Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 11th 2005, 1:59pm By queenseyes

6/14/2005 09:27:14 AM BuffaloPundit said... 30-something. Educated. Love to write. Opinionated. Hopeful. Optimistic. Unsullied by and unconcerned with Buffalo's past pluses and minuses. Can't wait for the day that traffic into town gets so bad that we need commuter rail. Want to raise my kid here - want my kid to stay here. Would only leave here kicking & screaming. Love the weather. Even the snow. Especially the snow. Recognize that there's something magical about living in a city and walking to the corner store for groceries, etc. in the middle of a blinding, driving-ban snowstorm. Love browsing new shops, trying new restaurants. Like to support local business. Is that enough or should I keep rambling?

6/14/2005 10:41:26 AM Anonymous said... Late 30something. Single. Born and raised in the city. I lived in Northern California for 4 years then NYC for another 4. I loved my time in both places, but always felt like I was on vacation and knew someday I'd come home. I think the one thing missing from your description is entrepreneurial. It's what people who've made it here have to be. And once you spend time in other cities, you find out it's not a bad thing that the job situation will never be the way it used to be. The rest of the world has to hustle, make opportunities for themselves, be resourceful, chase paydays and not rely on paychecks. The people I know in Buffalo who are really making it work for them are entrepreneurial even if they work for someone else.

6/14/2005 11:45:39 AM ted masarro said... I'm 24 and I'm a trainer at a health club. Canisius grad and I'm doing some coursework at Buff State. I'm going to open my own place one day. I love it here because there's not a lot of things I want to do I can't do. Sure, some other places have more but as long as there's one or two great sushi places why do you need 20? Same goes for everything else. I know you're trying to be positive and I like that. But this needs to be said. New Buffalonians: DO NOT watch or read local television or the paper. It's like they spend the whole day trying to bury us with bad news and if you really look at it, it's not even all local. I tried watching the local news the other day with a friend of mine and I just started counting on my fingers all the bad stories that happened in Philadelphia, Portland, New York. I mean, what the hell? They should just steal your stories and make them into video if they want ideas for local stories. It's like they want us to feel like crap, even if a lot of the bad stuff they report doesn't even happen here. Sorry to go on like that, but New Buffalonians don't read or watch or trust local media.

6/14/2005 01:58:03 PM mnky said... Weighing in for the 40somethings... My husband and I chose to move to Buffalo after we graduated from college. We didn't know anyone, didn't have jobs, but loved the look and feel of the city. Sixteen years later we are still in love with the spirit of Buffalo and the people who live, work and play here. We travel extensively and even seriously looked for a summer home near the finger lake region before realizing that there is no place like home - in the city of Buffalo.

6/14/2005 02:04:25 PM Jen14221 said... Left Buffalo (Willaimsville) at 18 and fled to Boston for college. Vowed to never return to WNY except for really important things (weddings, funerals, Old Home Days). Worked, had fun, met a man, had a baby, got sick and tired of Boston and after 17 years away, felt strange desire to move back to the area. Logged into Monster.com under husband's account - applied online for a job for him, expressed glee when he was called, interviewed and offered job as bigwig for Erie County's northern neighbor. Now here. Okay, in Lockport, but close enough. Loving it.

6/14/2005 02:36:59 PM Carlton said... I'm here for grad school. But, one of the things I really like about Buffalo is that I can tell people here that I am a history grad and I rarely hear: "A history grad! How much money could you possibly make doing that?!" In Toronto, Boston, and DC I encountered this sort of gung-ho stupid materialism that got old really quick. People here are unpretentious and most of them seem to want more from life than a fat bank account or a Lexus.

6/14/2005 03:19:40 PM ViewFromTheBottom said... I love Buffalo for so many reasons, but one of the biggest is because Buffalo is a big small town! Every person you meet inevitably has a connection within a degree or two of you (not like the six degrees of kevin bacon)...my most recent experience was meeting with someone last week from another organization who knew nothing about me other than my name and what little I'd told him about RB and come to find out I do work with his wife (she works at UB). In the opposite framework, being at Mash Bash a couple weeks ago was an awesome reminder of what a big city this is...to be under a tent with 3,000 other people of which you might know a dozen or so. It's so Buffalo!!!

6/14/2005 04:08:00 PM Tom said... 41, non-native, moved to Buffalo in 1994 because I got laid-off in Birmingham AL (where I was born but also a place I hardly ever lived). Best friend from college had been begging me to move here (his hometown) for a couple of years, so once I was jobless I did. Had a job at the same firm I still work at within a month of arrival, and won't even consider visiting relatives in the South anymore. Having lived in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, in both large and small towns, I feel absolute confidence in saying that no place in the south even comes close to being as nice a place to live as Buffalo. Why the natives have a hard time figuring this out is beyond me.

