Reader's Digest names Buffalo the "nicest place in America"

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

I think there is something to the adage that "you can't go home again." I moved away to California for college, and while I still love Buffalo and consider myself a Buffalonian for life, it just isn't quite the same when I go back to visit.  And you're right, I also get the "hey, it's TheBrownBear from Cali".  It's kind of weird how you're labeled an outsider after you leave.  It's definitely a very insular community compared to some of the bigger cities I've lived in.

 

But I'll always vouch for the city and it's people.  It is absolutely a great place to grow up and raise kids.

 

 

Probably more about your insecurities.   Lotta' people leave WNY just because they want personal success to come easy.  Then they often later realize the communitas that they've lost in the process and do things like becoming obsessive about the Bills or Sabres to try to re-capture some of that.   Maybe that turns into "do they think less of me because I tried to take the easy way out?" when you visit or something.   But I'd hardly buy that you become excluded because of your transience.   The thing you and @Mango are describing happens whenever one moves to an area where there aren't a lot of people who have migrated there for jobs/money/weather.   It's just a talking point.   If anything I've seen most Buffalo area folks go out of their way to be extra nice to ex-pats or folks from out of town.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by BADOLBILZ

[Old Coot]

7 hours ago, Fleezoid said:

7 hours ago, RobbRiddick said:

 

(Reader about to digest... ha ha ha)

Expand  

 

Why is Alfred Hitchcock eating a book?

That's not a book. It's a McGuffin.

[Solomon Grundy]

What I love about Buffalo is the change of seasons. The multi-cultured cuisine that you can find throughout the city. What I don't like is the segregated pockets throughout. Eastside, Westside, South/North Buffalo. The lack of development around the city. Lots of empty lots. Beautiful buildings that becoming dilapidated and sitting empty. 

[Utah John]

8 hours ago, HOUSE said:

I see garbage out my front window

1.  Close your drapes.

2.  Or clean it up.

7 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Well when Global Warming is in full effect WNY population will multiple 20 times and people will be struggling to find place to stay. 

Global warming isn't going to make it too warm for snow, or make winters not cold anymore.

 

But what climate change is going to do, is make a lot of places not have enough fresh water.  And THAT is going to push a lot of people to the vicinity of the Great Lakes.  

[BullBuchanan]

As someone born and raised in Buffalo, it's the most racist, xenophobic and bigoted city I've ever been to. It's the only place I still hear people just casually drop the worst slurs. There's also a tremendous amount of working poor vs poor vitriol.

If you're white though, someone might help you shovel out your car. So there's that.

#cityofgoodneighbors

[The Jokeman]

9 hours ago, ControllerOfPlanetX said:

He’s a Psycho..

Does that make Gus Van Sant a Psycho killer?

[teef]

jesus buffalo…just take the compliment. 

[ganesh]

13 hours ago, Success said:

Gotta say - a huge pet peeve of mine is opposing fans lazily saying that Buffalo is a terrible place to live.  Western NY is friggin' awesome.  Not only a beautiful area in general, but the people are incredible. City of Good Neighbors & all that - it's a true story.  I've lived in other places, and it's not the same.

 

If you don't like snow, it might not be the greatest.  But otherwise...

 

Hotels around the Greater Buffalo area are below average to terrible. 

[eball]

56 minutes ago, teef said:

jesus buffalo…just take the compliment. 

 

I know, right?

 

Having grown up in Buffalo (Williamsville, E. Amherst), then moving away for my dad’s job, then coming back to attend law school, then leaving again to find my career, I will say that Buffalo people are “different.”  It has been fun to connect with other ex-pats in the cities in which I’ve lived since leaving — there is an instant connection and friendship comes easily.  I always tell people who have never been to Buffalo that it’s a great place to live for 9 months out of the year — May through January — which encompasses the wonderful late spring, summer, fall, and football season.  You can keep February, March, and April unless you’re able to vacation for a good chunk of that — the weather is just so depressing.

 

I’ve taken friends up to see football games and without exception they have commented on the people they’ve interacted with.  It’s different.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by eball

[Metal Man]

17 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Hotels around the Greater Buffalo area are below average to terrible. 

 

Tom Brady*** posts on TBD?

