08/09/07 10:56 - 69ºF - ID#40465

worst of

... living in village/Buffalo (in no particular order),

1. public school system, especially bureaucratic administrators
2. parking, lack of, tickets (especially the one time you forget to alternate park on your own street)
3. Elmwood Avenue car traffic, including double-parked cars, waiting for left turning cars, poorly timed lights
4. crime
5. constant sirens (police, fire, ambulance)
6. absence of Dunkin' Donuts
7. lack meaningful public transportation
8. city hall, and I don't mean the architecture

ladycroft writes at 05:34:07 08/10/07 - Comment #22040: you know, i actually miss the sound of sirens. i became so acustomed to those sounds blasting down my street that i had trouble sleeping when i first got here.

joshua writes at 09:37:40 08/10/07 - Comment #22013: After looking at that list I realized that you could remove #7 and you'd basically have Washington DC., and if you remove #6 also then add in shitty people and filth... welcome to NYC. =)

I don't see the absence of Dunkin' Donuts as a bad thing to be honest... thats a bizarre downstate habit. Still though, there are in fact a handful of Dunkin' Donuts establishments to visit around here if you feel the urge. Actually now that I think about it, I drive right by one on a daily basis that was just built - Transit Rd. south of Wehrle but north of the thruway enterance/exit.

Welcome to our gestapo police force and their vigilance w/parking tickets. I used to enter rants all the time about how much I hate the city of Buffalo's police force, but at this point its cliche. Nobody needs to say anything anymore... its gotten to the level where its simply understood. Ha!

mimi writes at 11:28:38 08/09/07 - Comment #21995: I won't bike either street or sidewalk - tried to bike years ago and felt traumatized by car traffic, wore nerdy helmet.

tinypliny writes at 11:23:50 08/09/07 - Comment #21994: I admit it. I am a wimp and I just can't bring myself to ride on the road. It might be annoying to the other pedestrians, but atleast I won't go sprawling on the road with my bones broken and tendons ripped out - because some hideous car driver decided to door me or came too close because they were talking on the cellphone while driving. :/

drew writes at 11:16:15 08/09/07 - Comment #21991: bikes on sidewalks. I hate that. You are supposed to ride bikes on the road, but nobody on the strip gets that.

And neighbors screaming. But that only happens sometimes.

tinypliny writes at 11:09:53 08/09/07 - Comment #21987: hmmmm... I think Elmwood doesn't necessarily run on what the rest of the country does, so that might not really qualify as a "worst-of" point. :)

Permalink: worst_of.html
Words: 68
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buffalo

08/09/07 10:47 - 69ºF - ID#40463

best of

...living in village/Buffalo, (not necessarily in any particular order)

1. friendly neighbors and friends
2. good eats, drinks
3. nice parks
4. sidewalks for walking and gawking
5. historical architecture (commercial and residential)
6. short travel time to and from hockey, baseball, theatre, museums, botanical gardens, zoo
7. sewer system
8. garbage totes
9. gardens and small yards
10. low property taxes, inexpensive housing
11. firemen who look good and fit, in addition to being heroic
12. (e:strip)

Tifft Nature Preserve, November 2006

Permalink: best_of.html
Words: 74
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: move, family

08/08/07 01:45 - 85ºF - ID#40443

house & baseball

Here is our home, in its summer glory. I just spent an hour talking to our next-door neighbor, who is like my 2nd mom, outside in the hot sun, just because that's the kind of neighborhood it is. She was gardening the island, I was taking this pic, and we started talking, and talking...

In response to (e:leetee) comment about house history, we are fortunate to be friends and neighbors with the family who lived in this house for 50+ years. They tell us stories and even showed us photos of the house. Isn't that awesome?!

We took family trip to Toronto on Monday for Yankees game b/c my father-in-law is huge Y fan, and that's his Father's Day present. Guess what celebrity showed up before the game and is on the big-screen in this pic below? David Beckham! That made my day.

metalpeter writes at 06:11:36 08/09/07 - Comment #21954: I did hear something about a brawl but don't know any of the details. I have a problem watching baseball on TV. In person it is a lot of fun. There a pitch and you look to see if you what you thought the call was, was what was called. It is a sport where you look all over the field. But on TV it is boaring kinda maybe because on the screen you see everything and don't have any thing to do between pitches, I'm not sure just guessing. I don't know much about Beckham other then that his wife has a reality show and used to be one of the spice girls but no idea who she was. If you want to see more of him I'm sure a sports page on line can tell you when or if he has started playing for the LA team. MLS is on tv if not on any other channel there is an entire soccer channel. In terms of the secret greeting I have no suggestions really :) .

mimi writes at 09:48:30 08/08/07 - Comment #21908: Did not know that - I really don't know anything about him other than he's easy on the eyes and he's a celebrity - I'm easily impressed.

