Steve, I understand where you are coming from; however I disagree with your conclusion about the economy and the status of Buffalo. You have identified a need, something that could improve the quality of life for all Buffalo residents. You have the background, desire, and skills required to fill that need. You have hundreds of local community groups, non-profit organizations, quasi-government agencies, and (of course) the government, that all could use your specific skills. Why don't you figure out how to carve that niche for yourself, or partner with a group of professionals in parallel fields to offer a full complement of services?

Buffalo is a great market for entrepreneurs, the things you mention in your article highlight why this is so. We choose to focus on the negative and on the things that we don't have, instead of on the things that we do. We choose to dwell on the lack of traditional jobs and legacy careers, we choose to focus on the inefficiencies of government, the missteps and errors of the past, and on the lack of change for certain key projects and areas. The perspective that we take on life is a choice, and that choice is the lens that we use to see the environment around us. It could be cynical, pollyannaish, realistic, optimistic, or pessimistic; all have positive and negative aspects. I run through the gamut of perspectives depending on the situation and frame of mind, this is human nature. The beautiful thing about human nature is that we have the ability to change perspective if we so choose.

I think that you are sitting on a phenomenal opportunity in Buffalo. Reach out an explore that space in more depth and detail. Send me a PM if you want to discuss in more detail.

Steve, good article. I think it's great that there are those who have stayed, but equally as important, there are many of us who have returned. And love it more now than they ever did.

I didn't appreciate anything about Buffalo until I lived in Charlotte for four years. Not that Charlotte is bad, it's just that Buffalo has so much going for it that you don't realize it until you live somewhere else. In fact, I suggest to some people that want to move elsewhere to go ahead, with the disclaimer that they'll be back someday.

The whole adage of greener grass works both ways. Most people don't realize the life they had was good until they have abandoned it. The sad truth is this isn't a human condition but a media inspired collective "woo is me" attitude. It happens in a lot of cities in America but doesn't mean it has to be that way. We are never taught to be happy with life anymore. How many times were you told to get more, buy more, buy bigger, make more money... more more more more more... now think about how many times you were told to think about your life and realize how good it really is. Sure more money / things wouldn't be a bad thing but to have it consume your sense of self is destructive.

America has a giant case of penis envy. How many times have you heard people say they are moving away with a proud overtone. "Man I am getting out here.." Ever just ask them why and try to delve deeper. Most of the time it's a hollow statement they feel they are supposed to say. I usually respond with, sure, go have fun. After a while they probably are going to miss home.. because in the end we only have one of those for our whole life.

Hey seatopants, let's blame RONALD REAGAN for all of our troubles.

Let me explain trickle down economics to you. Some guy comes up with a business and hits it rich (still legal to get rich in the United States). You would like to tax him at 75% and have the government redistribute his money. I would rather have him keep a much larger share and build a mansion. When he builds the mansion, he will directly employ roofers, landscapers, painters, movers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, kitchen designers, sheetrockers, masons, architects, and others. He will also buy a ton of furniture (the furniture salepeople will get a nice commission). Others who will get a share are a real estate appraiser, a title person, an attorney and others. How about the granite miner in Vermont who will provide the kitchen countertops? I have probably only listed 50% of the beneficiaries that result from this mansion.

I have zero class envy. If someone works hard and makes a killing (legally), so be it. And it is good for the economy.

I have found that the percieved need to leave your home town in order to achieve "success" is not unique to Buffalo. I think it's a natural thing to think that you have to move away from home to make it on your own. I went out of state for school and met people from all over who would never go back to their home town's after school. That includes DC, NYC, Boston, etc. Granted, that may be a bit more common here due to the sluggish economy, but I would guess that no matter where you grow up, many of your friends will leave after HS to chase success in another city.

To that point, I too have plenty of friends from HS who still ask me why I am still here. These are often people making less, living a lower standard of living, and living in a 600 sq.ft. apartment. They will never be able to see any oppurtunity here. It's just part of the human condition.

Ok guys.. (and gals). Here's my opinion on this, and we all know opinions are genrally worthless.

1. Buffalo is a depressed economy relative to the greater portion of the US. 2. Housing is cheap if you choose an older city property. New construction seems to be on par. 3. I moved from Buffalo to Charlotte to Singapore. Yes, I miss Buffalo but that's because I grew up there and spent 30 years of my life there. I bet i'd miss cleveland if that's where I spent 30 years of my life. 4. The probability of having a job managing global operations across all of Africa and Asia if I still lived in Buffalo - near 0. 5. People have to stop looking at wage levels without understanding cost of living. Sure, a job making 50k in Buffalo could make 100k in NYC. However, try living in NYC on that 100k and see how much more you can afford. 6. People everywhere feel their underpaid. However, the people that complain the most are the ones that don't do anything to improve it. I can't count the number of times staff in WNY told me they were underpaid, but they still sat in their jobs for 10-15 years. Here's a hint, significant pay raises don't usually stroll by your cubicle. 7. Labor forces in WNY are relatively inexpensive, but remember there are other people that work for less. 8. There is no way I would pay 350K USD for a condo on West Utica. No way. So I bought one in Uptown Charlotte; an area that could easily sustain investment return on that size property.