6/14/2005 10:29:46 PM estarz said... I have to admit I miss HOME which is Cleveland... I am a Clevelander by heart. Yes, still a Browns fan. It took a lil while to get used to life in Buffalo. However, I have no real complaints. I like the area... I dig the people... and I believe Buffalo can turn-around. I enjoy the change of seasons. Its a good place to raise a family... safe and secure. There are so many wonderful things...so much culture! Natural beauty. All those good things need to be exposed. You are doing a great job in helping folks see these things. Of course, there are things that can be improved and for the most part I dont believe just anyone help turn things around. As a group we can speak out loud. Buffalo Rocks! You guys Rock!!

6/14/2005 10:55:27 PM Nicole said... I am a 31 year old, proud Buffalonian trapped in Chicago, IL - desperately trying to convince my hubby to move back to Buffalo (he is native to here) to start a family and live our lives with renewed purpose. Thanks to all of you who help me (without knowing it!) make the job of trying to convince him Buffalo isn't a last resort and that there IS a future in this humble, wonderful city. I still have some work to do, but after 6 years - he HAS to bend with all your good stories and news that makes Buffalo look like our logical next big step. :) Thanks! Nicole

6/23/2005 11:59:28 AM Peter said... 26 year old suburban-Buffalo raised... left town after 4 years at Geneseo to go to grad school in DC...thought I'd never be back. Spent a little over a year in San FranciscoOe and found something missing there too. I mostly moved back because of family, missing family. Still trapped in the burbs...but looking forward with so much anticipation to moving into the city. I loved DC and I loved SF... but the "things" that make those cities fun and eclectic are also right here in Buffalo. And I can afford to do them here, on a regular basis...

7/17/2005 07:50:17 PM cityshepherd said.. I'm 26; my husband is 33. We have a weak spot for all things Buffalo. We love to travel, but when we're exiting the 33 via Oak I get a warm, fuzzy feeling. We're celebrating our belated honeymoon for three weeks in Northern Europe. I'm looking forward to it, but I know I'll miss home. I'll be on the lookout for ideas while we visit urban sites across the Atlantic. I've loved reading the paper version of BR and only recently explored the site. PLEASE, keep reporting the bright side of urban life.

7/19/2005 02:07:54 PM Jen said... 30, Buff State Grad. I wanted to leave to experience life outside of Buffalo. I was really down on it, now I want to come back, mostly for family. I have looked for a job in Buff for over a year and a half. I have had 4 f2f interviews and two phone and no offers. I have a job in Savannah, Ga. and it's a beautiful town, but I miss Buffalo's nightlife, culture, food, arts and shopping. The only thing I do not miss is the snow! But hey, you gotta take the bad with the good. I really, really need a job, so I am not sure I will be able to come "home" though I will always hope.

8/03/2005 08:12:13 AM Marge Shields said... I was born and raised in New York City and moved to Western New York eight years ago. I am so impressed about everything in this area except for the people who run it. There is so much to offer and yet no one promotes these things. Least of all the people who live here. I hear so many complaints. The weather most of all and the lack of activity in the city. Get with it folks exalt the weather and take a good look around you the city is beautiful. Make it active. Go downtown on weekends. Walk, enjoy the restaurants, shop the small boutiques.

8/21/2005 08:34:21 AM Anonymous said... I was born in the Southern Tier of Western New York State and moved to Buffalo right out of high school, thinking it was "the big city." Then I moved on to NYC, where I spent most of my 20s. After getting close to 30, eight years later, and barely being able to pay for my studio apartment in NYC, I decided to return home to be near my family--and also accomplish some other goals that seemed unattainable downstate--such as home ownership. It's amazing how much further my salary stretches west (and north) of the Hudson. And the people in Buffalo are just so friendly and open, and that's something I didn't appreciate when I was a kid, but something I love about Western New York now.

8/21/2005 08:38:53 AM Anonymous said... We're a gay male couple, DINKS, living in Allentown. (DINKS = Dual Income No Kids) Ages 29 and 34. And we love Buffalo!

8/27/2005 05:49:47 PM Jared said... My partner and I can't wait to escape from Texas and relocate to W. NY and Buffalo. Texas is hot, humid and worst of all -- Bush country. We visited Buffalo in the spring and really loved all you have to offer. An out gay community, affordable housing, a beautiful lake that looks like an ocean, great architecture and nice people. Yeah, I know it snows, but having 4 defined seasons will be a delightful change from the nearly year round' heat of Texas. See you guys soon.

9/12/05 10:48:52 AM Erinna said... Me: 31, unmarried (but attached) resident of the city. I'm not a native...I moved here 5 years ago, and completely fell in love with Buffalo. Like someone above, I love the big-small-town feel. I love the culture, the art, the music, and so many of the other things that have already been mentioned. I met a wonderful man here, and desperately want to stay and make my home here. :)

Buffalo Rising: Thanks for your responses to the post, Who Are You. Feel free to add your story.