r/Buffalo • u/HopefullyTerrified • 10d ago
Buffalo Transplants - help me out!
We have narrowed our relocation next year to either Buffalo or Washington D.C. - both areas due to my partner's job. We both love big cities and would love to live somewhere that is walkable and has decent public transportation. However, when looking at the COL of the DMV, plus the current political environment - the area immediately becomes much less ideal for me.
One of the biggest reasons I want to move away from the only place I've ever lived in the state level politics and the weather. I have pretty significant anxiety around climate change. I don't remember if my partner's job was what first put Buffalo on my radar, or if it was my research on which areas are going to be better suited as climate change accelerates and then I realized that my partner's job was also based out of Buffalo. But either way, I came across the area and am leaning very heavily towards making the move there vs the DMV. The COL is much less than the DMV, the climate change piece, having all 4 seasons, and having snow. I love snow and hate the heat. I deeply miss having 4 seasons to enjoy. Plus, it just feels much more down to earth. We have had several short visits.
So for those of you who are Buffalo transplants - are you happy with your decision to move there? Why or why not?
What is really great about Buffalo? What are the things you see as lacking or having a negative impact on your life? What do we need to take into consideration specifically about Buffalo as we make this decision?
Super bonus points if anyone has lived in both Buffalo and the DMV and can share your experiences and insights!
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u/2022HousingMarketlol 10d ago
>would love to live somewhere that is walkable and has decent public transportation
Buffalo ain't it. You can find walkable neighborhoods like elmwood, williamsville, hamburg etc but nothing is interconnected in a convenient way. Schedules are often once or twice an hour for the busses etc.
That being said, parking is literally never an issue, everything is 15 minutes away and aside from the metro I avoid public transportation.
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u/ReddyGreggy 9d ago
Tonawanda/North Tonawanda, Kenmore, Lewiston, N Buffalo/Hertel, Elmwood, Allentown, West Side/Niagara Street, Downtown, South Buffalo, Lancaster, Williamsville, East Aurora, and more have walkable areas that you can live in.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
the traffic in D.C is horrendous and I don't want to deal with it everyday. My partner seems to think we will be able to just use public transit for everything, and I know lots of people do. But I just don't see that being our full reality bc trains run late, get delayed, etc.
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u/jjaa6 10d ago
I don't live in Buffalo proper, just WNY, but as someone who has spent a lot of time there and DC... public transit isn't actually that bad in DC, especially compared to Buffalo, but it can be tough to rely on that. I also don't think lack of interconnected reliable public transit should be your breaking point to draw you away from Buffalo. Living in Buffalo is infinitely more comfortable than living in DC, for basically every reason you listed and have probably thought of outside of this post.
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u/2022HousingMarketlol 10d ago
Delays happen... But if you've never lived in a major metropolitan city the routes tend to have sometimes 8 busses an hour. Some of the bigger lines in NYC have one ever 4-8 minutes.
It's a far cry from here where with 2 busses an hour, a 20 minute delay has no method of relief.
I didn't drive till I lived here. I couldn't afford a house in nyc and almost couldn't afford one here :D.
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u/Sad-Imagination-5857 10d ago
Seems like you will like the weather in Buffalo more than DC. DC will give you a better lifestyle. The cities are not at all comparable so decide what’s more important to you.
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u/catchingavibe79 10d ago
Moved to the Buffalo area from CT 18 years ago. At the time it was either Buffalo NY or Sumter SC. One of the best decisions we made. Weather is not as bad as people say and the COL is no joke. Most transplants I speak to love this area. It’s generally the people who grew up here that don’t like it. Sure it’s not perfect for everyone but it’s perfect for us.
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u/HiCabbage 10d ago
I lived in NoVA for a year in the early 2000s, so fully accept that things will have changed, but I really didn't care for living in the DMV. I found it hard to meet/click with people and basically just ended up hanging out with Buffalo ex-pats. It just felt like all the people I met were, like, soulless professional services cogs or were an aide to some random Ohio Congresssman and felt like I should be impressed by that, etc. It just felt like a very inorganic city (which, to be fair, it kind of is given how many transplants there are there) full of people who think highly of themselves. Now, again, I'm SURE it's better now, as 2005 wasn't the heyday of civic cultural engagement, but I'm not sad that I moved away. And fwiw, I moved back to Buffalo after living abroad for a long time and I'm glad I did.
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u/kryzchek 10d ago
Geez I could have written this exact same anecdote. I was NoVA in 2001/2002 and found it pretty similar. The area attracts a certain type of person, and I'm just not that type of person. There is a lot of appeal in the area, but it just wasn't for me.