Does this make me a bad former Buffalonian? To some of the die hards yes. To me, I miss my family and my friends and have great memories of Buffalo. Matter of fact, i'll be back for Christmas.

However, I still need to see significant and real (not talk of) change in the economic sectors of the city to make it permenant.

Buffalo is a city of complacent neighbors.

Born and raised in Buffalo......I moved to Philly then to North Carolina.......looking for something better.

I didn't find it. It was just as challenging to find good jobs in those cities and i'm very well qualified. I did make more money in both cities but lived just the same.....due to a higher cost of living. Living in NC sucked, it was one big boring suburb, living in philly was like living on the worst street on the east side, my apt was across the street from Temple U and a nine iron from city hall.

I moved home, found a great job, bought a beautiful inexpensive home, eat at some of the best rest., drink as some cool bars, sail on a big a$$ lake, ski at a world class resort, visit art meuseums, broadway shows and i love that i'm close to my family. A day doesn't go by that I can't find something cool and exciting to do.

I'm happy to be back in Buffalo........many of my friends have moved away.......all of them miss it. In the past year I've had three of them move back home after years away, and all of them already have good jobs. I think in the upcoming year we'll see even more move back.

I think the tide is turning in buffalo.......we've seen more construction in the past few years then we've seen in the previous few decades. It feels as if more businesses are expanding and there are more jobs to be had. My firm just hired three new people for new positions.

Buffalo Rocks. The grass is not always greener on the other side.

And with respect to the photo, how about cars on Main Street? What the heck were they thinking in the 1970's.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, and lived in Philly and Western Ohio. I am so glad that I chose Buffalo.

I was Born in Buffalo, spent the first ten years of my life here. My father was laid off when Bell moved out of town and mom yearned for a warmer climate, so in 1963 we all headed to the land of opportunity in Las Vegas. Since my father was a licensed Stationary Engineer with HVAC certification, it seemed the smart choice- because in Vegas A/C is not a luxury but a necessity. No problem finding a job in a city that was growing rapidly and relied heavily on AC.

It didn't turn out that way.  In the ten years until his passing my father never found a fulltime job, his last gig was as a part time school crossing guard. Being newcomers to town and without any contacts he was unable to get a foot in the door-- back then you had to have 'juice' to get hired.

At first I was filled with excitement, in Vegas everything was new and the town had miles of flashing neon, it was filled with excitement.  Such a change from the town I perceived as rundown, old, and depressing.  Wow, I could go swimming in April here! Miles and miles of open desert for me to build forts! My enthusiasm started to wane when I started my first day of school in the fall of 1963. I came along and talked funny (don't know if you call it a "Buffalo Accent" but I had one) and kids being kids made fun of me.  I was admonished by my teacher for not "fitting in" and interacting with my fellow classmates. I did make friends, but they tended to also be transplants facing the similar issues of "fitting in."   I missed Buffalo terribly, I missed the great friends I had back home and missed the parks, the neighborhood camaraderie, and the four seasons, I missed trees! Yeah, I didn't have to shovel snow but I couldn't do much when it was 112 degrees outside. The years passed and I came to accept my new home, I tended to be a loner and as the city exploded in growth more and more transplants changed the attitudes...in fact, it was (and still is) more normal to be a newcomer than a native.  By now I'm considered a "native."

In hindsight Vegas was a great place for me when I was starting in my career, being a small radio market in the early 70's I was able to get a job and advance quickly- I was a manager after only 3 years in the biz!  25 years I played the hits on the radio as a DJ, then saw the future of the business and taught myself engineering and computers.  I got my college degree and raised a family, now the kids have moved out with families of their own.  But all those years I never stopped missing home.  And when my son had a choice where to live to make, he left Las Vegas.  He didn't want his kids attending the local schools and was concerned of the rising crime rate. Urban sprawl was causing the quality of life to deteriorate. One by one my long-time Vegas friends started to move away also, many cashed in on the real estate boom and sold their homes to move back from where they came. In a couple of months the friend I've known the longest will sell their home and move back east. Another friend I've known since 7th grade is also making plans to move out of town. Vegas has been good for me but now it's turned into a sprawling congested suburb of Southern California.