[billsfan_34]

13 hours ago, Success said:

Gotta say - a huge pet peeve of mine is opposing fans lazily saying that Buffalo is a terrible place to live.  Western NY is friggin' awesome.  Not only a beautiful area in general, but the people are incredible. City of Good Neighbors & all that - it's a true story.  I've lived in other places, and it's not the same.

 

If you don't like snow, it might not be the greatest.  But otherwise...

 

Same can be said for here in Charleston, SC less the snow. Buffalo/WNY is a beautiful place with great people but for us, we had enough of the gloomy weather and short summers 😊

[billsfan_34]

11 hours ago, Breakout Squad said:

To me it’s not snow. It’s the lack of sunny days November - March. I remember last year we went almost a month without a sunny day IIRC. That’s literally the only thing I can complain about WNY. 
 

I love a sub-freezing January day with sun and no wind. Beautiful 

Buffalo is one windy place for sure!!!

[ExWNYer]

11 hours ago, Breakout Squad said:

I have Buffalo pride and I’ve never lived there. We’re die hard fans in Chautauqua County and we all share WNY pride. Needless to say, the southern tier loves the Bills 😎

 

Lived in Dunkirk for a few years a block from the lake. The beach is amazing. All sand and the water is clear. 

 

My aunt (Dad's sis) and uncle live in Jamestown. We go up to visit them every 4th of July and go to the fireworks show at the Dunkirk Marina on Lake Erie every year. She and my dad grew up on West 7th Street in Dunkirk and I remember walking the less than 2 miles up Brigham Road to Lake Shore Drive to see the fireworks when I was a kid. Point Gratiot Beach and the Dunkirk Lighthouse were just a stone's throw away. Very nice area. Love Chautauqua County and Chautauqua Lake. As a kid I briefly lived in Silver Creek & Orchard Park but mostly Grand Island. I try to get up to a Bills game once a year and to see my aunt and uncle again. This year may not happen though. We'll see. Last year's trip got cancelled...we had tix for the Cleveland game.

 

Go Bills!

[Milanos Milano]

11 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

I left in 2020. When someone asks me what Buffalo is like, I dont always have the best things to say. There's some resentment there (thats on me), but i also won't let someone not from the area talk down on it. It's complicated and some of these posts made me miss it... then I remembered whats coming yalls way pretty soon here lol I dont even own a coat anymore 🤣

Raised in the area and know how you feel. While the people are indeed friendly for the most part, the area itself doesn’t have very many redeeming qualities. People here will try and sugar coat it and protect the image, but it’s just simply a coping mechanism. There aren’t many people that LOVE 6-7 months of crappy weather when you can live in places that don’t even require a coat. While I like to go back and visit family and friends, I’d be hard pressed to ever settle back down there. 

[The Frankish Reich]

2 hours ago, eball said:

I will say that Buffalo people are “different.”

I've lived in the West for almost all of my adult life. And yes, returning to Buffalo takes a little getting used to. People are superficially more relaxed (dare I say polite?) in the West. But there's kind of a social aversion to asking prying questions about someone else's life. I still see that in Buffalo. It's not rude, it's just different. And it probably makes it easier to form real friendships rather than friendly acquaintances. I think I've been gone too long to be able to adapt myself, but I do appreciate the the Buffalo way of social interaction in general. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

17 hours ago, Big Turk said:

The monetary wealth of this city may have long since gone away when it was the wealthiest city per capita in the entire US at the turn of the 20th century in 1900, but it never left, it just shifted to a wealth that money can't buy and why it leaves so many people in other cities feeling empty and like something is missing. Pretty much the way I have felt in every other place I have lived outside of WNY.

Robber Barons. Buffalo was always a labor town with corporations HQ off in far away towns making it easily for earthly wealth and resources to leave.

22 minutes ago, SUNY_amherst said:

 

Great summation. I agree we could be better with transplants here. Perhaps it is because we don't get too many people coming to Buffalo to live/raise a family unless they already had a familial connection.  Other cities are more used to that.

 

I think we can all do our part to be better at this

 

I also don't think the "Bills Mafia" thing is a good thing to promote. A mafia is typically a closed group tied together by blood. If you want to be open to new people and new ideas, "mafia" is not exactly open and friendly

 

 

Yeah the name signifies violence. 

 

Maybe we can change the name for the good?

[Big Turk]

7 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Robber Barons. Buffalo was always a labor town with corporations HQ off in far away towns making it easily for earthly wealth and resources to leave.

