If You Are Contemplating Moving Here...Don't! From
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11/16/2014
I was relocated for a job here in Buffalo, New York from a larger city. I was told that the people here are "friendly," "the city is growing," and "everyone loves Buffalo."
I have one word for all this: Not! When I asked why the company cannot find anyone else in the local area to do this job, and would be spending thousands of dollars to relocate me, I was simply told that there is not the talent there that's needed. This executive sure was right, and I ended up leaving soon afterwards out of frustration, exasperation, and desperation (good thing I didn't stay longer hoping things would get better - they didn't). I'm glad I not only left the company, but the city.
After careful observation, consideration, and discussions with many others who relocated to Buffalo, here are my very important, trajectory-altering comments you should heed before coming here:
1. The few good things I'll say are that the cost of living is relatively low (warning: for a reason), the food is good at a reasonable price if you know where to go, and the architecture is nice, historic.
2. Now for the reality (get ready)
--People here rarely leave the area and - you must know this - generally do not like others moving to Buffalo from the outside. That's because they feel you are taking away "their" jobs, look down on the city from all the bad press it receives (weather, sports teams, general incompetence), and if you happen to be from New York City there is a special dislike because students from there come up here and make fun of the locals thinking they grew up on a farm and are generally yokels (this may not be true, but that certainly is the perception). Further, Buffalonians despise that they have to pay more taxes than, say Cleveland, which is twice as close to Buffalo than New York City, because NYC gets all the good stuff like subways, theater, baseball stadiums, etc. - "why should we have to pay for that?" I've been asked many times. Yet, the vast majority of Buffalo people I've spoken with have never been to New York City and don't want to go there (crime, pollution, crowdedness, etc.)
--People here are not friendly, as they claim! What they are is helpful and charitable. But they will not initiate a get-together with you, are reluctant to do so because you did not grow up here, and will smile to your face but talk behind your back. Shockingly, instead of being like a smaller version of New York City ("big brother"), Buffalo instead chooses to be the best of the worst of the collection of little towns surrounding it. Thus, the mentality of Buffalo is a big community, not a medium-sized city; everyone seems to know everyone, and thus talk about everyone, and the local events mainly. If you're looking for intelligent discussion, you'll hardly be able to find it here. Instead, you'll hear a lot about the Buffalo Bills (awful team that hasn't made the playoffs in 15 years), Buffalo Sabres hockey team (currently with the worst record in hockey and finished in last place last year), beer, and the various food festivals they cram into the few months of decent weather here ("tons" of people there, literally)
--Extremely important to know: if you've seen better, you know better. Because most people here have not seen better than Buffalo, they think the arts, events, theater, sports, etc. are much better than what they really are. The "best" of what is recommended is mediocre at best to someone from a major city or who has seen better. But don't tell that to the provincial people here or they'll get mad. Even if they know it's really true, they don't want to hear it. The local ads are horrible, the local art and fashion are even worse, and don't even get me started on the politics and education here.
--Locals say that the population is growing. Here's the real deal: there are lots of ethnicities here in Buffalo, especially from Africa, southeast Asia, and other warm-weather places. When I asked many of them why they chose Buffalo to come here, they laugh and say, "We had no choice." That is, the government basically said that if you want to escape the poverty, famine, war, injustices, etc. of your country, then if we let you in here you will have to go where we put you. To many, Buffalo is an improvement so they're here - but do not like it one bit (many have never seen snow, so you can only imagine). Generally, these different ethnicities stay in their localized area; I repeat, Buffalo is a non-embracing city if you are from the outside. I spoke to some college girls who said that if other girls they meet did not go to the same high school as them, they don't like them! I've heard this several times. In fact, Buffalo, New York was voted the rudest city in America in an independent survey (you should look this up online). I believe that people here are rude and don't even realize it because that's normal here. Make sure you don't stand for this, put these people in their place, and complain to the higher-ups as needed, all the way through the corporate offices as warranted
--There is a tremendous amount of incompetence here, more than I've seen in just about any other place. This includes for basic requests. People here just do not think beyond A-B. Not sure whether this is a can't or won't, but it's surely a don't. I have combated this by doing the following, which is the only thing that works: immediately complain to the management who, hopefully, is more educated/intelligent/customer-friendly; simply walk out of places where the service takes too long (even when few customers) and don't go back there (I did tell this to management, who always apologizes but too little too late); and "avoid and ignore Buffalo.: This includes maintaining strong contact with the folks/following the events from back home, doing individualized projects so as not to have to deal with the people here, and going to nearby Niagara Falls/international hotels to purposely meet people from elsewhere. This has worked very well. Less is more when it comes to Buffalo, and the difference when you do this is startling versus returning to Buffalo and dealing with so much stupidity here
--Some people say that Buffalo is booming with new construction. This new Canalside/Harborfront Center is a spit in the ocean and is not done well; the light-rail trolley has been called "the train to nowhere" and destroyed parking for downtown businesses (there's still clamoring to get rid of it), and Buffalo is the only major waterfront city in the US that has not done anything significant with it (another boondoggle). Even Cleveland, formerly know as "the mistake on the lake," has built up its waterfront area nicely and dwarfs what Buffalo has done. Both cities share the same waterfront - Lake Erie (which is 200 miles across)
There are other bad things about Buffalo, but I've said enough to give you a glimpse from an outsider not only looking in, but who was in for a few years. This is not a "know when to walk away" place, but a "know when to run." It's not a truly awful place for the redeeming features I mentioned, but there is a sameness, lameness slowness to embrace change, lack of recognition of the bad stuff, and therefore little to no motivation to fix it that permeates the city. Lots of people have told me that Buffalo "has great potential." To that I say, it's been a hundred years since Buffalo was a major player, where is it? In my view this is not coming anytime soon. Disagree if you want to, but just do it without being disagreeable as in the "rude" aspect I mentioned (or you'll just be proving my point yet again).
Mike | Buffalo, NY