I Spent A Week In Jersey Yesterday...

When I started OTR I never been outside CA, not even to NV. I loved CA back then, but now that I have been outside it I realized this state is a dump.

Well I'm from New York and the politics and the taxes and all that are terrible here, like they are in California.

What I love about California, though, is that the people tend to be go-getters more than in most places. It's a lot more dynamic culture, almost certainly because you have such a variety of activities and such great weather all in one place. You can go surfing and snowboarding in the same day. You can ride the dunes in the desert and then return to your lovely vegetable garden in The Valley. You have the world's center of technology, music, and movies, and you have some of the most pristine mountain wilderness you'll find anywhere.

Keep your nose out of the newspapers and turn off the talk shows and California is an amazing place. There's nothing comparable anywhere in this great land.

I actually moved from Western New York to the Adirondacks for the summer, and I'm considering staying here permanently, because I wanted a lot more diverse wilderness, and a lot more diverse people. I love the personalities of the people in Western New York when it comes to being friendly and genuine. Super great people. And in fact for about 100 years or so Buffalo was a thriving city. We were on the main shipping route from the Atlantic to the Midwest and we had a gigantic economy built on the steel mills and factories and trade.

But in the 70's and early 80's a lot of the factory work began to dry up and the city, and the region, started a downhill slide that never stopped. Now we're part of what is referred to as The Rust Belt:

The Rust Belt is a term for the region of the United States from the Great Lakes to the upper Midwest States, referring to economic decline, population loss, and urban decay due to the shrinking of its once-powerful industrial sector, also known as deindustrialization.

And I promise you, that's no exaggeration. Economic decline, population loss, and urban decay describes Buffalo perfectly. The only part that hasn't declined is the number of neighborhood dive bars that people frequent. Our waterfront was completely neglected scrub brush. Now after 50 years of ignoring it they've planted grass, and people are actually excited, as if we've done something. Have you seen Chicago's waterfront???

And Niagara Falls, one of the 7 Great Natural Wonders Of The World, is a ghetto. Seriously. The city is a crime-ridden ghetto, and the shops in the area are either vacant, or useless garbage. We've completely squandered Niagara Falls. But have you seen the Canadian side of the Falls? It looks like a mini Vegas!

The worst part is that in my opinion, the people have now accepted that. "We're just Buffalo" seems to be the pervasive attitude people have. We're nearly dead last in every metric - economy, real estate, health - everything. They've accepted being last at everything, they've come to expect it.

Even our sports teams have become the place that great athletes go to decay. We bring in $100 million dollar superstars and it's like the gravity in Buffalo is double what it is anywhere else, and they disappear from the map. The University of Buffalo is the only one of the 63 elite universities in the country without a football team in a top 5 conference. The only one. And even in the tiny little MAC Conference we go 3 - 9 every year. It's beyond pathetic. It's downright embarrassing.

I know the mountain wilderness here in the Adirondacks is astounding, and there's no shortage of adventurers here. So that's a great start. But I haven't been here long enough to know if the culture and the mindset is really that different than in Western New York or not. I'm in the process of finding out. If I don't find more exciting and ambitious people here I'm gonna start commuting to NYC just to find some action!

So you might not like California, but it isn't because there's nothing to like. Your economy is larger than many small countries, you're the center of technology worldwide, you have a diverse and incredible wilderness, you're the center of music and movie production in LA, and the people are go-getters. So it's not nearly as bad as you make it out to be.

When I started OTR I never been outside CA, not even to NV. I loved CA back then, but now that I have been outside it I realized this state is a dump.

Well I'm from New York and the politics and the taxes and all that are terrible here, like they are in California.

What I love about California, though, is that the people tend to be go-getters more than in most places. It's a lot more dynamic culture, almost certainly because you have such a variety of activities and such great weather all in one place. You can go surfing and snowboarding in the same day. You can ride the dunes in the desert and then return to your lovely vegetable garden in The Valley. You have the world's center of technology, music, and movies, and you have some of the most pristine mountain wilderness you'll find anywhere.

Keep your nose out of the newspapers and turn off the talk shows and California is an amazing place. There's nothing comparable anywhere in this great land.

I actually moved from Western New York to the Adirondacks for the summer, and I'm considering staying here permanently, because I wanted a lot more diverse wilderness, and a lot more diverse people. I love the personalities of the people in Western New York when it comes to being friendly and genuine. Super great people. And in fact for about 100 years or so Buffalo was a thriving city. We were on the main shipping route from the Atlantic to the Midwest and we had a gigantic economy built on the steel mills and factories and trade.

