Info for fans visiting Buffalo

[enthusiast]

The City's a great place to raise a family, or just have kids adjust to. Public schooling's not great with the notable exception of a top 10 national school in City Honors. Private schooling is good, and colleges are diverse and affordable. If you look for things to do, you'll find them. If you're well off (or really just have a little extra scratch), vacationing in Canada is a popular option during the summer for beautiful beaches and pleasant people. Not to say NY beaches are bad, it's just a different experience

The local station for sports talk radio, WGR550, is pretty comprehensive and divisive. Other options are also worthwhile.

 

[Yatzhee]

Hey guys, refugee from the Pens board.

So this is far from a sure thing but... I may be getting a job in Buffalo. I'm one of a few candidates in the screen process. I don't know much about the city other than it gets colder than a witches tit, it snows a lot, and you have two successful but blue balled pro sports teams. And I know the economy isn't the sharpest right now.

Tell me more about the area. What ever you can think of. Pros, cons, good areas, bad areas, places to see, places to avoid, dive bars, sports bars, college bars, titty bars, Mars bars... what ever you want to tell me.

Thanks in advance! And in the future. And so forth.

P.S.- CJ Spiller is awesome. Got a lot of Clemson coverage here in Charleston. Reggie Bush 2.0.

Great news on the job front and good luck in the process, hope you land it.

As far as cold, no, its not. Annual winter temp and length of winter is not nearly as bad as Nebraska and Wyoming where it gets down to -48F on the good nights in Jan/Feb.
More like 0 to 20F with some rare fluctuations into the - temps. Alot of snow south of the city of Buffalo (Lake effect snows) not so much north of the city heading towards Niagara Falls.

Very few titty bars. Great sports bars, great local bars as well. Fan base is fanatical.
Summers are decent. June into July is nice, gets humid sometimes from mid/late July into August.

Really no different than Pitt as far as geography of land south of the city.
Flat lands along the lakes and Niagara River surrounding the area. Take up boating, 4 wheeling, hunting/fishing, anyone of these and you'll have a great time in the area.

Plenty of concert series to go to throw out the Summer.
High DUI/DUAI rates up here, don't drink and drive, its one of the bread and butter charges for law enforcement.

Traffic isn't too bad here, some key areas to avoid during rush hour, you can find those on the local TV station websites.

Fall is bueatiful (probably no different than Pitt)
Spring is wet most times.

The Bills suck, so keep your NFL team you have now.

The Sabres do ok, but they need a few more pieces to contend.
HSBC Arena is a very enjoyable experience and the whole region goes nuts when the playoffs role around if the Sabres are in it.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Well, I'm wanting to go anyway. I love Charleston but I've been here 14 years. I'm ready to get away. It's the perfect place. Lots of sports and four hours away from family in Pittsburgh so I can be away from them but I can get there easily if I need to. I'd also love to get to Canada, so it's nice knowing that Toronto is so close (hadn't looked that up yet). It'll give me a chance to see the HHOF and various other things.

I'll gladly take as much information as anyone is willing to give. For such a big sports town, how's the sports talk radio up there? And I know the Bills suck. Spiller is about the only solid player you guys have. He and Lee Evans. Though you've got a shot at Jake Locker... also, I've had a soft spot for the Sabres for a while, ever since they came down here in 2000 and 2001 for training camp when they were affiliated with the Stingrays. They need offense. Badly. The rest seems perfectly fine, but outside of Vanek and Roy... who do they have? I'm still puzzled by the Tim Kennedy thing.

Awful. There's really just one station (WGR)--also the flagship station for the Sabres, but it's populated by complete idiots. And I'm pretty sure they must screen out intelligent calls as well, because the callers are all idiots too.

And the Bills best player is easily Brian Moorman. By far. Although it's kinda sad when not only is your best player your punter but arguably the most popular one too--how often do you see people go out in public wearing a jersey of the punter?? Because I've seen it. And I'm pretty sure you could find someone on this board who owns one too.

 

[BeastMode2326]

WGR won the Marconi award for best sports radio station. So yeah.

Also WECK 1230 is and up and comer with Nick Mendola and Brad Riter.

Buffalo is a great place to live man. It may not be as pretty as most cities but I love it. I lived in Pittsburgh for 2 years and I'll take Buffalo anyday of the week over it.

