04/05/07 02:53 - ID#38756

dammit

Pardon this rant, but this weather is pushing my anti-Buffalo sentiments over the edge.

I mean WHAT THE FUCK. Why does anyone live in a place that snows from halloween to easter? That's SEVEN MONTHS of the year. We have snow for more than 50% of the year. It's ridiculous.

Everyone around here loves to go on and on about how amazing Buffalo is. All I can think is 'if you think this is awesome, you have obviously never lived in a 'real' city, and I feel badly for you.'
It's crap. The only good thing I have here are some friends. woohoo, we have some pro sports teams. That doesn't do it for me. In fact I'd probably like Buffalo better if we had no sports. I am sick of hearing nothing but "sabres sabres sabres bills sabres bills."

Ugh. I can't wait to leave.

I mean I can handle winter. I can handle cold, and I can handle snow. But not SEVEN MONTHS of snow.

Thank god I have vacation in a couple weeks. Maybe that will lift this crappy mood of mine. Too bad I have no one to travel with, and will probably end up spending it sitting on my ass in Buffalo. In the snow probably. In May.

enknot writes at 12:44:40 04/10/07 - Comment #17330: Hey everybody. I had to step over some pretty bloody corpses to get into this room. I hope you kids are playing nicely.

Ok...Buffalo is cold, and small, and there's not too many people here, but LA is hot, and expansive, and there's so many people that there's not enough space at outdoor festivals.

I think (e:paul) got it right when he pointed out that it's not so much where you're at, but who you're with and how you got there that counts. Feeling trapped anyplace your mind can find it's way outside of that while your body can't no matter how large feels like prison. Unplesant conditions don't help either.

Personally I like snow. I didn't till I started snowboarding. It's also helpfull if your figure is isn't quite ready to show off and you use a sweater to cover up the last few extra cookies you had at christmas and those few extra snow days to get back into shape before bikini season.

What's more is Buffalo isn't the only place that go snow this late. Syrcuse got just as much, and they don't have any Sabers, Bills, or even Bisons to cheer for outdoors or in... They do have the Orangemen though.... I mean I like oranges...

pyrcedgrrl writes at 05:11:52 04/09/07 - Comment #17279: I like Buffalo and the area in general, but I don't care for the cold. Snow is alright, b/c I don't mind driving in it, but cold is icky.

As for 7 months of snow: We had ONE huge, freakish dump on my birthday--October 13th, then absolutely NOTHING for almost 3 months. If I remember correctly, it was around 45-50 on both Christmas and New Years and not one flake in sight. The snow only hit around Mid Jaunary, we had a couple wuss storms and then it went back to...umm... 70 degrees in March? Going from 70 to 20 degrees in the matter of a week does suck, I agree; but we have had NOTHING in terms of a "Buffalo Winter" this year.

zobar writes at 01:53:36 04/07/07 - Comment #17224: Woh controversy. I was just going to say that I am a person who likes cold weather and snow - even during our last cold snap I thought eh, whatever - but this is a bit excessive even for me. This will not be my first white Easter but neither is it particularly common.

- Z

paul writes at 09:19:37 04/05/07 - Comment #17184: When I was 18 I wanted to leave Buffalo because I thought I hated it here. It turned out I really hated living in Kenmore with my parents. Not that they are particularly bad to live with but I was sick of my 11PM curfew which was overly ridiculous.

So during the time I was away from 1995 to 2000 I lived in an visited a lot of real cities before making an educated decision to live here. Here is a list of the major ones that everyone knows, I also visited a couple hundred smaller ones, but I thought maybe those wouldn't be real enough to list.

North America:
Phoenix, Toronto, LA, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seatle, Vancouver, Charlotte, Columbia, Atlanta, DC, Savannah, Charleston, Eugene, Portland, New York

Europe and Africa:
Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Marakesh, Kopenhagen, Rome, Venice, Brussels, Madrid

There are a lot more "not real" cities that I have been lived in but I liked a lot: Flensburg, and Flagstaff being the best. I hated Rock Hill South Carolina. I was stuck there for a while. I a so glad it is over.

When I moved back here in 2000 with (e:hodown) and (e:terry) I thought I hated Buffalo again but then I realized it was just living with the bitch - who I am so mad at right now.

