Thinking about moving to Buffalo, NY

[UglyCasanova]

We currently live in Louisiana but are itching for a change of scenery. I just graduated with my b.a. in finance but am having a hard time finding a related job here other than working as a teller. Enter in our new idea: Buffalo, NY. She has friends that lives there and recently got back from there and loved it. We are both flying up there in October to go to a wedding so I will see how I like it, but any opinions from fellow AT'ers?

I've never been above the Mason Dixon (in the United States at least) so I'm not sure how well I can take the weather. Summers are incredibly hot here, and from what I can tell Buffalo's summers are comparable to our spring and fall. I can't remember the last Christmas where I didn't where shorts. My experience with cold and snow is limited to a couple winters in Oklahoma.

I heard that the city was listed on Forbes top 10 cities to raise a family which is good (we have kids). What are poverty levels like, crime rates, etc.? I mean this is not Detroit I'm assuming... And are there good public schools in areas with affordable rent? Thanks for any input, I'm just trying to do a little research and get a feel for the area.

 

[SunnyD]

Don't.

Buffalo is nice, but NY is expensive. Buffalo gets dumped on from lake effect snow during the winters. Summer lasts all of about 2-3 weeks tops. Winter lasts all of 6-7 months minimum. Western NY is nice, lost of green during the summer... plenty of camping, etc.

Jobs are tough to come by too. Not the greatest market in the world up there. It's not terribly expensive to live there. Canada is a stone's throw away, which is cool, but gets old fast.

NY taxes suck. Like badly. Highest state taxes aside from maybe California. Property taxes and sales taxes are bad too. Schools are good though, that's the only thing I wish I could have taken with me from NYS when I left.

Personally, leaving NY, then moving back made me realize I made a mistake. So I left again, and won't be looking back. Ever.

I grew up 30 miles east of Buffalo fwiw. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Regs]

Poverty levels...lmao. Where are you coming from, the Hamptons?

Buffalo is extremely cold and has lots of lake effect snow come Fall. So you have 6 months of winter, 4 months of fall, 1 month of spring, and 1 months of Summer.

 

[SunnyD]

Poverty levels...lmao. Where are you coming from, the Hamptons?

Buffalo is extremely cold and has lots of lake effect snow come Fall. So you have 6 months of winter, 4 months of fall, 1 month of spring, and 1 months of Summer.

There's only two seasons in NY. Winter and Construction.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Poverty levels...lmao. Where are you coming from, the Hamptons?

Buffalo is extremely cold and has lots of lake effect snow come Fall. So you have 6 months of winter, 4 months of fall, 1 month of spring, and 1 months of Summer.

Ha no I wish. My "city" I'm living in now is dying. Every major employer save CenturyLink is leaving or has already left, and with its recent merger activity I don't see CenturyLink staying here for much longer. There are no jobs other than at restaurants and thus the population is somewhat poor. There are certain areas better than others, but overall the city is fairly impoverished. I have lived where that is not the case as well, and would like to get an idea of the economic conditions of Buffalo.

 

[Blackjack200]

You have kids and you just graduated with your B.A.?

Up here in the Northeast, people don't have kids until they retire. Some wait until they're dead.

As for the cold, it's what you make of it. There are winter mornings when it's so cold that it hurts to touch my steering wheel. You will get tired of shoveling snow (especially in Buffalo). On the other hand, I absolutely love skiing and ice skating (playing ice hockey)

I think it will be tough to find a job wherever you go right now. Though I imagine living in the Northeast (maybe not quite Buffalo, but more NY area or Boston) would be better for finance.

 

[DrPizza]

It really depends on the field you're looking to work in. An awful lot of people live and work in the Buffalo area. Some of the suburbs have exceptionally good public schools. Taxes in NY suck. But, if you compare the actual monthly payment for mortgage plus taxes, it's simply skewed more toward tax than other areas, while the total amount is much lower than in many regions of the country for similar sized houses. Winter isn't "6 to 7 months long." And, while the area does get dumped on by lake effect snow, the region is more than adequately prepared for dealing with snow. And, it's a hell of a lot easier to dress for cold weather than it is to dress for very hot weather. Spring, summer, and fall are generally fairly pleasant. Even though much of the country has been complaining of such a hot and humid summer, it's really not that bad. Crime isn't much of a problem in most areas. There's a fair amount of activities year round.

 

[Blackjack200]

Even though much of the country has been complaining of such a hot and humid summer, it's really not that bad. Crime isn't much of a problem in most areas. There's a fair amount of activities year round.

This is seriously appealing to me. During one of our heat waves a few weeks ago I visted my brother in Canton NY, and the weather was so much nicer.

 

[geecee]

This guy could be your neighbor!

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2096962

Hope you don't have any cats.

 

[MotF Bane]

You will freeze.

 

[Anubis]

the weather in Buf is not nearly as bad as some posters make it seem

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USNY0181

yes in the winter you can get lots of snow but thats about it and i dont consider snow bad

 

[AMCRambler]

Hope you like snow!

 

[joesmoke]

Dear UglyCasanova,

I'll see you there bruh!

Sincerely,
Despair

 

[Capt Caveman]

You couldn't pay me to live there. Don't.

