those of us that have left western ny

[BillnutinHouston]

Buffalo's grittiness gives it a SOUL that is simply missing from many booming areas of the US.

 

When I recall the fall leaves, street hockey in the winter with those orange "hockey balls", the long gray-sky days of winter, and my cousins saying "hey youuuse guys", my memories are fond, not bitter or regretful at all.

 

In my Houston office my PROUD Buffalo roots are plain as day. I have plenty of Bills and Sabres memorabilia proudly displayed, leaving no doubt where I'm from.

[ny33]

She can't write well. The first paragraph is tough to read, with sentences of disorienting length, and the subsequent ones aren't much better. Her article is fairly vapid; one part lamentation of her roots, another part soul-searching in a distant part of the world. There have been numerous articles worth reading on the decline of America's industrial economy and the Western New York region in particular, but this isn't one of them.

[Big Turk]

What accent is that? I moved to the ChicagoLand/Northwest Indiana area and people don't pick up any accent... They can't tell I have a BFLO/WNY accent... Even in other parts of the midwest that I lived in (Iowa). If anything, they have harder, longer vowels out this way!

 

The thing where she went wrong is comparing the BFLO accent with the northeast and considering that accent as normal! It is anything but normal in the northeast... It is bizzare!

 

 

Its most commonly referred to as a "flat a" accent, that can be heard when we say things like car...it is noticeable because when I go visit people in the south and midwest(south carolina and ohio) they notice it and ask me to repeat words so they can hear it again...

Edited November 11, 2011 by matter2003

[todd]

"I left for an even worse city when I went to college in Binghamton,"

 

 

Well Buffalo, at least you aren't Binghamton. Seriously, the Bing is the worst place in the entire state. There's nothing good about it.

[DucksBills]

She can't write well. The first paragraph is tough to read, with sentences of disorienting length, and the subsequent ones aren't much better. Her article is fairly vapid; one part lamentation of her roots, another part soul-searching in a distant part of the world. There have been numerous articles worth reading on the decline of America's industrial economy and the Western New York region in particular, but this isn't one of them.

 

 

"This pea soup is as weak as the acting and nowhere near as hammy." - Homer J Simpson

[AxelRipper]

I'm going to college and working out in Michigan. I miss WNY every day I get up. I know I'm going to be out here for a few years (more jobs in my field here than there) but I fully intend to move back eventually. My friends give me **** every day because everything always winds up with me talking about the Bills or Sabres, or something back in NY.

[PromoTheRobot]

I didn't leave WNY to find a job per se. I transferred from UB to Syracuse, then various radio gigs blew me around the country. Most of the time I worked within driving distance to visit so I was able to keep in touch.

 

I'm not sure if living in Buffalo would be good for my liver. Most of my visits involve friends and copious amounts of alcohol, a chance to let loose and blow off steam. Visiting keeps it special as opposed to living there full time.

 

One thing I have learned living in 20+ places before settling down: you don't really know a place until you live there. You discover what makes a place cool over months. Places you think you'd never be caught dead in turn out to be pretty nice.

 

PTR

Edited November 11, 2011 by PromoTheRobot

[BillsfaninFl]

I left Buffalo 26 years ago for a job-related opportunity. Eventually, I retired to Florida. But whenever someone asks me where I am from, (hardly anyone in Florida is from Florida,) I proudly tell them Buffalo, NY. People make the city and Buffalo is a great city.

 

Fear not, western New Yorkers, when global warming really takes hold, Buffalo will become the new Orlando, Florida. The population will go back over 300,000 and people will be standing in line to visit there on vacation. New businesses will move in and decent paying jobs will be available.

 

Regarding the article writer's depression, it's her problem, not everyone's who lives in the area.

[eastonbillsfan]

I liked her piece. Her style isn’t my favorite but she captured a lot of what it feels like to be from Buffalo and not live there anymore. The Buffalo metro area had good schools and was a decent place to grow up. I left in ’78 and never looked back.

 

Being from there gave me the educational opportunity to move on. It wasn’t my choice but I realize I was lucky to be born in Cheektowaga. When I visit I feel even more fortunate that I didn’t choose to stay. Since I left I’ve been to 40+ countries and every U.S. state. I’m not ashamed of where I’m from but I’m not “proud” either. My eyes are open and I try to take it all in and enjoy new places, ideas, and people.

 

Now we live in a small town and a few of the guys who have lived here their entire life here crack me up. They act as though native sons are somehow more enlightened than the rest of us. They’re so proud of their birthplace (as if they had something to do with this). I asked my wife “isn’t it funny how our friend Jamie’s biggest accomplishment in life was having been born here?” That’s sad.

 

"Talking Proud" was THE slogan 20 years ago. GO BILLS! I go back to Buffalo often and see a few proud natives, usually in bars. Jasmine’s article was true. 716ers and their Napoleonic posturing. It’s their nature. Not unlike my buddy Jamie.

 

The truth is the Queen City failed to learn from past mistakes--stuck in the 80s, 70s or even the 60s. But Pride is why Buffalo has failed. A city that failed to reinvent itself. Instead of looking for new industry and welcoming new growth it retained past futile policies. I know, let’s try another dose of high corporate tax, high real estate tax, and corrupt politicians spending money on pet “projects”. Then when we lose more population and further deplete tax revenues we’ll just raise taxes more. Talkin’ PRIDE baby!

 

I’ll always root for the Bills (as long as they aren’t in LA) and always hope the Sabres can make a playoff run. But that’s it. Sorry Buffalo, we chose to live in a place with hope, quality of life, and where prosperity for my family was an achievable goal. Stop trying to convince everyone else and even yourself how great it is there. The truth is it’s not. That's the reason so many of us left.