I love it now. I think it was a change of circumstance as I am in the very same city. I found a good job, great partners, good friends and an amazing house. It has all kinds of great food and affordable housing. So what that it is cold. I mean it only keeps getting warmer every year with global warming. If you had lived here your whole life you would notice how much freakin better the weather seems.

Meanwhile, the bitch who moved to New York lives in someone's garage converted into a box size apartment and is poor.

Mostly, I just don't think any other city offers all the amenties that Buffalo does with the convenience of not being over-populated.

mike writes at 08:21:15 04/05/07 - Comment #17181: Y'all know I love Buffalo to death. But I could understand how people could not love it too. Really everyone's tastes are different. While it offeres everything I could want and it has that homey feeling for me, I see how it could be lacking for other people. Anywho,I'm sure once the snow clears away you will feel much better! At least I hope you do!

uncutsaniflush writes at 08:02:25 04/05/07 - Comment #17180: like (e:joshua), i'm resisting an extreme urge to pile on because you have apologized.

I didn't grow up in Western New York. I lived in NYC for over 9 years. I love living in Buffalo. (e:leetee) and I did a lot of research before deciding to move here.

If you hate Buffalo. You shouldn't live here. End of story.

I won't ask you what you mean by a "real" city since I think "realness" like "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder. We perceive what we believe. I think Buffalo is a "real" city. And it doesn't matter to me if you don't agree.

One thing, though, I am curious about. You say you ended up in Buffalo because you did not have the choice. I tend to be an existentialist and I agree with Jean Paul Sartre that we always have choices even when we are the least free. We may not like the choices but we do have them.

On the other hand, maybe somebody did hold a gun to your head and force you to sign a contract to come to Buffalo. Buf even in that case, Sartre would say that you had the choice to not sign but you chose not to exercise that choice.

southernyankee writes at 07:57:53 04/05/07 - Comment #17179: Hmmm, I live in a metropolis area. It is fucking freezing here! It will be snowing here tomorrow. I miss buffalo. But the $$$, the effing $$$!!!

Anyway, sounds like it's more than just the area. You can move anywhere in the world - the scene will change but if your outlook remains the same, then so will you.

I live in a region where there are tons of 20 & 30 somethings who are single but I really don't think that they have made any type of manificent impact on my life or made it any better than before.

But hey, different strokes for different folks. Maybe a change of scene is just what the Dr. ordered.

Hope the b-lo blues melt away soon.
Sit back, relax and have a rum laced chai tea!!!

deeglam writes at 07:39:04 04/05/07 - Comment #17178: I felt the exact same way when I was home too, but now that I am away from home...I miss it so much....not just the city, but the people, the familiarity, my family, friends, etc. my whole perspective has changed...

many other places in the world are much more interesting than buffalo, but I think that you won't appreciate buffalo until you have left for a long while...

they say that people always leave buffalo, but many find their way back home...it's a really unique place.

i hope the winter ends for you all there soon. i know insanity can kick in fast when it's shitty all of the time...

but i certainly know how you feel!

metalpeter writes at 06:46:12 04/05/07 - Comment #17174: I know you aren't "into sports". I being a big sports fan myself do understand how you can get tired of hearing about the sabres and Bills. If you listen to the radio they are the only sports in town. Does anyone know that we have an ABA Basketball team that plays at ECC downtown. There is a Lacrosse Team called the Bandits that Won 3 championships, granted it was years ago. But they have been in the championship game 2 years in a row but all we here about is the bills. I remember when leavy was hired there where two press conferances in the same day. But I'm the type of fan that like his sports info only during the season and not after or before it.

In terms of living in a big City as much as I love going to Toronto I find it hard to imagine living there. Is Buffalo a small city yeah but it has everything you need. Bars chip strip or elmwood. Sporting events I forgot to mention the Bisons. There is two movie houses that show some indie movies. From what I have heard there are a lot of galleries. Granted we don't get Broadway Plays right away like New York and Toronto but we do get some of them eventully. Yeah I will admit it would be nice if the crime level was lower and if there was less poverty but I would guess we are on par with most cities in that regard. In terms of concerts there are so many venues here. I will admit that some of them is in Niagara falls and that sometimes artists go to Rochester in stead.