 

[DrPizza]

Plus, you mentioned you have kids. Kids enjoy snow, except for that part where you say, "I'll give you an extra $10 in your allowance if you go shovel the sidewalk." Heck, if your kids are ambitious enough, on snow days, they can make a fortune shoveling sidewalks for people. Where I live, I don't have a public sidewalk that I'm required to keep clean for pedestrians. Heck, we occasionally have snowmobilers who zip across our front yard. Except for occasionally shoveling the plowed in edge of the driveway, I think I've only shoveled once or twice in the past two years. (This year though, I have the tractor with a back blade & front end loader bucket. I'm going to play with it in the snow a bit. )

 

[Anubis]

you and i both live far enough from the lakes to got really get blasted by snow Doc. you prob get more then me however. being in a valley we often get nothing when the hill a mile or so away gets a few feet

 

[Juddog]

There's only two seasons in NY. Winter and Construction.

Dammit you beat me to it!

 

[moshquerade]

Don't.

Buffalo is nice, but NY is expensive. Buffalo gets dumped on from lake effect snow during the winters. Summer lasts all of about 2-3 weeks tops. Winter lasts all of 6-7 months minimum. Western NY is nice, lost of green during the summer... plenty of camping, etc.

BS. Summer is definitely cranking from mid June to mid Sept.
It was warmer even earlier this year.
Buffalo doesn't always get dumped on for snow, but the potential is there. Any body who lives there is prepared, and it's not like the place shuts down. The snowplow crews are capable of handling it.

 

[UglyCasanova]

How is the public transportation? It is virtually nonexistent where I currently live save for a few beat up buses full of crack heads, but what is it like in Buffalo?

 

[SunnyD]

BS. Summer is definitely cranking from mid June to mid Sept.
It was warmer even earlier this year.
Buffalo doesn't always get dumped on for snow, but the potential is there. Any body who lives there is prepared, and it's not like the place shuts down. The snowplow crews are capable of handling it.

I BS your BS. Actual viable, legitimate, enjoyable summer lasts 2-3 weeks tops. The remainder of the "summer season" is generally wet, windy, or cold. Real summer in upstate NY is actually late spring for the most part. Then it drops off quickly.

This year is the exception to every rule. Hell, we had snow several times this past winter down here in AL, which is highly unusual in its own right.

 

[PingSpike]

I have no idea what it would be like for you, not really. One of my coworkers is from Buffalo and she tells me some great stories about the epic snow she deals with when driving home for the holidays. And I'm from Vermont. Snow can be pretty crazy, you learn to deal with it but you have to work around it where you can and it takes more time to do things. Having never endured it before, I wonder if you'd even like it. I will say this about NYS, they take way better care of the roads during the winter than Vermont does. Vermont roads are embarrassing.

But yeah, in the south when it snows its a state disaster and the grocery stores run out of bread and everyone thinks about killing themselves before the cannibals take their children. Around here things just slow down when it snows...everything but an ice storm is a semi-regular event so there is equipment to deal with it and most people are also prepared.

For my part, I despise the heat. I'd rather be cold all year...except for the fuel oil bill part. But you may be shocked by the bleak grayness of winter.

 

[moshquerade]

I BS your BS. Actual viable, legitimate, enjoyable summer lasts 2-3 weeks tops. The remainder of the "summer season" is generally wet, windy, or cold. Real summer in upstate NY is actually late spring for the most part. Then it drops off quickly.

This year is the exception to every rule. Hell, we had snow several times this past winter down here in AL, which is highly unusual in its own right.

Listen buddy, I know what I am talking about. Last summer did indeed suck. It was a rainy, cool summer. This summer is off the charts here. Ask people who live here, DrPizza, and Anubis for two in this thread.
Summer is NOT 2 weeks long here. It is moreso 3 months long.

The summer like we had last summer was similar to the summer before, but they are not the norm. This summer is closer to that.

How long did you live in Buffalo?

 

[SunnyD]

Listen buddy, I know what I am talking about. Last summer did indeed suck. It was a rainy, cool summer. This summer is off the charts here. Ask people who live here, DrPizza, and Anubis for two in this thread.
Summer is NOT 2 weeks long here. It is moreso 3 months long.

The summer like we had last summer was similar to the summer before, but they are not the norm. This summer is closer to that.

How long did you live in Buffalo?

~20 years give or take. A few years in Rochester, a few in the hellhole of the rural world known as Watertown, and a year in Ithaca... "buddy".

 

[Anubis]

I BS your BS. Actual viable, legitimate, enjoyable summer lasts 2-3 weeks tops. The remainder of the "summer season" is generally wet, windy, or cold. Real summer in upstate NY is actually late spring for the most part. Then it drops off quickly.

This year is the exception to every rule. Hell, we had snow several times this past winter down here in AL, which is highly unusual in its own right.

ill BS your BS of the BS, ive been here for almost 15 years and with the exception of last year summers have been as mosh said. last year it rained the entire time but all others have been normal sunny and warm from the end of may to almost the end of sept

hell summers in Maine were longer then what you are describing NY as

now ill EDIT this because some peoples definition of nice may vary however if its over 70 and sunny its glorious

Summers in AL would be more like HELL IMO

 

[moshquerade]

ill BS your BS of the BS, ive been here for almost 15 years and with the exception of last you summers have been as mosh said. last year it rained the entire time but all others have been normal sunny and warm from the end of may to almost the end of sept

Well there you go SunnyD. It seems your memory is fading or you just remember the crappy summers. I dare say our summers here are some of the best around. The fact that it cools down at night most of the time is a big plus.


For the OP:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Buffalo (New_York)

click on "Buffalo, (New York)"