So I came to a point where I could also make a choice on where I wanted live. I chose Buffalo. In the past 44 years the only times I felt like I was truly "home" was when I was back in February this year and in July for Old Home Week. I have tons of family in the area, plus I've been gradually making contact with the dozens of cousins I didn't even know I had. I met my only surviving uncle for the first time, when I'm back home I'll meet two first cousins I didn't even know I had until we found one another through genealogy research. Plus I have a unique perspective, not seeing home for so long I came back and found the air less polluted and the lakes and river much cleaner. Even the buildings downtown are cleaner. As I do the job hunt I'm receiving from 15-20 new position announcements every single day in my inbox...I've been offered a great business partnership with a small Buffalo-owned business which I'll begin as soon as I arrive. And I've already made many great friends in Buffalo and am inspired by the accomplishments of an old third-grade classmate of mine--you may have heard of her, Marilyn Rodgers (I think Miss Clapps would be proud!) I'm a volunteer with Buffalo ReUse, signed up as a volunteer with the Central Terminal Restoration Corp and am working closely with Marti on Buffalo By Choice and Buffalo Homecoming 2008.

To me, "home" is where you feel like you belong. When I'm in Buffalo, I feel like I'm right where I belong.

I studied Computer Information Systems and it was very difficult to find a job in the Buffalo market, unless you know someone. Buffalo is a place where employers want to hire those with experience, but not pay them what they are worth. Buffalo needs more jobs that start at the ground floor, hiring younger people to grow with the company.

I was able to find a job doing similar work, software support for credit union software. It is very interesting and always keeps me on my toes. It is not networking or hardware support, but that is ok, since it was the job that kept me in Buffalo.

I had a hard time giving up the possibility of staying in Buffalo, I kept pushing and pushing. Buffalo needs people to believe in this area and start up some businesses, like telecommunications or some sort of technology businesses.

I am very happy to be in Buffalo, the housing in cheap; it only takes 20 mins to get anywhere you want with hardly no traffic jams... Well you get my point.

As I sign off - LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!

Buffalo is not a booming economy but it isnt even a stagnant economy. There are pre-war buildings that are being rediscovered on the inner city neighborhoods but there are vast stretches of small WWII factory homes and cape cods built for returning vets that are for all intensive purposes to small for the current middle and upper classes that we need to attract to our city.

Everywhere we look Buffalo is entrenched with special interests, unions, political machines, patronage, inside business deals and of course albany controlled regional authorities.

Everywhere we look in Buffalo good planning is absent and the public voice comes out not at the beginning but at the 11th hour when the fight is its hardest.

Studies show Buffalo needs 2x as much new Class A office space, Class A warehouse and industrial space but its not getting built.

Studies show Buffalo needs 2x as much new residential development and this is getting built at half the speed.

Out light rail isnt getting extended and high speed rail is only being targeted for downstate, our ports are ignored like our grain elevators.

Small Business incubators are missing at most of our major colleges and so are neighborhood office parks.

Buffalos high tech industry is but a skeleton compared to neighborhing cities like Rochester when we should be leaders in networking, communication (voice and data), logistics, supply chain management, international trade, material science and nanotechnology, etc.

Buffalos media industry is starved and so is Buffalos Convention and Tourism industry

For everything wonderful in Buffalo....families have to be employed and employable....and for 35 years we have been getting lip service.....and corruption.

I moved to Buffalo from Birmingham, AL in 2005.

I took a lower paying position because I fell in love with someone who is a "talkin' proud" Buffalo native.

There's a lot to like about Buffalo -- the lake, close proximity to Canada, the new foods, etc.

But from an economic standpoint, it was a disaster. My wages took a significant cut, I paid a lot more in taxes, and I hit a ceiling with my career.

Even though it broke my heart, I moved back to a job that pays about 16k more in the same field with a lower cost of living and taxes.

So yes, as a person who knows Steve, I say without a doubt, Buffalo is a choice.

As a non native though, I have to say its funny when you guys say everyone is so nice in WNY. There are plenty of nice people in Buffalo -- but there are lots of places, too!

Im just wondering if you feel the same about Buffalo if you lived in any other city for an extended period of time. Once you leave, you see buffalo in an entirely new perspective. Jobs are too difficult to find, once you've lived the nightlife its pretty stagnant, politics are more corrupt than usual and its miserable 4-6 months out of the year. I suggst trying on a different city and then see if Buffalo still has these positive qualities,

I used to want to come back, but not much anymore. If its difficult to meet ppl in a city such as DC or ATL, think how hard it is to reestablish friends and friend circles in a place where everyone knows everyone. I would hate to go through life living in one city when there are so many more to explore out there.

Buffalo is the greener pasture that I came to and every day I give thanks that I don't have to live in a soulless boomburg like Las Vegas or Charlotte.