 

[Chainshot]

Sports radio? Buffalo is within the broadcasting range of the Fan 590 out of Toronto. The late afternoon show with Bob McCown is excellent. They just restructured their other shows, so the dust has to settle but things have been a little rough there. Oh, and they carry Sportsnet's mid-day hockey show during the NHL season from noon to two p.m.

Good luck on the job front.

Given how long you said you were in Charleston, I would expect you are looking to buy a house. Use a Realtor, let them know what you want in terms of cost and amenities and they can guide you toward what you're looking for.

As for the lake effect snow... eh. I grew up in the Southtowns, up on the first set of hills (alias "the Boston hills" because that's the name of the first town in said land bumps) and if you're up there... it snows. Down on the glacial plain (that's what flattened out the area... not really a glacier ), it isn't nearly as bad.

And if you are coming... can you get Grindz to come with you? Damn tasty burgers.

Like everyone else has mentioned, it's not cold. We are temperate. If it was Minnesota cold (or heaven help us, Manitoba cold), we wouldn't get the rep for the snow since it would be too damn cold for the whitestuff. And that the lake would freeze, thus eliminating the lake effect snows. If you're acclimatized to Charleston, it's still going to seem cold and I'm sure you will hear all sorts of carping from people about "how are you ever going to survive in Buffalo?" as though you've moved to an icefield in Greenland from people you know there.

We don't get hurricanes or fear tornadoes (two in the immediate area in the last 30 years). Eh, that's about it.

Oh, and the proximity to Canada is a great thing for hockey fans. Even Pens fans.

 

[Mario_is_BACK!!]

I've been to Grindz once. Only had the nachos. I was there for a work event. The nachos were fan-freaking-tastic, though. Heard good things about the chicken and waffles as well.

I've been here in Charleston for 14 years but hailed from PA (hence the Pens stuff) for 12 years. Not sure if the blood is thinned or not. If I get the job I suppose I'll find out around October/November, eh?

I hope I get the job. I need to get out of here. It's a great place to live but man, I'm ready to move on. I've squeezed all of the juice I can out of the little slice of paradise and this move would really be better for my career.

I'll keep checking in as I want to learn as much as possible should I get the chance and so's I can let you guys know if I got it or not. If you guys care enough, anyway.

 

[BUCKSHOT]

My father in law used to live in Mt Pleasant, SC (visited on a few occasions for weeks at a time about 10 years ago), and I have spent a fair amount of time in Pittsburgh (a Steelers fan my whole life). I have never been to a better city that Charleston, had alot of fun there. Snow here is not a big deal IMO, (I grew up here so ....). Only a few days per year that it is 'bad'.

IMO, having spent time in all three cities ....

Charleston >>>>>>>Buffalo>>>Pittsburgh

 

[rbochan]

I hope you like Cheerios.

 

[Chainshot]

I've been to Grindz once. Only had the nachos. I was there for a work event. The nachos were fan-freaking-tastic, though. Heard good things about the chicken and waffles as well.

I've been here in Charleston for 14 years but hailed from PA (hence the Pens stuff) for 12 years. Not sure if the blood is thinned or not. If I get the job I suppose I'll find out around October/November, eh?

I hope I get the job. I need to get out of here. It's a great place to live but man, I'm ready to move on. I've squeezed all of the juice I can out of the little slice of paradise and this move would really be better for my career.

I'll keep checking in as I want to learn as much as possible should I get the chance and so's I can let you guys know if I got it or not. If you guys care enough, anyway.

Before you leave, you have to go get a burger there. They grind their own blend, so that means you can order it rare if you want -- I'm a cook it until it just stops moo'ing kinda guy, so that was a revelation. I didn't know you could get the waffle and fried chicken combo there -- not something that has invaded the northeast yet, but with our penchant for heavy foods, it should.

I spent a few years in the Piedmont region of NC (Greensboro specifically) and it did change my internal thermostat a bit, so after 14 years, you're probably going to need a sweater come September.

I hope you like Cheerios.

Yeah, the General Mills factory is downtown, a short hop from the HSBC Arena. Depending on the day, it smells like Cheerios. (Or if it's at another time, the etching and electroplating chemicals from one of the metallurgical places right next door smell heavily of sulpher... ugh.)

I personally love the "My city smells like Cherrios" t's from Born In Buffalo (here: http://borninbuffalo.net/shop/ ).