 

It was a major shipping, port and commerce city at the height of the Great Lakes boom...not exactly the same, commerce leads to wealth in and of itself from all those companies sending their products thru this area. Look back in history and all of the major trade centers in countries were also among the wealthiest.

 

Also was the flour milling capital of the world for many years when production surpassed Minneapolis starting in 1930 and lasted thru the 1970s or early 1980s.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Big Turk

[Bobby Hooks]

17 hours ago, Mango said:

I don’t mean to rain on the parade, but as somebody from Buffalo who was  born here, left and come back a few times, I find Buffalo less friendly than other places. 

 

I think if you’re a lifer it’s great.

 

And even if you transplant yourself here it’s good. But I my experience even for transplants there’s an undertone. You’re never just “John”. You’re introduced to Buffalo bred friend groups as “This is my friend John from Tampa”. And in that group you’re referred to as “Mango’s friend, John, from Tampa”. There is a separation there. 
 

It’s an odd sort of gate keeping. Sort of harkens back to coming home for the holidays and on a random Wednesday I can find the same group of guys in the same corner of Coles, doing the same thing we were doing in HS, and their first words to me are “Did you see Canisius beat St. Joes twice in football this year?”…No…No I didn’t. 

 

I also find that transplants tend to conglomerate together more in Buffalo than other places. 
 

In other places I’ve lived in MA, NJ, OK,  I am just Mango and my friend group has been pretty diverse. 
 

Just a few things I’ve picked up on in my comings and goings as well as some stuff I’ve noticed and talked about dating transplants in the city. 
 

Buffalo is a great town, I just wish it would be more confident in who they are today and where they are going, rather than rallying around the past. 

I think your example is a bit over simplified and more situational than you’re painting it to be. 

 

I was born and raised in Cheektowaga. Moved away starting at 17 to GA. Then moved back and lived pretty much everywhere you can in the Buffalo area and surrounding suburbs.

Had a short stint in AK, finally settled in MD for 12 years before eventually moving about an hour from Buffalo a few years back. 

 

Diverse crowds are typically younger college kids. Same as most cities. My friends in Baltimore were from all over the world, save for one towner group from Baltimore that did refer to me as “the guy from Buffalo” but that was a time and place thing. I can guarantee you at that same time there were 30-40 somethings in MD and Tampa that went to their version of Cole’s from their younger years. Just as you could go to the UB campus & bars now and see people from all walk of life. 

 

The good thing is you have lots of options, if your Cole’s pals aren’t doing it for you, there are people your age that enjoy the same things you do and would refer to you as just John. You just have to find them, same as any city with human beings living in it. 

 

This isn’t a specific city thing you’re describing, it’s a human being thing. Even now living an hour from Buffalo, I’m being described as the guy from Buffalo, but that’s because I’m meeting people that aren’t transplants. Being a transplant is a different experience, but I don’t see it as the towners are doing anything wrong , they’re doing what they like. And that’s what everyone should find for themselves. If your current situation isn’t that. You need to find it, and I have total faith you can do that in Buffalo or any city you find yourself in. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Bobby Hooks

[ExiledInIllinois]

18 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

It was a major shipping, port and commerce city at the height of the Great Lakes boom...not exactly the same, commerce leads to wealth in and of itself from all those companies sending their products thru this area. Look back in history and all of the major trade centers in countries were also among the wealthiest.

 

Also was the flour milling capital of the world for many years when production surpassed Minneapolis starting in 1930 and lasted thru the 1970s or early 1980s.

Yeah... But in essence BFlo is "Radiator Springs" when it came to that geographical positioning.  Easily bypassed.  It's more efficient and streamlined to bypass Buffalo. Buffalo was only well geographically positioned due to the primitive technology of the eras.  Even electricity from The Falls was eventually developed to be sent to farther away, better geographically positioned areas where it could be used. 

 

It's hard to admit, but what made Buffalo geographically speaking also killed it when systems streamline, automate, and become more efficient, cost effective.

 

Buffalo is really NOT positioned well. Then mix in a harsh and fickle microclimate. Even the Natives moved away for the winter. 

 

Maybe ClimateChange refugees will bring it back to better global positioning where economic constraints are lessened.

 

[Just stating the obvious, not trying to rip on it]

[BearNorth]

18 hours ago, Robert Paulson said:

and actually the beaches in Angola and Sherkston in Canada are pretty nice

I remember going to Beaver Island a lot as a kid, and thought it was a nice beach for being on a river.

