Moving to Buffalo, NY. Advice?

[Hyuudo]

@Snow: You only have to worry about it if you're not in the north half of Erie County. There's literally a line at the midway point (vertically) of the county where snow isn't an issue above it. Even just in the last 3 years, climate change has fucked the seasons up. We didn't even have a winter last year, and we're talking about the snow capital of the country.
@Games: There are no game stores except GameShit. I hear there's a single card/tabletop game shop left. My friend goes there from time to time. If you want me to find out, PM me.
@Food: It's all true. The majority of food that originates here is fantastic. I speak only in the abstract though, I'm not big on restaurants and even less on bars, so I won't speak on that. Wings, Frank's Red Hot, all the typical stuff you associate with Buffalo are great.
@Economy: Sadly, that's all true, too. Our main exports are rust and depression. It's become a college town; not because of the great colleges...because everything else is dead.
I don't know much about it, because the downturn started before I was born. My parents/uncles/etc have all told me (furiously) that it's this guy's fault:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thomas_Curtin
Buffalo used to have 'round the clock work. Shift 1 would start as Shift 3 was leaving, Shift 2 when Shift 1 was leaving, etc. You used to be able leave a job in the morning and have a replacement by afternoon. Anyway, I'm rambling.

tl;dr: Food's great, snow's only an issue in the 'burbs, and there's literally no economy. I would recommend staying away if at all possible.

[Necronus]

It's already been said before, but all I know it its like a ghost town. Ok, so that's exaggerating, but when I was up there on business like a year ago, our one client said to me (no idea on the validity of the statement or if she was just trying to make a point) "You know more people left in the recession than left New Orleans after Katrina?" .... and sure as hell felt like it. I swore I coulda laid down in the streets downtown and only run mild risk of being run over. Ok, exggerating again, but it did feel so empty.

Sorry I couldn't help otherwise, I just stayed in my hotel for the very short stay I was there.

[Lazaruz]

GO BILLS !!

[popsiclestix]

Former Buffalo resident who left to move back to Japan 2 years ago. First lets talk about the bad: Snow is a given. Its literally 9months of the year snow. Not just a little snow, its a lot of snow. It will dominate every conversation. All people talk about is Snow, Bills, Sabres, and drinking Canadian beer. You will get fat because all the food is junk, and you have to drive to get to anywhere, which will lead you to not walking.

If you are broke, since you have no job, then move to one of the southern towns like Lancaster, Depew, or Cheektowaga. If you have a little money, then go to Amherst. There is a little cultural diversity and a little more wealth. Avoid the city like the plague. . It is boring with a shitty lay out. No one goes there unless for an event like a game or to visit the convention center. Do not live in Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, or Niagara Falls. See Love Canal. Air sucks there and the ground is polluted.

Jobs are low paying, but the living standards are low. Driving is a requirement for anywhere you want to go since nothing is close by and the mass transit is only used by the poor. Everyone will drive a rust out piece of shit car though, so no stress if you only get a shitty car too.

The good: I like Buffalo Wings. No bugs since its so cold. People are generally nice, but not so much in the city area.


EDIT: Hyuudo said there is hardly any snow. I would say, once every couple years, there is very little snow. However, there is lake effect snow from the southern towns all the way up north. Don't forget it also has freaky October Storm. Literally 5 feet of snow in one day, in October!


Bottom line: If you can line up a job that pays more than 45k, then its worth it. But any less, you will be depressed from the crappy weather. With 45k+ you can at least take vacations to get away

[Zimman]

Expanding on some things. The wages here are lower than most other places. That said, so is the cost of living. Gas is more expensive in NY then most places, but most other things are cheap.

As for the snow topic, don't even both with a shovel... You're going to need a snowblower. Snow her can come down a foot an hour. If you have a shovel you'll just be cursing the entire time and end up with a bad back. This past winter was a very odd winter, almost no snow and wasn't freezing. A typical winter is going to be 100+ inch of snow, and points where the temperature is negative.

Could be because I've lived here, but the place isn't that bad. You just learn to deal with it. Summers are actually a nice 80-90 degrees during the day.

[AoE]

I have a cousin who got out of jail relatively recent if you're looking for friends in Buffalo.

[Osede]

EDIT: Hyuudo said there is hardly any snow. I would say, once every couple years, there is very little snow. However, there is lake effect snow from the southern towns all the way up north. Don't forget it also has freaky October Storm. Literally 5 feet of snow in one day, in October!

I remembered this, I was waiting shuttle in UB to get home and then the snow starts falling. And everyone still wear a shirt with pant/jean only by that time lol... I believe many downtown area got only their electricity back after a week or so.

The most thing I like in Buffalo probably eating wing in Tuesday and watch some Sabres game in those wing restaurant. As speak of snow, after move to UP Michigan here, I just have more hell of snow over here compare to Buffalo. Over here, we can be said that there is only 2-3 weeks of summer, w/o any spring >.>

[Sylphet]

Born and raised in Buffalo. I go back for a visit every 1-2 years or so but I haven't lived there in almost 20 years at this point. However, from what I can tell the place hasn't changed all that much!

I'll try to focus on things that weren't covered. If you're going to live in Buffalo (as opposed to a suburb) I would try to live around Elmwood Ave. Ideally, somewhere north of Summer and south of Amherst. Also, try to stay west of Main St. and east of Richmond. This will actually give you a good number of things that you can easily walk or bike too including wonderful restaurants and shops. This area is quite close to Delaware park which has a world class art museum (the Albright Knox), Shakespeare in the park, etc. There's always something going on in the summer time around the park. There are also some very nice places to live in North Buffalo. The suburbs can be nice as well but you will 100% need a car to go to anything.