 

[brian_griffin]

Hey guys, refugee from the Pens board.

So this is far from a sure thing but... I may be getting a job in Buffalo. I'm one of a few candidates in the screen process. I don't know much about the city other than it gets colder than a witches tit, it snows a lot, and you have two successful but blue balled pro sports teams. And I know the economy isn't the sharpest right now.

Tell me more about the area. What ever you can think of. Pros, cons, good areas, bad areas, places to see, places to avoid, dive bars, sports bars, college bars, titty bars, Mars bars... what ever you want to tell me.

Thanks in advance! And in the future. And so forth.

P.S.- CJ Spiller is awesome. Got a lot of Clemson coverage here in Charleston. Reggie Bush 2.0.

Too many others who live there are hoping / looking for a job too.

I moved away, but still visit at various times throughout the year.

On the plus side:
1. Fantastic summers. The latitude gives you an extra couple hours of summer daylight vs. the Carolinas. Of course, you give it back in winter, but that's OK for most people who work dayshift jobs, since they're inside anyway. After living in Charleston, you'll scoff at hot & humid summer days in BUF.
2. LDS is right about driving. You can get anywhere relatively quickly. The road system was overbuilt years ago expecting population growth which actually reversed.
3. Excellent radio (sports and non-sports). You can get several really good Canadian stations in addition to the American diversity. Canadian stations are, IMO, more avant garde in what they play.
4. Bicycling is easy for a good 6 months of the year, if you know where to go. Route maps are available.
5. You homeowners insurance will drop significantly. No coastal federal flood insurance requirements, wind & hail coverage requirements, etc.

On the minus side:
1. No ocean (obviously).
2. You'll get 1/3 less sunshine than Charleston.
3. You probably pay 3x more in property / school taxes for the same sq ft. living space. So factor that into your housing budget.

 

[Clock]

I love the Cheerios smell. It makes the air sweet and it isn't overbearing.

 

[JThorne]

As for the titty bars, the WNY side has a few but they are the typical lower end ones. Cross over the border and you're almost in a different world. The "Canadian Ballet" has much more lax rules for theirs than we do here.


If you don't yet own a passport, you'll want to get one. Or at least an Enhanced Drivers License from NYS. Since 9/11 they have really made the US/Canada border more strict and you cannot get between the countries without one of the aforementioned forms of ID.

 

[BloFan4Life]

I am going to be completely honest with you. I will be graduating with an accounting degree in about 1 year. I have job offers like crazy up here because there are a lot of accounting jobs here. All my family lives up here and I have have a good amount of friends that still live here. In saying all this, once I pass the CPA exam, I am out of here faster then you can ask why. The city is depressing. It is getting taken over by poverty, low level citizens that want to do nothing with their life but shoot people and live off the system. Their is literally 2 upper class neighborhoods here. My cousin moved out of here right after college and lives in a little town in NJ. When I went to visit him all I could say is, there is nothing like this in Buffalo. Older updated houses, with a little town with all family owned business where people actually love to work. You go there and you get motivated. You come to Buffalo and all you want to do is hang out and do nothing. Buffalo is getting bad. Nothing gets done here and the politicians are worse then any city I have seen. Don't get me wrong, this city has potential but it is too far along in ruins to bring up. You would have to ship out at least 150,000 people who are bring this city down and bring in people that want to work. We can't even go to our nice restaurants anymore with people getting shot outside of them. My advice, look for a job in a city that cares about its people. You will pay some of the highest taxes here and get nothing from it.

 

[JThorne]

I am going to be completely honest with you. I will be graduating with an accounting degree in about 1 year. I have job offers like crazy up here because there are a lot of accounting jobs here. All my family lives up here and I have have a good amount of friends that still live here. In saying all this, once I pass the CPA exam, I am out of here faster then you can ask why. The city is depressing. It is getting taken over by poverty, low level citizens that want to do nothing with their life but shoot people and live off the system. Their is literally 2 upper class neighborhoods here. My cousin moved out of here right after college and lives in a little town in NJ. When I went to visit him all I could say is, there is nothing like this in Buffalo. Older updated houses, with a little town with all family owned business where people actually love to work. You go there and you get motivated. You come to Buffalo and all you want to do is hang out and do nothing. Buffalo is getting bad. Nothing gets done here and the politicians are worse then any city I have seen. Don't get me wrong, this city has potential but it is too far along in ruins to bring up. You would have to ship out at least 150,000 people who are bring this city down and bring in people that want to work. We can't even go to our nice restaurants anymore with people getting shot outside of them. My advice, look for a job in a city that cares about its people. You will pay some of the highest taxes here and get nothing from it.