[SirAndrew]

1 hour ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Yeah... But in essence BFlo is "Radiator Springs" when it came to that geographical positioning.  Easily bypassed.  It's more efficient and streamlined to bypass Buffalo. Buffalo was only well geographically positioned due to the primitive technology of the eras.  Even electricity from The Falls was eventually developed to be sent to farther away, better geographically positioned areas where it could be used. 

 

It's hard to admit, but what made Buffalo geographically speaking also killed it when systems streamline, automate, and become more efficient, cost effective.

 

Buffalo is really NOT positioned well. Then mix in a harsh and fickle microclimate. Even the Natives moved away for the winter. 

 

Maybe ClimateChange refugees will bring it back to better global positioning where economic constraints are lessened.

 

[Just stating the obvious, not trying to rip on it]

I think what you’re saying sums up Buffalo’s economic decline in a historical context, but doesn’t necessarily speak to the future. I’m not convinced that geography holds the same importance in todays electronically connected world. Some of the most thriving American cities are situated in areas that would have been geographically terrible in previous eras. 

[Buffaloflash]

10 hours ago, Utah John said:

 

 

But what climate change is going to do, is make a lot of places not have enough fresh water.  And THAT is going to push a lot of people to the vicinity of the Great Lakes.  

You're Right about that.

A major problem is going to be housing though. The word has gone out to the immigrant community about the affordability of housing in the city of Buffalo. Prices now have gone through the roof. My son just closed on a house paying over $60,000 of asking. He lost out on 10 previous bids.

[Nephilim17]

 

I don't always end up naked and covered in human excrement in construction holes, but when I do, I do it in Buffalo.

 

 

[Buffaloflash]

8 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

As someone born and raised in Buffalo, it's the most racist, xenophobic and bigoted city I've ever been to. It's the only place I still hear people just casually drop the worst slurs. There's also a tremendous amount of working poor vs poor vitriol.

If you're white though, someone might help you shovel out your car. So there's that.

#cityofgoodneighbors

Is South Buffalo still like that?

[BullBuchanan]

1 hour ago, Buffaloflash said:

Is South Buffalo still like that?

 

I'm not sure they'll still help you shovel down there.

[gtw3]

I left the 716 area in 2004 when I joined the Navy and since then I have been back numerous times with friends of mine in the service.  These people are from all over the country and each of them have had nothing but wonderful things to say about the people here and their experience.  One of my friends wasn't much of a pro football guy. He is from Roanoke, Virginia and is pretty much exclusively a VA Tech fan.  I brought him to the Texans game a few years ago, he got to tailgate and now he is hooked. Same thing for another friend of mine who is from Jersey and is a Jets fan.  He always (in good fun) poked fun at Bills fans and the area.  I brought him to a game, he got to tailgate and hang out, get some local food.  He said it was the best sporting experience he had ever had.  That's just two of my examples.  There are many more. 

 

We can be incredibly provincial, but I do love where I am from.  The people are a big part of that.

[warrior9]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:35 PM, Big Turk said:

The monetary wealth of this city may have long since gone away when it was the wealthiest city per capita in the entire US at the turn of the 20th century in 1900, but it never left, it just shifted to a wealth that money can't buy and why it leaves so many people in other cities feeling empty and like something is missing. Pretty much the way I have felt in every other place I have lived outside of WNY.

As someone that lived there for 24 years and has now lived in 3 other cities... all major and 1 other smaller town (Oklahoma City)

My girlfriend is from Phoenix. 

 

I can confirm that all of this is true. 

[Goin Breakdown]

Am I the only one who read "Raiders Digest"

 

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

15 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

As someone born and raised in Buffalo, it's the most racist, xenophobic and bigoted city I've ever been to. It's the only place I still hear people just casually drop the worst slurs. There's also a tremendous amount of working poor vs poor vitriol.

If you're white though, someone might help you shovel out your car. So there's that.

#cityofgoodneighbors

ive seen much worse in rural south… also Boston.. racist AF city 

[Augie]

5 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

ive seen much worse in rural south… also Boston.. racist AF city 

 

Racism exists, sadly. And it is NOT just in Buffalo. 