But in the 70's and early 80's a lot of the factory work began to dry up and the city, and the region, started a downhill slide that never stopped. Now we're part of what is referred to as The Rust Belt:

The Rust Belt is a term for the region of the United States from the Great Lakes to the upper Midwest States, referring to economic decline, population loss, and urban decay due to the shrinking of its once-powerful industrial sector, also known as deindustrialization.

And I promise you, that's no exaggeration. Economic decline, population loss, and urban decay describes Buffalo perfectly. The only part that hasn't declined is the number of neighborhood dive bars that people frequent. Our waterfront was completely neglected scrub brush. Now after 50 years of ignoring it they've planted grass, and people are actually excited, as if we've done something. Have you seen Chicago's waterfront???

And Niagara Falls, one of the 7 Great Natural Wonders Of The World, is a ghetto. Seriously. The city is a crime-ridden ghetto, and the shops in the area are either vacant, or useless garbage. We've completely squandered Niagara Falls. But have you seen the Canadian side of the Falls? It looks like a mini Vegas!

The worst part is that in my opinion, the people have now accepted that. "We're just Buffalo" seems to be the pervasive attitude people have. We're nearly dead last in every metric - economy, real estate, health - everything. They've accepted being last at everything, they've come to expect it.

Even our sports teams have become the place that great athletes go to decay. We bring in $100 million dollar superstars and it's like the gravity in Buffalo is double what it is anywhere else, and they disappear from the map. The University of Buffalo is the only one of the 63 elite universities in the country without a football team in a top 5 conference. The only one. And even in the tiny little MAC Conference we go 3 - 9 every year. It's beyond pathetic. It's downright embarrassing.

I know the mountain wilderness here in the Adirondacks is astounding, and there's no shortage of adventurers here. So that's a great start. But I haven't been here long enough to know if the culture and the mindset is really that different than in Western New York or not. I'm in the process of finding out. If I don't find more exciting and ambitious people here I'm gonna start commuting to NYC just to find some action!

So you might not like California, but it isn't because there's nothing to like. Your economy is larger than many small countries, you're the center of technology worldwide, you have a diverse and incredible wilderness, you're the center of music and movie production in LA, and the people are go-getters. So it's not nearly as bad as you make it out to be.

I'm proud of Buffalo and not embarrassed at all. 40yrs and this is truly the city of good neighbors.

I'm proud of Buffalo and not embarrassed at all.

My point exactly.

The worst part is that in my opinion, the people have now accepted that. "We're just Buffalo" seems to be the pervasive attitude people have. We're nearly dead last in every metric - economy, real estate, health - everything. They've accepted being last at everything, they've come to expect it.

I'm new with posting so I'm not sure how to edit my last post but our real estate is booming. We don't have enough houses for the amount of people. Some of the updates they are trying to do is like putting lipstick on a pig but the waterfront is actually beautiful now. This place is so rich in architect and history and hidden gems that you can't help be proud of this place. This is Buffalo, and it is its own place. I have been to far worst plus we smell like Cheerios, no funky smell in the air. Niagara Falls is ghetto so I'll join your opinion on that but I have been to far worst places, once the Casino became the main money maker it trashed it. Just like Reno, lights are shiny and bright to blind you from what is around it. South Buffalo is changing fast but you will not find a better community of people, churches and a sense of family. Even our weather is its own, sunburn and frostbite all in one week. City living and country living and a trip to a new country for Chinese or fries and gravy if you want. Yes our football team needs to get it's act together but the fans? Win or lose we support our boys and we still have hope. We don't care what others think of team and we let them know. Voted proudest and loudest fans many times. We have a lot of messy parts but we have a lot of amazing things in Buffalo. You have to look beyond what is on front street and see what truly makes Buffalo a great place to live. Community is what makes a great place to live and I'm been Buffalo proud for 40 years and besides the cold, I wouldn't change it. We're are Buffalo.

I'm proud of Buffalo and not embarrassed at all.

My point exactly.

You didn't really make a point. You tossed out some general negatives that you see, then imply we are to dumb to realize what is going on. We are all entitled to our own opinion but I don't want someone to walk away seeing your (IMO) post and assuming Buffalo is crap and we are sheep.

This posting is different to me so please excuse any grammar issues and posting issues. Thanks :-)

You didn't really make a point

Not one that most people in WNY would care to acknowledge, anyhow. Your main selling point is that the people in Buffalo are nice, and I agree. Keep the lights on for me just in case.

I want to continue my conversation about CA but my post explaining why in detail will just get deleted.

So, its too expensive and I'll just list that.

I want to continue my conversation about CA but my post explaining why in detail will just get deleted.

So, its too expensive and I'll just list that.

Do you ever say anything that isn't a passive aggressive shot at someone? Good grief.

Phillipsburg NJ to Hackettstown NJ to Nestle Water Breneigsville Pa. Running in the western half of Joysie is fine!