet.
We use salt to melt ice and snow on sidewalks and streets. This salt is a corrosive and will damage nice leather shoes, shiny cars and other stuff, including pet feet.
If you don’t shovel your sidewalk the mailman will not deliver your mail, despite what that old rhyme says.
If you live in an old drafty house like I do you can buy some “window plastic”, big sheets of plastic like a giant roll of Saran Wrap, which you 2-side tape over your windows. It really does cut down on drafts and lower heating bills.
You also have to add about 20 min to any car trip for warming the car and scraping ice and snow off windows (if you don’t have a garage). I always forget that part and I was raised here.
I dream of a remote starter…
Something else that might apply:
I’m not sure how houses are in Memphis, but in the north, expect to have a basement, and an attic, and a garage (50/50 chance of it being attached or detached.) That goes for houses, obviously. If you rent, I strongly recommend you find a place that has heat included. You do pay a little more overall, most of the time, but it’s spread throughout the year. There’s nothing worse than getting that first oil or gas bill in December and it’s almost $200.
Plus, you can take advantage of it and crank that heat up as much as you want and take 30 minute showers, if that’s your thing.
As described above, Buffalo is in the snowbelt. If you are considering it, you should visit it before accepting the job. Upstate NY is beautiful and you’ve said you’ll be travelling around a lot, so it might be nice. But Buffalo is sort of a depressed area. Not sure how it compares to Memphis. But as others have said, you’re near Toronto. And there are people who like Buffalo and kind of have a strong loyalty to it. So maybe you’d like it.
I’m one of the people who believes: “There is no such things as ‘bad weather’ just ‘inappropriate clothing’.” You should be able to get used to the temperatures just fine if you get appropriate outerwear.
If the idea of driving in snow is intimidating, a lot of places have advanced drivers’ ed courses that will teach you how to drive in the stuff. A buddy of mine’s sister took one of the courses and it left us totally jealous. They got to do cool stuff like zoom fast then skid around orange pilons and stuff (in a controlled setting of course, and they had to wear helmets even though there were just skidding around in Hyundais.)
Something besides weather to add: the further north you go, the more extreme the difference in summer and winter daylight hours. Around Christmas the sun doesn’t rise until nearly quarter to eight in the morning and sets shortly after 4:30 PM, which makes commuting in rush hour traffic just loads of fun. Conversely, during the last week of June the songbirds will wake you up at 4:45 AM every morning, and it doesn’t get dark until nearly 9:30 PM. On the 4th of July they don’t start the fireworks until 10:00 PM because it takes that long to get dark enough.
ETA: during winter, if the day happens to be heavily overcast, the effective hours of darkness are even longer.
Up to slightly more than 2 months of warm summer weather.
Up to 7 months of weather where it freezes.
Not so much anymore. When I was a kid in Michigan I sometimes had to wear my snowsuit over my Hallowe’en costume because it was so cold. Now I’m in Canada, it’s the end of November, and my neighbor’s flowers have started to bloom again. This “spring” weather is downright creepy!
As others have mentioned, “upstate” covers a lot of territory. When I lived in NYC, “upstate” started at 59th street.
But to answer your question . . . it seems to change with age. I always used to enjoy winter, even driving in it. But the older I get, the more I dread it every year. I’m not as confident of my driving skills as I used to be . . . and certaingly not the skills of other drivers. And even with my new snow blower, the driveway is just a pain in the ass. I can easily see why so many seniors move to Florida.
How about Syracuse? I’m considering applying for a job there.
But, my experience with snow is even less than Skald’s… I was born in L.A., raised in the Bay Area, stayed there until five years ago, and have been in Portland, OR since. “The Snow” has always meant someplace in the mountains, several hours away; or, since moving to Portland, there’s been a few times where we got a couple of inches for a day or so (except last winter - that was a good one).
I love cold weather, I love snow (though I admit I’m naive about it), and I frickin’ hate the heat. I have a hard time handling it when it gets above 80. I read on wiki that Syracuse is “the snowiest large city in the US.” Is this true? Would it be too much, going from one extreme to another?
Syracuse is also in the snow belt. I think it’s a pretty nice place. My sister went to college there. It probably is less snowy and less economically depressed than Buffalo. I went to school in Ithaca, which is about a hour from Syracuse but not in the snow belt (although we got plenty of snow!).
goldensnowball.com The Golden Snowball Trophy, escorted by a convoy of meteorologists, travels to the winning city each year, but SYRACUSE is the largest city with the most snow year after year (take that, Buffalo). We are directly in the path of the dreaded Lake Effect snow bands coming off Lake Ontario, and there can be a total whiteout in one area, and clear and sunny a half mile away. December we get a lot of rain, the snow machine doesn’t really crank up anymore until January. February is very cold and snowy, and the most hair-raising storms can happen in March. You get used to the snow, and frankly I don’t think it snows as much as it used to, or as early; but no one’s mentioned the freezing rain (sleet) that ices up the roads sometimes. Snow, they can plow and salt and sand the streets (and the plows are out there at 4 or 5 a.m. because people have got to get to work and school) - but freezing rain messes everything up!
Syracuse has a lot of culture, isn’t as economically depressed as some cities, and is really trying hard. Housing is dirt cheap, comparatively speaking. And, of course, the area is just beautiful, there are rivers and lakes and miles of countryside, and the Adirondacks are an hour away.
“Golden snowball?” My go-to tip is always, “Don’t eat yellow snow.” That just doesn’t sound right to me.
I’ve always lived in the Northeast, and quite frankly, I always found Upstate New York and New England dark, cold, grey and isolated in the winter.
When you deal with cold also remember the duration is what you have to take into factor. I’ve never lived in upstate NY, but I have lived in Minnesota. And the difference between Minneapolis and Chicago is quite.
The biggest thing is Chicago gets cold, so does Minneapolis, but in Minneapolis is STAYS cold. You can have a week or two weeks where the temps don’t rise about 0ºF (-18ºC). In Chicago you get very cold days, but then it ususally warms then goes down.