7 Things You Should Know About Buffalo NY in 2023- From a Local
If you are thinking about relocating to the buffalo area, there are a few things that you should really know before making your decision. This is not coming from someone who has visited a bunch of times to see family, or did research about a random city. I was born and raised right here in the 716, and this is a place I call home! So let's take a deep dive into the 7 main facts that you should know about the Buffalo NY area and her suburbs.
If you want more information and a deeper dive into the city as a whole, check out my Youtube channel @Buffaloliving2.0. I’ve covered this in great detail there, while providing vlog tours so you can put visuals to the context.
1. BIG CITY, small town feel
Believe it or not, Buffalo NY is actually the second largest city in New York State. After the 2020 census, the population was calculated to be roughly 282,000 people in the metropolitan area. If we were to include the suburbs, we would total just under 1 million people who live in/around the Buffalo NY area. When most people think of NY, they underestimate how big the state actually is. From Buffalo to NYC (Brox, Brooklyn, Manhattan, etc), this is a 6-8 hour driving distance between the two cities. Those who reside in NYC do not claim us as true New Yorkers for whatever reason. And if you ask anyone from Buffalo where they are from they will proudly say “ Buffalo” not New York.
Why is that, you may ask?
Simply because the two cities are night and day, with Buffalo being day of course. Those of Us who live in buffalo, have a much different lifestyle compared to those in NYC. We live a MUCH slower pace of living, our streets are clean, our housing is affordable, we get up and drive anywhere we want, and we don't live on top of each other in massive apartment buildings that touch the sky. We may be the second largest city in NY but our city gives us room to move around and enjoy the elements right outside our front door. We do not have millions of neighbors breathing down our necks every time we walk to the corner store. Nor does our skyline illuminate 100 miles off the Niagara River, we have a couple 10+ story buildings and we love it that way. Though, this could change with the amount of money flowing into the city. The City of Buffalo has a wide landscape, and when you combine that with the small number of people, it creates an environment where you can move around freely.
2. 15 Minute City
Nothing is Far here, everything is about 10-15 minutes away. Each Neighborhood you pass through will have their own consumer square, where all of your shopping and amenities will be. We are VERY spoiled here, theres the local gym, grocery store, a few restaurnats and urgent care just a few blocks away. In Some cases you don't have to leave the area you live in. In my opinion there are pros and cons to this. Yes, you save gas, time and are never inconvenienced but you do create bubbles inside of communities. And this is very prevalent in some areas of buffalo, but we will discuss this later on in our forth topic.
One of the main reasons is because we do not have traffic, we have 5 major highways that flow in and around the Buffalo, and through the suburbs. These are the 90, 290,198, 33, and the 190. If you really do not like highway driving, you can find streets like Main street, Bailey Avenue, and Kensington that will pretty much take you from one end of the city to the opposite side. Transit Road & Sheridan will allow you to cut through all of the suburbs, while Niagara Falls Blvd will allow you to travel from Tonawanda all the way to Niagara Falls.
Just think of it like this, in the south the closest gym or walmart is maybe 20-30 minutes away, in buffalo it's less than 10.
3. All four seasons, winters can be the worst.
Coming from places like the south or out west, you only experience the rainy season and Summer. Those of you from California only experience Summer, in buffalo however, you can see a glimpse of summer, spring and winter depending on what time of year it is. I always tell people this, our winters can be brutal and our summers are beautiful. The thing about it, is that you can never actually predict when the season starts or ends, you kind of dress for the weather that day. Personally, unless it is consistently at a temperature of 70 degrees, my shorts stay in the closet as the weather can drop to 50 degrees the very next day. For Example i'm writing this on November 8th 2022 and currently the weather is about 42 degrees outside. Just last week we had 4 days between 67- 75, thats a huge jump. To place the cherry on top, Buffalo does not get 75 degree weather in November. This is almost unheard of, crazy to say the least.
3a. Items to keep in the car During Winter
When it comes to winter, there are a few items you want to always keep in the car.
Snow brush, I personally always use what's called a Snow Joe Broom for my car. It reminds you of a squeegee, but for your car. It pushes the snow more effectively off your car, instead of brushing tenaciously using the bristles from the brush. I also DO NOT like as the brush gets older, the bristles begin to wear out and harden, scratching your car up as you brush the snow off. I DO NOT like that.
Get A shovel! ESPECIALLY for those of you who are going to live or work within the city limits. The reason being, there are so many cars inside the city which causes congestion on neighborhood streets, due to parking. When the snow plow comes down in the morning, if they do come, they are UNFORGIVING and will plow you in. Getting up two hours before work is highly recommended so you can dig yourself out of the snow and still have time to shower and get to work on time. I say this jokingly but I am very serious.
