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

[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.