One of the nice things about living in Buffalo that most people wouldn't realize by passing through is that because of the low cost of living it has always maintained an active local arts scene. There is always something to do or see around town and it's usually quite inexpensive.

Always keep a decent stock of canned/dry foods and beer in your home in case of a blizzard!

I can't comment too much on the tabletop gaming scene but I'm sure that you will be able to find people given the large number of university students there.

Best wings in town = Gabriel's Gate IMHO
Jim's Steakout is the greatest food in the world when it's 4:15am and you are totally drunk... alas I have no idea what it tastes like sober.

Feel free to ask anything else and have fun! It's really not as bad as it's rep.

[Darus Grey]

If it's not too late, don't come here. That's the best advice anyone could give.

[Orden]

This seems to be the best advice:

If it's not too late, don't come here. That's the best advice anyone could give.

[jlee303]

Buffalo cold as hell man. Blizzards, snow, and nothing.. Take the above advice.

[solkanar]

Having lived in or around Buffalo for the majority of my life I don't think its that bad. I definitely agree with the hang out more in the suburbs and avoid the downtown area, especially Chippewa unless your into the whole 18-21 fist pump crowd. Allen St. bars can be all right on the right nights. If your going to live in the city Elmwood village and North Buffalo will be your best bets. I live in South Buffalo in a pretty nice family area close to West Seneca but I don't have to travel too far to get to some questionable areas (I would not recommend looking for apartments in the Seneca-Babcock area). I usually frequent a couple bars that are walking distance from my house but don't go out that often anymore. Sabres and Bills games are definitely a good time if your into sports even though the outcome of said games/seasons is often sad. I also play ice hockey and have no lack of finding a pickup game to play in at least once a week along with my league games. If your into gambling there's plenty of close casinos around too. Also as others have said the food is pretty great around here and I've had no shortage places to go. Some favorites include Pearl St, Conlon's, and the Century Grill.

As far as the weather summers are usually nice. If you don't have much experience with snow or winter that can be an adjustment. This past winter was definitely more mild than most and would have made a good training winter for anyone new to the area.

Jobs can be a little difficult around here depending on the field as others have said. I'm in the tech industry and count myself very lucky I've been able to hold a Sys Admin job downtown for the last 5 years. My company does lots of trade shows and events around the area and I can say I don't often hear of other companies frequently hiring. We average maybe 1 new hire a year. My wife works in the restaurant industry and from what I see of that there are plenty of job opportunities there. Finding the job seems to be the hardest part but once you get past that you don't need to make a whole hell of a lot to live rather comfortably in this area.

For the table top gaming i can't bee too helpful. I used to play Magic back between Unlimited up until a little while after Weatherlight came out, but haven't been around that scene for 13+ years at least. When I was active though any decent sized tourney/event I ever went to was either in Rochester or Erie PA. If you have any other specific questions feel free to shoot me a PM or something. My feelings on the area are it's not the greatest place to live but it's also not the worst.

[Darus Grey]

Also the snow is greatly exaggerated at this point.

Climate in Buffalo has been undergoing a significant change over the last 30 years, and it's only going to continue more in that direction, the last 10 winters have been incredibly mild compared to previous years. In our Geography department we've been hypothesizing that at current trends, within 5-10yrs, the climate here is going to be similar to North Carolina.

Also yes, this place is a dead-end for tech jobs. It'a downright embarrassing just how terrible it is.

Have a masters or PHD in computer science? Have fun getting serious job offers for $15/h...and they think they're doing you a favor.
I can't count the number of times some company has tried to recruit me, wasted fucking hours of my time, and then dropped the bomb on me at salary negotiation that they're looking to pay 30-45k, and I'm like nigga, you got to be kidding. I already make 3x that, and you KNEW that before contacting me.
I don't know what it is about this area...but the tech sector is just so godawful terrible, the few places I did work were terrible places to work on top of that.

[huenoun]

huenoun.blogspot.com/2012/10/buffalo-new-york-pretends-to-be-city.html

i suggest reading this before moving to #1 on america's deadest cities list

[popsiclestix]

A post from the dead....

[*Shinzon*]

I've been here for just about a year now. The weather here really isn't that bad. The winters have been mild and the snow is actually much worse Syracuse than it is in Buffalo. You don't /need/ to have a car to get around but it does make things easier. The Amherst Area near the University at Buffalo North Campus is very nice and is usually a little lively because that's where most the students are. You can find decent work here but a lot of it is call centers and working doing menial labor for big companies like the banks. Elmwood and Chippewa are really the places to hang out if you're looking to party though and its hard to get around if you stay out late because the public transportation shuts down at midnight and the bars stay open till like 4am. The food up here is pretty good but there are a lot of niche places that you really need friends to point you to, Amy's place on Main Street is a little diner near UB south campus for example that's really good eats. There's a lot of good greek food up here though. The cost of living is low and you can find a lot of things reasonably priced around here. Food is especially cheap and high quality with Wegmans. So it's not all bad news but there's not too much opportunity for advancement in the city itself.

[Ratatapa]

Don't approach Izzy he's gonna bite your ankles

[Izzy]

[Odesseiron]

I think it's mad north up there by Yonkers or some shit.

Lol what the fuck. I'm in Yonkers. Buffalo is like 8 hours from there

[Aksannyi]

*pic*

Haha, as someone who used to frequent Buffalo, this made me lol.

I came into this thread to say "Don't" but it turns out that A. this is a necro and B. someone already said the exact same thing, so meh. At least I got a lol out of it.