Yikes, maybe you should change your username to Sabresfan4life instead. Doesn't sound much like you're a fan of Buffalo.

 

[Chainshot]

I am going to be completely honest with you. I will be graduating with an accounting degree in about 1 year. I have job offers like crazy up here because there are a lot of accounting jobs here. All my family lives up here and I have have a good amount of friends that still live here. In saying all this, once I pass the CPA exam, I am out of here faster then you can ask why. The city is depressing. It is getting taken over by poverty, low level citizens that want to do nothing with their life but shoot people and live off the system. Their is literally 2 upper class neighborhoods here. My cousin moved out of here right after college and lives in a little town in NJ. When I went to visit him all I could say is, there is nothing like this in Buffalo. Older updated houses, with a little town with all family owned business where people actually love to work. You go there and you get motivated. You come to Buffalo and all you want to do is hang out and do nothing. Buffalo is getting bad. Nothing gets done here and the politicians are worse then any city I have seen. Don't get me wrong, this city has potential but it is too far along in ruins to bring up. You would have to ship out at least 150,000 people who are bring this city down and bring in people that want to work. We can't even go to our nice restaurants anymore with people getting shot outside of them. My advice, look for a job in a city that cares about its people. You will pay some of the highest taxes here and get nothing from it.

Well, this ought to set a few things off.

Yikes, maybe you should change your username to Sabresfan4life instead. Doesn't sound much like you're a fan of Buffalo.

Or "4now"...

Seriously, there are any number of reasons to look for opportunity somewhere else. He's made up his mind, let him go. No point in trying to argue a personal preference, particularly with someone who hasn't experienced a lot of post-collegiate life yet.

 

[Clock]

Seriously, there are any number of reasons to look for opportunity somewhere else. He's made up his mind, let him go. No point in trying to argue a personal preference, particularly with someone who hasn't experienced a lot of post-collegiate life yet.

Yeah, I can relate to the sentiment. I wanted to get the heck out of the area as well, but I found that the area is truly what you make of it.

 

[missingmika]

I am going to be completely honest with you. I will be graduating with an accounting degree in about 1 year. I have job offers like crazy up here because there are a lot of accounting jobs here. All my family lives up here and I have have a good amount of friends that still live here. In saying all this, once I pass the CPA exam, I am out of here faster then you can ask why. The city is depressing. It is getting taken over by poverty, low level citizens that want to do nothing with their life but shoot people and live off the system. Their is literally 2 upper class neighborhoods here. My cousin moved out of here right after college and lives in a little town in NJ. When I went to visit him all I could say is, there is nothing like this in Buffalo. Older updated houses, with a little town with all family owned business where people actually love to work. You go there and you get motivated. You come to Buffalo and all you want to do is hang out and do nothing. Buffalo is getting bad. Nothing gets done here and the politicians are worse then any city I have seen. Don't get me wrong, this city has potential but it is too far along in ruins to bring up. You would have to ship out at least 150,000 people who are bring this city down and bring in people that want to work. We can't even go to our nice restaurants anymore with people getting shot outside of them. My advice, look for a job in a city that cares about its people. You will pay some of the highest taxes here and get nothing from it.

I agree with you on this. I have an undergrad in accounting and a master's, plus a law degree and I'm licensed NY attorney. The job offers are here, but the pay is not what other places pay. I have also done most of my schooling out of state, and theres just so much more to do there than here.

The people are nice in Buffalo, the food is amazing (this is a gift and a curse, because you notice people in Buffalo tend to be a little bit bigger on average), the weather is not as bad as people say.

With all that said, I'm moving down south soon with an IRS position.

 

[gaf]

LOL.. I'm not even touching that one..

Take it from someone who moved here from Connecticut (by choice- in fact) that Buffalo is a fabulous place to live. I live IN THE CITY.. Oh dread!! my family of 4 live off one income and shockingly we arent in poverty. In fact, we are even sabres season ticket holders. Buffalo has its blight and political corruption, but its a fantastic place to live.. The food, the neighborhoods, the amount to do all the big city perks on a small city scale and budget..