Small bag of Salt, This helps you get out of any situation if your car is stuck. Throw a bunch of that behind your tires and it allows you to gain traction and punch it out of the snow bank.
Overall dress for the weather, THAT DAY, not for what the weatherman predicts. Remember you can always take layers off, you cannot put them on when you are 3 miles from home. That one is for you ladies!
4. Still signs of Segregation from Past Redlining
As the great saying states, “ Their children will always feel the repercussions for what their fathers have done”, and this stands true today. Buffalo had a long history of redlining, ethnicities grouped together in certain parts of the city causing fear to those who wanted to move around. And simply could not as the bank would not lend to them. As in most cities it was broken down directionally, east side was/is mostly African American, West side is Latino, North Buffalo are white Italians, and South Buffalo is white Irish and Polish. This has plagued buffalo for years, but in the last 5-7 years it has definitely changed drastically, in my opinion. Folks are moving all over the place, which is amazing to see. Placing their children in better school systems, and getting to know and experience different areas of buffalo. It's fascinating sometimes to speak to people and they have never left their community in 20+ years, they have lived in buffalo all of their life and never traveled to Clarence, or orchard park or even lockport. All of these places are less than 20-30 minutes away and have beautiful things to offer. Though it has not reached the suburbs entirely, Cheektowaga and Amherst have been the focal point for a lot of people moving outside of the city. Cheektowaga, specifically inside the zip code 14225 and in some parts of Amherst inside 14226, is that next step up to getting out of the city life and into the suburbs. Though the demographics have not changed significantly, we are definitely making great progress towards that. North of zip code 14226, or south of zip code 14225, things are still one sided. Being a top Realtor in WNY, I travel all over and I've never had a problem with any racial prejudices but I do hear of things every now and again. The positive part is that the city has been getting alot of attention by media and funding institutions. Places like the west side have turned into a melting pot for everyone, North Buffalo continues to shine as always with new businesses and there are talks for finally developing the east side to what it used to be with the central terminal.
5. Affordable Housing
Without question when it comes to housing in Buffalo NY, it is still affordable compared to a lot of other places nationwide. Our average Home price across the entire BNAR (Buffalo and Niagara Region) is $230,000. Now compare that to that national average of $428,000, it is almost mind blowing to think about. That is also with a 17% YOY increase starting around 2019 and through the pandemic. Now the $230k price point will not include all areas of course, but you can definitely find something nice for under $275 depending on which suburb you want to live in!
6. Taxes are high
Taxes are the only thing that holds Buffalo NY back from the masses moving into our city, I'm telling you. Our taxes are HIGH, and there's honestly nothing you can do to avoid them. If you want to live in the suburbs you're going to get taxed. Towns like Willamsville, Amherst, West Seneca, Hamburg and Orchard Park are going to hit you hard. The positive side to this, is that you will live in a quiet area, if your kid leaves their bike on the front lawn it will be there in the morning, streets are plowed before you wake up and you see the tax dollars inside the school system that your child attends.
But make sure you plan for these, coming from places where you only pay $2,500 a year in taxes, to Buffalo where you can pay $6,000 a year, is a huge jump. That's an extra $292 a month on your mortgage payment. For some people this cuts into their purchasing power when looking for a home. Once you decide Buffalo is going to be your place to relocate, we will jump on a zoom meeting to discuss each area and how the taxes may affect you. That way we have an idea ahead of time and we can narrow down our search. Please do this months in advance, so we can plan for your arrival, get you under contract and avoid staying in a short term rental for longer durations.
7. Lots of Opportunity for development and expansion
The day I started in real estate and noticed the fabulous landscape and opportunities buffalo offers, i've told everyone that in 5-10 years buffalo is going to be the place to be. The only thing that is holding us back right now are the taxes. If we can figure out how to slow the increase in taxes down or at least have them show up more inside the towns, we would be one of the top cities in the USA. We dont worry about natural disasters, our air is clean, streets are clean, people are friendly (most of them anyway lol) and our sports team are starting to dominate across the board.
There has been millions of dollars placed on the west side, up and down niagara street. An entire reconstruction of canalside making ways for fun along the water. And not to mention the beloved Buffalo Bills are getting a 1.4 BILLION dollar stadium built that should drive a lot of traffic and money!
Buffalo NY is surely on the Come up and I cannot wait to see it come to life!
If you want more information and a deeper dive into as a whole Check out my Youtube channel @Buffaloliving2.0. I’ve covered this in great detail there, while providing vlog tours so you can put visuals to the context.