First thought was about the irony of al-alo's "rich should have to pay more taxes" as contrasted with al-alo of the past "why can't we convince a lot more people and companies to move to Buffalo and create jobs here?", (paraphrasings), but it seems rubygreta and RonR addressed Econ 101 topics very well above. So in the spirit of the holdiays and to honor the ongoing turnaround, renaissance, and turning of the corner, I'll shut up this time. Just will say this great sentence from RonR would be even greater if it said "Buffalo and NY State needs to..." (and of course neither Buffalo or NYS seem at all interested in anything of the sort, except for whatever Collins might do before the legislature starts steamrolling him).

Buffalo needs to change the business climate and make it more friendly for companies to operate.

Prodigal Son, if your last sentence that we already have better jobs and economic conditions is true, then there shouldn't need to be any special expensive advertising. The people wanting to move here should notice the greatly improved quantity and quality of Buffalo job openings when they check Monster.com listings.

I think Buffalo should steal NYC's moniker...."If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere"....cause it ain't easy that's for sure. That being said, I'm not leaving anytime soon......my parole hearing isn't for another year

Joshua, I'm still in the process of packing up here in Vegas (i've lived in my present home for 22 years and am a packrat--sheez, do I have junk to clean out!) -- but once I'm in town count on seeing me as part of the work parties.

george - I also volunteer with the Central Terminal - when do you come down, for events or building committee work parties?

If you don't like it here, leave. If you miss it, come back. Problem solved.

perfectly stated sbrof.

My brother-in-law got his pharmacy degree at UB and will be returning to Buffalo to get a position with Walgreens. As a Canadian he had to take postions in Florida for a few years to get his green card but is looking forward to settling back into Buffalo. He is from London, Ontario, but I am very familiar with Buffalo having grown up in St. Catharines. I truly do think it is the best kept secret in the states. Everytime we are back in the Niagara Region we spend a day and evening in town and each time I grow more fond of the city, I truly hope that its reached its bottom and it is all up from here. I will be spending more time in Buffalo in the future. I have some buddies with a software/business solutions company in Toronto (70 employess). Any Buffalonians interested in their services contact "www.intelliware.ca"

Yeah, I noted it was paraphrasing... but probably I should've made that clearer than I did. Sorry.

But why would you assume somebody you never met or heard of before is likely a cheat just because they are successful? If I assumed a poor person I never met is a shoplifter, people would (rightly so) complain about me making that assumption.

As a side note, the kind of successful job-creating person ruby described is exactly what Buffalo would need much more of when or if your stated goal of our population trend reversing course is ever to come true. people like him could each make it possible for multiple other people to ahve jobs here. I might have expected your reaction to ruby to have been more something along lines of "hey can you ask that guy to move to Buffalo please?" rather than to say you assume it's likely he's a cheat or whatever.

I was going to post my life story as well (born in Buffalo, moved away to college, lived in Milwaukee, SD, Florida, NM and Vegas, and then moved back this summer, during Buffalo Old Home Week, coincidentally), but everyone else has already. I completely agree that Buffalo is a choice. I left for greener pastures, didn't find them, and made a conscious choice to come back. I hadn't failed to make it on the outside, I had succeeded, but wanted something different for my kids than the fake self-indulgence of Las Vegas. But I'll be honest, if Buffalo was the same as it was when I left (mid-90's) I would not have returned. It took not just my love of family, culture, sports, and history, but also hard economic realities that I thought Buffalo had made a turn. $2.5 billion investment in downtown for starters.

My point, though, is that there are so many good stories that need to be shared with a much wider audience than this blog-site of regular readers (many of whom have already made the Buffalo choice). Marti is doing a great job with her Buffalo By Choice organization, and Buffalo Old Home Week, but we need a national campaign to reach the thousands of people who went college out of town and never did choose to move back. How do we take the massive funding already dedicated to such efforts (bed taxes with the CVB, BNE work, etc) and market Buffalo not just to conventions and businesses, but to our ex-pats as well. Tell them the Buffalo of today is different than the Buffalo they left. Same food and family, but better jobs, economic conditions, etc.

Buffalo is a choice, but why do we have to pay so much to live in our choice (aka Taxes) .... yes the cost of living is lower, but start adding in the taxes (thank you NY State, Sammy " tax and spend" Hoyt, etc) and it makes it more difficult for us...the middle class.

Makes me long for WNY to become the 51st state

Jules, you are right, some things are going well there, but there are things that Buffalo has that Pittsburgh doesn't. I would have never have been able to afford the house in the city that I got in Buffalo if it was in Pittsburgh. And I never thought I would say this, but people are nicer here (they are pretty nice in Pittsburgh, too) Buffalo has more free/cheap summertime fun, its easier to start and shop local business, and being near Canada is a plus, too. I love Pittsburgh, and always will, but I am proud to have made Buffalo my new home.

As for the other discussion--when I moved here, wages stayed about the same (even though I took a "step up," in terms of position), but expenses went way down. If ever there was a place for champagne taste on a beer budget, this is the place (and since I have "beer taste,") there's money left over.