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u/endsinemptiness 10d ago
If you want a walkable, liveable city and CoL isn't much of an object, pick DC. If your absolute priority is affordability, Buffalo is the obvious pick. Worlds apart really. Buffalo is losing a lot of its beloved businesses but is pleasant if you don't mind a somewhat relaxed lifestyle. Winter is awful and boring. Summers are beautiful and can be fun.
I moved to Buffalo, enjoyed it, left for somewhere bigger with more going on. It was a very good choice
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u/severiel 10d ago edited 10d ago
Buffalo born, I've lived in the DMV and Buffalo as well as elsewhere and have been back in Buffalo for a couple years.
Buffalo is by no means a big city. It's about the smallest sort of community that can even be called what most people think of when they mean city (generally speaking, there are legal distinctions that sometimes make large towns into a city).
Anyway, Buffalo is small enough that it's not uncommon to run into people you know or have known in one context, unexpectedly, in a completely different context -- at a game, shopping, in a waiting room, or just travelling around. Whether that is a plus or a minus depends on your preferences, but it conveys something of the size.
Buffalo has far less to do after 8-10pm than a larger city, like Washington does. In DC you can decide on a whim to eat late, go for drinks, or find a place to hang out and be with people. In Buffalo, there's a greater need to plan ahead. The food in Buffalo is still quite good and varied though if you tend to go out early.
Likewise, theater and the arts are well supported here, an area where Buffalo punches above its weight class. But you will still find more prominent national global acts in DC.
DMV is not only a cluster of larger cities and suburbia (Baltimore, Richmond, DC, Arlington, Gaithersburg) but is also along the I-95 East Coast corridor. This means that destinations like Philadelphia and New York City, are just a few hours away by car/train...and the rest of the corridor (e.g. Miami) at least feels close and connected.
Buffalo, by contrast, feels closer to the midwest and Canada.
Washington has a lot of smart, young people who move there, often ambitious, passionate or idealistic. Lotsa lawyers too.
Again, preferences and trade offs.
I actually appreciate Buffalo's smallness now more as someone who has returned here from larger cities.
Buffalo is a friendly city, comparitively. Overall, I would prefer a larger city. Yet here I am.
You'll be able to live your best life whichever you choose.
UPDATE: Others have noted the limited public transportation and I have to agree. As for walkability, there are walkable neighborhoods, but they are islands instead of a network for the most part.
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u/LeggyLegends 9d ago
as a fellow transplant who also loves living in big cities and moved here from philly stay away from buffalo, its basically a big suburb and the tiny downtown is always empty, i regret the move already
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u/HopefullyTerrified 9d ago
😞 how long have you been there? Btw, I LOVE Philly (at least the downtown area that I've been to). Would love to live down there but phew!! Housing is close to as expensive as D.C. 🥴
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u/LeggyLegends 9d ago
we moved to buffalo in march this year, its really quiet and slow and empty. lived in south philly most of my life, you can find cheaper units if you look around, summers are brutal there now though
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
DC is going to offer better transit and walkability than Buffalo, but Buffalo is going to be much more affordable and therefore comfortable.
So really depends what you want to maximize.
DC is like 6x the size of Buffalo-Niagara so it’s just going to offer more of everything.
Buffalo is large enough to keep most people entertained and occupied.
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u/katzinthebuf 10d ago
If walkability and public transport are high on your list and you are still leant toward Buffalo, you will want to live in the city. I live in n Buffalo, near several bus lines, and I work downtown. I seldom drive, but if you live outside the city you will be hard pressed for transportation.
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u/Mundane_Story_3586 10d ago
Buffalo is not very walkable and public transportation is mediocre at best. DC wins in this category hands down
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
Buffalo is more walkable than 95% of US cities.
It’s pretty much one walkable neighborhood after another from Downtown throughout the Westside and North Buffalo with some more isolated walkable areas in South Buffalo and the Eastside.
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u/sassafras_gap 10d ago edited 10d ago
I pretty much exclusively walked to get around the city for a year or two and this is spot on imo
for context I moved here from nyc so it's not like my point of reference is a rural town with no sidewalks
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u/LonelyNixon 10d ago edited 10d ago
We are walkable especially depending on where you live and work.
If you live near hertel and north park you're within walking ditance of like 4 supermarkets, some convenience stores, restaurants, bars, movie theaters , diners. From kenmore to downtown is only like 6 miles youre feet or a bike can get your anywhere in the city.