I can't lie I'm sick of the snow and cold myself. But I bet most of the people who are will complain about how hot it is during the summer. I think the biggest problem mentally with the winter is that we get it twice a year so it seems like it never ends. For example this year started in Jan and it is april and it is still snowing. Then it will start snowing in october again. I think if the year was devided up so that we only had to do winter once in the same calender year it would be less dauntigng or agrevating.

ajay writes at 06:25:46 04/05/07 - Comment #17172: I hear ya.

It wasn't the cold that used to get me; it was the lack of sun. I need sun. Period. I can handle the cold (I actually like it) and even the snow. But the grey overcast skies get to you.

I once did some number-crunching and found that Buffalo has more cloudy days than Seattle. (Even wrote an eStrip entry about it).

And I even hear ya about the Singles scene. I have other (female) friends in your agegroup, and they have the same tale of woe. Of course, with me leaving Buffalo, the average quality of single guys definitely went down.... ;-) :-D

Head to Vegas, like every other Buffalonian who wants some sun. Or maybe Florida.

joshua writes at 06:09:51 04/05/07 - Comment #17170: I'm feeling the extreme urge to pile on, but I am going to resist it. You apologized and that's enough for me.

jenks writes at 05:20:30 04/05/07 - Comment #17165: ok ok, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend people who love buffalo. My hometown is not a "real city" either, but I love it anyway, and some people think I'm crazy for that- I know how that goes.

And I know not everyone wants to live in a big city. I know that's not where i want to spend my whole life and raise a family.

But for now, while I'm still young(ish), and single, I would like to live in a place that has more young professionals in their 20's and 30's. I feel like here everyone is either <21 or >40 and married with kids. Obviously "everyone" is an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

I did not move to Buffalo by choice. I wanted to stay in Chicago. But I have tried (am trying) to make the best of it. And it's certainly not all bad. In fact it's been better than I had expected, and I've made some good friends including many of you, and I'm thankful for that.

I'm glad people choose to live here and love it and are happy. But nowhere is the perfect place for everyone. And Buffalo is not where I want to spend the rest of my life. And that's ok.

I think most people that love it here, love it because it's home. I have no sentimental/family attachments to Buffalo, which is maybe why I see it in a harsher light.

So my apologies again. I do not mean to insult people who love Buffalo. I just don't happen to think it's the greatest place on earth. But I'm glad you do.

mrmike writes at 05:09:28 04/05/07 - Comment #17162: Almost forgot, we collectively stood in shirt sleeves on NYE at the 24. Wasn't so bad. It will get better.

There's mojitos in the near future, just wait.

james writes at 04:04:06 04/05/07 - Comment #17158: Real cities don't have those problems with their sports teams like our fake city does. New York city, for example, exiled the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers, and Knicks to some far off berg in New Jersey. Ensuring that their stadiums could be used for haute cultural events and not mass entertainment for the knuckle dragging plebes.

matthew writes at 04:00:51 04/05/07 - Comment #17157: actually, besides the freak October storm, it didn't snow till after December. So thats 3 months of snow this year. + one week. It'll get better soon enough. We all get the "buffalo blues" this time of year.
BUT, "'if you think this is awesome, you have obviously never lived in a 'real' city, and I feel badly for you.'" ??? WTF? I being someone who has chosen to make my life here for reasons other that the weather and sports, I'm a bit insulted by your attitude. You can keep you pity. Not everyone wants to live in a "real city" alex.

mrmike writes at 03:58:28 04/05/07 - Comment #17156: Believe me, I feel your pain. I opened screens in my apt windows only to shut them again. I could handle St. Patrick's Day being the turning point but this blows. I got to be afraid a little on the 219 in my little car this morning. Guard rail was missing by an off ramp where somebody else fell off the road about an hour earlier. Got to work in Orchard park and my arms hurt from making my car stay on the road.

This blows.

Going to NYC in Late May. C'mon a long

hodown writes at 03:51:49 04/05/07 - Comment #17154: Ah Welcome to Buffalo. I used to tell people it snows from Halloween to Mothers Day. I love the city, but the snow pushed me over the edge. Man I feel your pain!!

vincent writes at 03:43:41 04/05/07 - Comment #17152: Well if you waited until next month you could go to Vegas with me :-)

What you're feeling is pretty understandable. I think most people that live in this city have felt as you do at this moment at some point.

Some do as I think I heard a story on the morning news on the drive in about this are losing 32,000 people from 2000-2006 according to the Census Bureau