OT: Growing up in Buffalo

[nfreeman]

I saw this on a reddit Buffalo thread and thought it was pretty good:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-my-hometown-taught-me-life-business-rob-baiocco/

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I didn't grow up in Buffalo, but have family there, so it really felt like I did, at least in part.

I learned that the people of Buffalo have a love of life.  They work hard and play hard.  They do not give up easily when things are difficult.  Above all else, most are more than willing to lend a hand to friends, family and above all strangers.

Is this what you are after?

Edited April 7, 2019 by New Scotland (NS)
found a missing letter a day later ...

[Pimlach]

20 hours ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I didn't grow up in Buffalo, but have family there, so it really felt like I did, at least in part.

I leaned that the people of Buffalo have a love of life.  They work hard and play hard.  They do not give up easily when things are difficult.  Above all else, most are more than willing to lend a hand to friends, family and above all strangers.

Is this what you are after?

Very cool summary.  When will Buffalo get sports teams that truly reflect the people of the region?  

I grew up there.  Moved away after college and could never get back. Spent many vacations with the kids there. I have lots of job flexibility and a good financial position so I go there almost monthly and I have for years.  

When I retire (soon) my wife and I will live there in the summer and early fall.  

Love the area, there are so many places to go and see.  The majority of the USA is oppressively hot and/or humid in July/August, I love it there then.  

Edited April 7, 2019 by Pimlach

[Indabuff]

I love this goddam city.  

[Zamboni]

Been a Buffalonian my entire life. Would love to stay here after my wife and I retire in 10-12 years. But the bloated NY taxes and with a political party making things more difficult with everyday life for all NYers, we are getting the heck out of NY so our money and freedoms goes wayyyy farther. 

I’ll miss everything about the city. I’ll be back often enough since the rest of my family are here. But I won’t miss giving a large chunk of my money to the NY vampires.

”ALBANY - New York's population continues to decline faster than any other state, according to new data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report found New York was just one of nine states to see a decrease in population, losing an estimated 48,510 residents between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018.”

That's more than any state.

 

https://buffalonews.com/2018/12/19/new-yorks-population-dips-over-the-past-year/

[inkman]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Very cool summary.  When will Buffalo get sports teams that truly reflect the people of the region?  

When they stop hiring Midwestern gold chain wearing, everything handed to them in life weirdos, it'll be a start. 

[SABRES 0311]

I grew up in Wheatfield. Playing hockey, baseball, riding bikes and every summer are the best memories. I didn’t venture much past NT. Would be nice to live there again but I don’t think it’s in the cards. Maybe somewhere close enough to catch a few games.

[Wyldnwoody44]

Grew up in Riverside, Ontario and Philadelphia, was bused to school 61 near ecmc and then went to Roosevelt academy before moving to springville in middle school. 

Loved growing up there, blue collar family in an area that was not as bad as it has become. 

I drive by now and it makes me sad, it's turned into an absolute ***** hole. 

[Eleven]

16 hours ago, Indabuff said:

I love this goddam city.  

Me too.  I spent 10 years away, and moving back here is among the best decisions I ever have made.

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Grew up in Riverside, Ontario and Philadelphia, was bused to school 61 near ecmc and then went to Roosevelt academy before moving to springville in middle school. 

Loved growing up there, blue collar family in an area that was not as bad as it has become. 

I drive by now and it makes me sad, it's turned into an absolute ***** hole. 

Riverside is going to be the next neighborhood to bounce back, just as soon as Black Rock is done with its Renaissance.  Sorry you had to live in Filly, but that does explain some things.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Eleven

[Wyldnwoody44]

58 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Me too.  I spent 10 years away, and moving back here is among the best decisions I ever have made.

Riverside is going to be the next neighborhood to bounce back, just as soon as Black Rock is done with its Renaissance.  Sorry you had to live in Filly, but that does explain some things.

Not filly you jamook ?? Ontario and Philadelphia Street in riverside. I've actually never been to the real Philly 

[R_Dudley]

Grew up on the Buffalo East side/Cheektowaga border. Then spent some time in West Seneca before moving here to PGH in 92 for work as opportunities were very limited there then. 

