Must...calm...down

Seems your humble correspondent got a bit hot under the collar and carried away with himself earlier today. Sorry 'bout that. But the commenter who sparked my ire has responded:

Sorry about the y’all, after living here 13 years out of 15 some things like y’all, sweet tea and BBQ are as natural as “pop” Errr pepsi … Mighty Tacos and of course wings. It isn’t pathetic, just taking on some of the local culture. I can still easily use the Buffalo phases “Dis and “dese “ (aka this and these) in any sentence. “you call dis pizza?”... “you call dese wings?”

This New York boy can sympathize there. When I get tired and lazy, my speech quickly regresses to a horrific NYC-style, swear-packed patois.

You can argue there are less people, but it seems services and spending are cutback at the same rate as the decline in population? Funny, looking at Erie County’s statistics, Government is the largest employer in WNY http://www.erie.gov/overview . Government agencies hold half of the top ten slots and provide 20K more jobs then the 5 top private sector jobs. Per the NYS labor statistics (1) Total government employment is 17.1% of workforce (take total private vs. total government). On the Erie County website, it shows government employment at 15.44% of the total (Source: NYS Department of Labor - July 1998 Data). Government employment rose almost 2% from 1998 to 2005 while population is down 20K from 1990 through 2000.

You're right about that, and I've commented about it before. I think it's depressing. But I think Buffalo is uniquely poised - right place, right time, to do something about it. But that also means that I can't really be bothered listening to the opions of the people who are leaving/have left. I came here voluntarily. None of that ingrained, institutionalized, special brand of Buffalo pessimism has infected me yet.

There has been relatively little discussion about the increased burden placed on Erie County government due to the reduced regional earnings and out migration of the best and brightest of our young. The region is getting older and less affluent, and this is causing fiscal burdens to the region’s residents. The same holds for other large upstate New York counties such as Monroe and Onondaga.

Groups like WNY Coalition for Progress and Revitalize Buffalo are looking to take steps - politically and through activism - to reverse the brain drain. As to my rant about local taxes being federal deductions:

Hmmm, you are correct, but is this good? There is a lot of debate around this topic and more then 1 proposal to due away with this deduction. If tax reform ever gets rolling, the “Blue” states are going to get hit hard if this reform is ever enacted. Personally I doubt it will ever pass, but it is something to keep an eye on. Personally, I rather take that money and invest it in equity in my house.

Sure. But in many instances, the whole "taxes are lower where I've moved to" argument can be fallacious. If a 4 bedroom house on an acre in Clarence goes for $300,000, and a 4 bedroom house on an acre in, say, Atlanta (or Boston. Or Chicago) goes for $900,000, are you really paying taxes that are significantly lower? Maybe a smaller proportion; but wouldn't the end numbers be pretty similar? The blue states are definitely in for a right reaming if Bush & Co. have anything to say about it. But politics is cyclical, and what goes around... The commenter goes on to rebut my mostly knee-jerk attack on Atlanta in particular and the sunbelt in general. (I have no love for the South: not its past, not its present). Sure, Atlanta's got parks. Sure, Atlanta's got museums. But looking at the package as a whole: Atlanta's climate, people, traffic, etc., I give the edge to WNY in terms of desireability. Even with high taxes and shit politicians.

Nothing arrogant in my post, and I don’t hate WNY, my family, still lives there, and I would too if it wasn’t for the politics of the place driving businesses and people out. I am also one of the few who actually DID move back to WNY after 15 years. I gave it 2 years but sadly, the economy was so bad I took another transfer back to Georgia. So I do have some real-life comparisons that I can make.

This place is what you make it. Some succeed, others fail. Like I said, I came here from elsewhere. I am optimistic and see only the area's potential, having not lived through its decline and failure. Is it hard for people to make it in WNY? Maybe yes, maybe no. I mean: did you come back to WNY with no job? Why 2 years? When I'm railing against out-of-towners' arrogance, I don't mean to personalize it against any one person or visitor or commenter. But I still cannot tolerate the utter hatred that many Buffalo expats have for this area - whether they realize it or not; whether they admit it or not, it's there. They think we're suckers for staying here and making a go of it. Maybe we are. But I refuse to think that way.