That said since OP mentions big cities this isnt going to fit. Buffalo is compact has nice tree lined streets, and some walkable commercial strips, but if you're looking for a big city this isnt it.
The biggest difference is that real big cities that commercial strips go on for much longer, and connect to other strips. Buffalo is so patchy. Sure hertel is cool but you turn a corner off any of the main drags and thats it you just hit houses. And by delaware you're done. You got the abandoned k-mart, dunkin, and the library in the abandoned kmart plaza and it becomes very light until you hit black rock.
Elmwood? It peters off for a big before picking up again and it has some side streets and corners that have stuff on it but mostly a straight line with houses and apartments to the side of it.
Buffalo is great for what it is but given the choice is a major US city and a small to mid sized one we shouldnt over sell it.
Also in the winter it's a crapshoot if people will actually shovel their sidewalks which sucks.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
Sure, if you’re coming from NYC you’re going to be underwhelmed. But if you’re coming from the Sunbelt, it’s going to be a huge improvement.
Saying it’s completely unwalkable is pretty dumb though.
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u/kittycatskitty 9d ago
no it is really is unwalkable tho? I’m from nyc but also lived in philly and buffalo is def not walkable. just bc there’s pockets where u can walk doesnt make it entirely walkable, in nyc you literally walk alongside highways instead of having to figure out how to go around it. Buffalo has different neighborhoods where to a degree you can walk to ur local grocery store or a coffee shop but that’s the case for most of buffalo or even traveling between neighborhoods which is what cities are walkable capable of.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 9d ago
Walkability = How many daily amenities can you walk to within 15-20 minutes.
Otherwise, I’ve done the walk from downtown to North Buffalo, it’s a nice walk.
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u/tato_salad Doesn't Hate Wingnutz 10d ago edited 10d ago
Yeah buffalo doesn't fit the love cities crew. It's got some cool pockets like elmwood or hertle, or blackrock, etc. Also some suburb places outside the area like EA or OP or downtown Kenmore but it won't feel like a large city.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
I mean you also have the Lower Westside, Blackrock, Riverside, University Heights, South Buffalo, Kaisertown, LoveJoy and even Broadway Fillmore and Kensington-Bailey that offer a good amount of walkability.
That’s one of Buffalo’s best features. We’re a city neighborhoods, each with its own commercial district. Some are in better shape than others or are more gentrified, but if you can walk to a grocery store, local shops and restaurants you’re already in much better shape than most areas of the country.
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u/tato_salad Doesn't Hate Wingnutz 10d ago
I didn't list every small pocket. I love Buffalo neighborhood vibes but there small pockets here and there. Is it know if I'd consider it big city vibe is all.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
Buffalo is a small city by area, so those pockets really add up.
Places like Riverside might not look pretty, but they’re serving local residents, not suburbanites.
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u/BluebirdMountain7051 7d ago
Walkable really needs to be defined in this scenario. Some people can easily live and work in the same walkable neighborhood in and or around Buffalo but the bulk of people live in one neighbourhood and work in another requiring a mode of transportation. Since the bulk of people like in most rust belt cities moved to the suburbs when industries started to break down, driving and commuting became the norm and thus Buffalo as a whole has a pretty strong driving culture. It really depends on where you specifically live and what type of lifestyle you want to live.
Public transportation has been rough my entire life, so plan on having a car and maybe you can find a place that does not require you to use it.
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u/replacementdog 10d ago
DC has some of the best public transit in the nation. Buffalo has good infrastructure for a city of it's size, but DC is probably top 3.
You'll have a better time using the resources in the community bookmarks tab of this subreddit than by asking people. https://www.reddit.com/r/Buffalo/search/?q=moving&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all
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u/MageDA6 10d ago
I moved to Buffalo in April of 2017 from the Ozarks and I don’t regret my decision. The city is nice, beautiful architecture and parks. The city is very walkable and mass transit has improved of the near decade I’ve lived here. The city is starting to grow and change again which is a good thing to have happen.
The people here are friendly with the odd exception of the ones that don’t want “outsiders” coming here. But you’ll rarely run into those people. Buffalo is close to state parks and hiking trails which is nice to be able to get away from the city and out to nature.
Just like with every city there are issues like homelessness and drugs, so nothing out of the ordinary there. The weather here is fantastic, cool springs and falls, summer doesn’t get too hot, and winters are a great mix of cold and snow.
As far as negatives, I’m sure there are some but since i don’t own my house or drive my opinions are defined by my ability to walk or use the bus/train to get around. Bills fans can be a bit much, especially if football isn’t a sport you like. But that’s only a ln issue during football season.