[billsfan_34]

10 hours ago, Araiza Curse said:

Raised in the area and know how you feel. While the people are indeed friendly for the most part, the area itself doesn’t have very many redeeming qualities. People here will try and sugar coat it and protect the image, but it’s just simply a coping mechanism. There aren’t many people that LOVE 6-7 months of crappy weather when you can live in places that don’t even require a coat. While I like to go back and visit family and friends, I’d be hard pressed to ever settle back down there. 

After 21 years in the Marines, and being stationed in some great places, I went back to WNY for 12 years. I enjoyed so many things but in the end; the weather, high taxes, rain, sleet, snow, wind, and minimal sunshine pushed me back to dixie. Being stuck inside for months just wasn’t working.
 

We are down here in the Charleston metro, and it is loaded with folks from the 716. Not a brag, but ive been to over 250 home Bills games and im ok with passing the torch, firing up my grill, and watching from home. Yes, it is hot here in the summer but the pool makes it wonderful. To each their own. Go Bills.

[billsfan_34]

20 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Probably more about your insecurities.   Lotta' people leave WNY just because they want personal success to come easy.  Then they often later realize the communitas that they've lost in the process and do things like becoming obsessive about the Bills or Sabres to try to re-capture some of that.   Maybe that turns into "do they think less of me because I tried to take the easy way out?" when you visit or something.   But I'd hardly buy that you become excluded because of your transience.   The thing you and @Mango are describing happens whenever one moves to an area where there aren't a lot of people who have migrated there for jobs/money/weather.   It's just a talking point.   If anything I've seen most Buffalo area folks go out of their way to be extra nice to ex-pats or folks from out of town.

 

 

Im not understanding “personal success to come easy”. I left, worked my butt off, came back, worked my butt off, left again…im sure many followed the same recipe for success. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

56 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Racism exists, sadly. And it is NOT just in Buffalo. 

Yeah there’s a$$holes everywhere of all kinds. Just part of humanity 

[pabillsfans]

On 9/19/2023 at 6:16 PM, RiotAct said:

I thought that was Bruce Boudreau

Ha, me too! 

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, billsfan_34 said:

Im not understanding “personal success to come easy”. I left, worked my butt off, came back, worked my butt off, left again…im sure many followed the same recipe for success. 

 

 

Yeah not understanding is a natural byproduct of selective, careless or poor reading comprehension. 

 

 

 

[billsfan_34]

2 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Yeah not understanding is a natural byproduct of selective, careless or poor reading comprehension. 

 

 

 

Ok ✅ 

[nedboy7]

Philly is way friendlier. Ever been? 

[Jauronimo]

12 hours ago, Buffaloflash said:

You're Right about that.

A major problem is going to be housing though. The word has gone out to the immigrant community about the affordability of housing in the city of Buffalo. Prices now have gone through the roof. My son just closed on a house paying over $60,000 of asking. He lost out on 10 previous bids.

What was the total? $150k?

[Jauronimo]

Whenever I come back up to WNY (a handful of times a year) it is noticeable how much more standoffish people are relative to the south.  In Texas people are over the top "nice" to strangers and regularly strike up conversation, even when I'm trying my hardest to look like a miserable ####### (not very hard for me).  It strikes me as saccharine and artificial but that is the outward presentation to the world.  They may not be very nice people at all if I got to know them.  WNY is a smaller community so people stay in their circles or cliques and generally leave strangers alone in most contexts.  They may be the most generous or kindest people on earth but that is not the first impression you get.

 

[Big Turk]

15 hours ago, gtw3 said:

I left the 716 area in 2004 when I joined the Navy and since then I have been back numerous times with friends of mine in the service.  These people are from all over the country and each of them have had nothing but wonderful things to say about the people here and their experience.  One of my friends wasn't much of a pro football guy. He is from Roanoke, Virginia and is pretty much exclusively a VA Tech fan.  I brought him to the Texans game a few years ago, he got to tailgate and now he is hooked. Same thing for another friend of mine who is from Jersey and is a Jets fan.  He always (in good fun) poked fun at Bills fans and the area.  I brought him to a game, he got to tailgate and hang out, get some local food.  He said it was the best sporting experience he had ever had.  That's just two of my examples.  There are many more. 

 

We can be incredibly provincial, but I do love where I am from.  The people are a big part of that.

 

The craziest part is, I would not be surprised if those people made a bunch of new friends, some of whom they still talk to and hang out with from time to time.  That's just kinda how we roll here.