Did you hear that yesterday's (Tuesday) Blue Jays/Yankees game had 2 brawls? (I confess - I don't follow, but I heard guys talking about it.) That would have been interesting to see.

Thanks for the welcome! It's been fun. I was around Elmwood/Auburn today and kept looking at people, thinking, are YOU blogging on estrip? I think we should wear a secret sticker or use a secret greeting or something ...

metalpeter writes at 07:35:27 08/08/07 - Comment #21904: Since you like Beckham I'm sure you know the reason he was in town was that what ever the LA soccer teams name is was playing Toronto FC. I don't know when exactly or if he was going to play. The last I heard he might not even make the trip, so that was wrong. I was supposed to go to that same Baseball game but plans conflicted so I went to one a couple weeks ago. Welcome to the strip and glad you had fun.

Permalink: house_amp_baseball.html
Words: 148
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: move

08/07/07 08:47 - 78ºF - ID#40430

hello & goodbye!

6 years in our almost-ex-house and 4 years in rental apartments in the Elmwood neighborhood - now we're packing it up, purging the rest, and moving to the 'burbs. The only Elmwood THING I refuse to give up is East West Yoga, so I'll make "city Saturdays" - come to class, shop, drink coffee.

Why - we live too far from my in-laws to be able to help them - their health is declining. So we're cramming in our stuff into the 2 upstairs bedrooms of their 41 year old house and chucking the rest (which is crap anyway).

When - now, as soon as I stop procrastinating, no later than this weekend. It'll take longer to really clear out all our junk, but we'll move all the need-to-live junk with us by Sunday night. Seriously.

A real estate agent called us today, a friend of our neighbor. I'm sure she's being friendly and kind to help us MOVE along in the process, but really we're not ready to face the market. First of all, there's no financial incentive since we'll have no housing costs in the 'burbs. Second, we're lazy. It's just so much work to make the house look presentable. We are getting fix-up work done right now, so we're not totally HGTV ignorant, but I don't want to hear the agent say, why didn't you put in a second bathroom? Seriously, just let me get my new life under way, live with my in-laws, one of whom has Alzheimer's, commute twice as long to work when the school year starts, help my 6 year old adjust to a new neighborhood and school (ok, I confess this is no work at all, the next 12 years of her education will be a vacation compared to our 3 years in Buffalo public schools), and when that's all squared away, I still refuse to worry about buyers who won't love what I love about this house.

We will find someone who loves this house and the history of the house and the families who lived here, just like we did.

mimi writes at 01:56:34 08/08/07 - Comment #21883: You hit the nail on the head! A family with 6 children lived here for 50+ years before us (with 1 full bathroom and the basement toilet!). Our neighbor and friend L. is one of the grandchildren. Of course I remember best the gory story, a cautionary tale - the french doors that open into the front sunroom cut off a cousin's fingers when someone slammed doors shut (digits were successfully reattached, so I was told).

leetee writes at 12:34:36 08/08/07 - Comment #21880: Welcome to (e:Strip). I wish you lots of luck with your move and your new life in the 'burbs.

And selling your house once you get around to it. I love the history of houses -- i wish ours came with a diary, or that the walls could talk. Over 100 years of people and families would be facinating.

mimi writes at 12:01:54 08/08/07 - Comment #21877: Funny you should ask! (and thanks for asking) After I wrote the journal, I thought it might pique some interest. We haven't listed yet for reasons explained in journal, but the basics:

Bedford Av - site of PanAm Exp.
built early 1920's
we call it "A frame" style, 2 story, enclosed front "sunroom", back open patio
2000 sq. ft.
4 bedrooms
1 full bathroom (also, basement has working toilet - is that a quarter bathroom?)
hardwood floors in living room, dining room, all bedrooms, staircase
full attic, not insulated but otherwise finished
roof only 5 years old
2 car garage
humongous kitchen - you have to see it to believe it - there is perfect spot for adding a bathroom

I'll post a picture of it from the outside soon. Don't ask about price, please - we're not ready *sigh* ... It was assessed for $150,000 this year.

I often think that I would be the worst and the best "sales" person for this house. I'm a terrible salesperson in general b/c I'm a Libra and I have to show every angle. But won't someone appreciate the honesty, albeit subjective? Anyway, thanks again for asking.

carolinian writes at 11:03:23 08/08/07 - Comment #21875: I've been looking around at houses recently. Do you have any details/webpages yet on the house that you're selling?

mimi writes at 09:04:25 08/08/07 - Comment #21867: Thanks, paul! I'll definitely stick around. Still finding my way around the journal site. Good stuff.

paul writes at 10:54:02 08/07/07 - Comment #21858: Hey mimi, welcome to estrip. I hope you stick around here even if you don't live in the village anymore.

Permalink: hello_amp_goodbye_.html
Words: 343
Location: Buffalo, NY

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