Still have a brother, sister's, Mom, In laws, nephews, cousins and friends there. You can take the boy out of Buffalo but not the Buffalo out of the boy. 

 

i would love to retire and make it my Summer home on Lake Erie or Chautauqua somewhere but not sure the wife won't want to follow our kids somewhere to be active Grandparents. 

 

Regardless it will always be home away from home for me and my wife as we both hail from there.    

[Doohicksie]

For me, the City of Buffalo is largely an abstraction.  It kind of pains me to say that.  I grew up in Cheektowaga near U-Crest Firehall.  Cheektowaga is suburban Buffalo, but it's not Buffalo.  I rarely went into Buffalo, and when I did, it was riding in the back seat of my parents' car.  I didn't have  feel for the city itself.  It retrospect if feels like I took it for granted.

When I graduated from Maryvale High School I left the area for college.  I know my way around Troy, NY, much better than I do Buffalo.  If I drive in Buffalo, I need Googe Maps 100% of the time.

I read the articles about the revitalization of Buffalo, but the places in the city, the businesses, are not familiar to me.  I've never seen Shark Girl in person.  I've never had Paula's Donuts, never an Original Pizza Log.  I left the city in the early 1980s before those were "Buffalo things" and haven't lived there since.  The one an only time I've been to the Anchor Bar was last year; I did so essentially as a tourist.

Since my family has left Cheektowaga for the greener grass of West Seneca, that has also become an abstraction, a thing of the past.  The first place I worked (as a dishwasher), Roma Italian Restaurant on Genesee Street, is long gone.  The neighbors are all gone, all passed away. 

This hit home when my mom had bypass surgery last year and I hurried to Buffalo for the surgery.  The repeated trips from my mom's house off Reserve Road to the medical district were literally the first time in my life I had any familiarity with directions in the city.  It seems like a cool city, just like the revitalization stories say.  But it's not mine.

My wife isn't from Western New York, so she doesn't get it.

This place gets it.  There are enough Buffalo expats who post on this forum that I feel like *this* is my Buffalo.  My love of the Sabres and the Bills remains strong, even if my connections with the physical city weaken over time.  I guess that's what growing up in Buffalo does to you.  You can take the boy out of Buffalo, but you can't get the Sabres and Bills out of his heart.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Doohickie

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Grew up in Riverside, Ontario and Philadelphia, was bused to school 61 near ecmc and then went to Roosevelt academy before moving to springville in middle school. 

Loved growing up there, blue collar family in an area that was not as bad as it has become. 

I drive by now and it makes me sad, it's turned into an absolute ***** hole. 

I started on the West Side, on West Avenue near School Street.    West Ferry, etc.   Was a decent area then, a bit sketchy then as it is today.  Sad to see Grant Street get ruined.  That was the major shopping district back then.  Parts of it are coming back now. Buffalo is changing and for the first time in my life the city is getting better overall. 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Growing up in Buffalo, where people know how to drive in bad weather and aren't afraid of their own shadows, taught me that drivers in the Washington DC area are, to a tremendous degree, clueless.

[Eleven]

6 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Not filly you jamook ?? Ontario and Philadelphia Street in riverside. I've actually never been to the real Philly 

Well schedule a trip so we can all see a picture of you jumping off of the Rocky steps.

[North Buffalo]

Born in San Fran but moved to Buffalo when I was 3 as Dad joined UB English Department; folks rented a flat on Delevan before buying a house on Summitt two blocks from the zoo near St Marks.  Went to school #54, got kicked out in kindergarten for hitting a kid who stole my Bills sweater and took it back. Parents help start Central Community School for two years then went to School #64 till 6th grade, then to Calasanctius till 9th when we moved to Eggertsville and joined Amherst High.  Graduated and went to Geneseo for year and a half and transferred to GW.  Folks retired left in 2005 for San Diego.  Have my old next door neighbor who spent a lot of time taking care of us 3 boys growing up, treat him like my older brother still living in North Tonowanda... my only connection still living there.

Edited April 8, 2019 by North Buffalo