If you get the job here you'll love it. In the 10 winters I've been here, there has been more snow in southwest CT (a 'burb of NYC) than there has been here. Just sayin... The winters can be long and grey, but its not the snow.. its the wind thats a total B. The other 3 seasons are phenominal.. You'll typically find that buffalonians are super friendly and neighborly..

 

[BloFan4Life]

I agree with you on this. I have an undergrad in accounting and a master's, plus a law degree and I'm licensed NY attorney. The job offers are here, but the pay is not what other places pay. I have also done most of my schooling out of state, and theres just so much more to do there than here.

The people are nice in Buffalo, the food is amazing (this is a gift and a curse, because you notice people in Buffalo tend to be a little bit bigger on average), the weather is not as bad as people say.

With all that said, I'm moving down south soon with an IRS position.

Was it worth it for you to get your masters?? I am going into my fifth year which is required to take the NYS CPA exam and after that, I plan on taking a job. In the end, do you think it was worth the money to go the extra schooling for the masters?? I am coming out of school with zero school debt and really don't want to accumulate any if I don't have too.

 

[Chainshot]

Swinging back around -- you may want to check out this from two years ago:

Where the Urban Dream Life Is Going Cheap

I won't get into the whole pay-scale arguement. Housing costs differences alone are easy enough to point out -- what one can purchase for say $500,000 in Buffalo vs. the same thing somewhere like NYC or Boston or DC or Chicago. Eh. Some people boil it down to just a number. *shrug*

 

[Ham]

I'll take Buffalo over Rochester or any other western NY city any day. But I'm in Columbus so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Clock]

Swinging back around -- you may want to check out this from two years ago:

Where the Urban Dream Life Is Going Cheap

I won't get into the whole pay-scale arguement. Housing costs differences alone are easy enough to point out -- what one can purchase for say $500,000 in Buffalo vs. the same thing somewhere like NYC or Boston or DC or Chicago. Eh. Some people boil it down to just a number. *shrug*

That's an excellent point. 15 year old 3000 square foot homes in nice areas with great schools for around 300k. The aforementioned lack of major traffic issues makes it relatively easy to move out to the burbs.

The general area is great, as well. You get four seasons. You get a waterfront. You get skiing / snowboarding. You get decent traffic. Great food. Some very good schools.

Obviously, to each their own, though. I can definitely understand the allure of a fully developed and kicking city. As a born and raised suburbanite, though, you can do a lot worse.

 

[missingmika]

Was it worth it for you to get your masters?? I am going into my fifth year which is required to take the NYS CPA exam and after that, I plan on taking a job. In the end, do you think it was worth the money to go the extra schooling for the masters?? I am coming out of school with zero school debt and really don't want to accumulate any if I don't have too.

Its nice to have and helped bump me up salary wise. It doesn't really help with the CPA exam because a lot of the classes were really specialized. I also did it in the summers between my law school courses so it was refreshing for me to be away from law people. If you are looking for a school, I did it at University of Connecticut, which was great and the cost was not much (especially compared to law school).

Back on topic, don't get me wrong, Buffalo is a great place to live, but you get what you put into it. Theres local art and theater that isn't bad. Its by far the best food in the country. The cost of living is also great. Theres rarely traffic. The suburbs are also great and safe (Amherst I think was one of the safest places in the nation). If UB expands and they ever get the waterfront projects going at a better pace, Buffalo could quickly build up. It has its bad areas too, but all cities have that and its just if you don't wanna go there, then don't go there.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

Though I left Buffalo almost 30yrs ago, I still enjoy coming back and visiting but I couldn't live there. The weather isn't an issue, though I don't like the winter as its grey, dingy etc etc etc. My issue is the over taxation, being retired and well off I can't see paying out the arse in personal income tax, a high sales tax and fairly high property taxes.

 

[Chainshot]

Though I left Buffalo almost 30yrs ago, I still enjoy coming back and visiting but I couldn't live there. The weather isn't an issue, though I don't like the winter as its grey, dingy etc etc etc. My issue is the over taxation, being retired and well off I can't see paying out the arse in personal income tax, a high sales tax and fairly high property taxes.

Yeah, that's clearly an issue. And consolidation of gov't services in order to lessen those taxes is -- as nearly anything at a community level -- moving at a snails pace.