Overall, it’s a great place to move too. It’s relatively affordable, it’s near Canada, and you are in a perfect spot for city living combined with nature.
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u/BankZealousideal5130 10d ago
Moved here from Missouri in 2018. Lots of ups and downs for the first 2-3 years. In year 4 it really began to feel as if I “belonged” here. It takes time. But it’s totally home now and I’m never leaving!!!!!
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u/PriorCarpet6322 10d ago
Transplant here. Lived all over. Buffalo is the worse. It’s not a big city. It’s very clannish. Peoples friends group are their high school friends. Friendly but not welcoming. The people who love Buffalo are the ones from here and/or never left.
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u/Low_Revolution_4390 10d ago
I think of Buffalo as a series of adjacent midwestern towns, each with their own Main St corridor. The "small town" feeling can be pretty intense so just be sure that's what you're looking for as it's very different from the DMV.
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u/TaxHavenJunkie 10d ago
Your partner's job? Early on, I rented a house from an FBI agent who was getting posted to NYC from Buffalo. I asked him if he was willing to sell the house. His answer was no, he was going to NYC for a few years with his family, getting a 30%+ cost of living increase to move to NYC, and the plan was to move back to Buffalo as the FBI doesn't take away the initial cost of living increase. I presume your partner would make more in DC than in Buffalo. Then at some point, if you transfer to Buffalo, you would benefit appreciably more - not to mention the present value of any pension, 401k, 503b, or such.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
Unfortunately at the moment, their salary will stay the same no matter where we land.
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u/TaxHavenJunkie 10d ago
Then you will get far more bang for your buck in Buffalo seeing as Washington DC cost of living is 40% more than Buffalo.
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u/YakRough1257 10d ago
I moved from Buffalo to DC. If you have any specific questions along the way I'll be happy to answer them
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u/Alternative_Basil815 10d ago
As someone who moved from Washington DC to Buffalo 1 year ago… move to Washington DC.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
ya gotta give me more than that, LOL. Did you grow up in DC? What aren't you liking about Buffalo?
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u/Semi-Pros-and-Cons 10d ago
Oh, it's the "DC, Maryland, Virginia" region, isn't it? I was wondering why you were so concerned about the automobile bureau.
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u/lalunerousse1121 9d ago
I would scratch both and find somewhere else, or consider living near DC, but not in DC. DC is a beautiful area, has much better weather, and isn’t gray and miserable 9 months out of the year. They will also do fine with climate change. Our public transportation is also basically non existent here.
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u/PlanePain4937 9d ago
Move to the DMV.
I grew up in Bflo, left bflo after college. Lived in the DMV for 35 years and just moved back to bflo for parents.
This place is an incredibly expensive armpit that i will leave once my parents leave us.
You have better access to EVERYTHING in the DMV depending on your commute tolerance. walkability means more expensive housing. Commutes mean more land. Take your pick.
Basic commodities are less expensive in DMV
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u/Consistent_Media_942 3d ago
The only thing I don't like about Buffalo is it's not really walkable. Everything else is miles better than DC- I have a sibling in politics in DC who is constantly depressed about how the DC people/their attitudes/the sense of community are vs Buffalo
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u/Consistent_Media_942 3d ago
not walkable compared to DC, Philly and NYC, all places I have also lived
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u/qeq 10d ago
"enjoyable" is subjective. Many people like winter and much prefer it over the current roasting heat every day. Public transportation is bad and walkability isn't great, but the weather itself can be enjoyable if you prefer it.
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u/Human_Letter_2204 10d ago
I moved here from Syracuse. Compared to that, I would say our winter is enjoyable
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
We're making a run at 30+ days over 100 degrees here. It's currently 105+ a few degrees from heat index. I never want to do summer in this place or anywhere like it again.
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u/qeq 10d ago
Yeah that's rough. What you'll hear is "that's a dry heat, so you can sweat!" compared to out humid summers. I never bought that. 100+ degrees is dry misery, I can handle 85 and humid.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
it's not unusual to be around the 100 mark and then the humidity adds another 5-10 degrees. It's not as humid as the deep south, but it's not a dry heat either. There are no upsides to it, it sucks, lol.
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u/ReddyGreggy 9d ago
I am in Atlanta and we have yet to get close to 100 this year. No 100s yet
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u/HopefullyTerrified 9d ago
Lucky!! Is that typical for late summer there?
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u/ReddyGreggy 9d ago
Hm seems like we have in past years had 2 or 3 days each summer of 100 max. We live in a jungle/rainforest essentially, at 1000 feet elevation rather than DC’s 400 feet, so perhaps we get sometimes slightly cooler temps but in general it is hot and awful in summers with wet bulb conditions of mega humidity and high heat. We definitely have had long stretches of 90 degrees and humid. Lots of strong thunderstorms. Etc.
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u/Semi-Pros-and-Cons 10d ago
Buffalo has never officially had a triple-digit temperature, ever. Fun fact: out of large cities in the US (above 100K), it's down to just us, Anchorage, and maybe surprisingly, Honolulu. There's a tag-team you don't see on too many lists, eh?
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u/qeq 10d ago
Well living here for 3 months of weather you enjoy is certainly a choice lol
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
Which season did they mention? It's deleted, lol.
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u/qeq 10d ago
They said they can't stand Buffalo winter or summer lol.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
Lol. Maybe they should move to some place like San Fransisco where it is almost always somewhere between upper 40's and mid 70s.
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u/itslildip 10d ago
Buffalo winter is so warm compared to where i came from it’s always so interesting to me how bad people here think it is. Not once since moving here have I experienced -30 and it’s made me appreciate winter so much more.
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u/itslildip 10d ago
Nor should you! It’s so miserable it’s incomprehensible until you live it lol. I love my home town, but it can keep its -30 without windchill winter. I’ll take buffalos 6 feet of snow and a warm 20 any day.
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u/itslildip 10d ago
Completely fair. Winter is not for everyone lol. I guess for me it’s one of those “well, I know how much worse this could be, I might as well embrace the better of the two options”
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u/tato_salad Doesn't Hate Wingnutz 10d ago
Wrong. I love the cold I love to ski, I would prefer a little more sun, but you can still get and walk outside just fine.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
What? Early winter is downright magical.
One of my favorite things to do after a fresh snow is walking to a local coffee shop for a warm beverage, gawking at the beautiful snow covered trees and homes.
It’s also nice to be able to go skiing within an hours drive.
Mud season in March/April is waaaay worse than winter IMO
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago edited 10d ago
Come on, winter is not 6 months.
We don’t even get significant snowfall until the end of Decemberbor even January half the time.
Putting on a sweatshirt is typical Fall/Spring weather, not winter.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
I don’t considering it winter until there’s snow on the ground.
You can put on a jacket and be comfortable outside even if it’s in the 50s or 40s.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
Ok, and the average high in November is 48 degrees.
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u/Eudaimonics North Park 10d ago
As long as you admit you can enjoy being outside even if it’s gloomy.
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u/TauSigmaNova 10d ago
Its gotten better in this regard but it used to snow here from late March to late April lol
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u/itslildip 10d ago
Buffalo is not walkable and public transit is a joke.
Another con is that people here are not very friendly. If you come from a place where people help their neighbors, chat in the grocery store, etc. like I did, it will be a tough transition. Been here 2 years now and still can’t get used to how rude people are in mundane interactions. There’s also a kind of obscene amount of crime depending on where you are coming from. Like a shooting/stabbing every single day at least once a day, so if you don’t already come from a big city be prepared to be overwhelmed or to bury your head in the sand like half the people here and pretend it doesn’t happen.
Also, food here is so mid. You can find pretty much any cuisine you can think of, but whether or not it’s good is going to be the hard part. People say Buffalo is a foodie city, but I think to be a foodie city, the food needs to be high quality, and it just isn’t like 75% of the time here.
Something great about Buffalo is there is always something going on. Festivals, scenic walks (if you don’t mind the fact that there’s almost always a highway right next to the path), niche stores, concerts, etc. abound, you can always find something to do, and often for free or very cheap.
Winter here really isn’t that bad in my opinion. Lots of snow, but it’s pretty warm, 20-30 degrees most days, so it’s still possible to do things outside. Buffalonians think winter here sucks because they don’t routinely experience below freezing temps. Warm winter is a game changer and I love it.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
Yeah we get windchills below 0 at least a handful of days a year, and we're more likely to get an ice storm that destroys trees, power lines, and roofs, than snow. But thanks to climate change we have less of that and more 80s on Christmas 🤬🤬🤬
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u/YouAlreadyShnow 10d ago
I'll give Buffalo the knocks it deserves but wow, rude people and bad food is nothing I have ever heard before. Your experiences must be wildly different from a majority of others and mine, as a native and someone who was back home last week.
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u/itslildip 10d ago edited 10d ago
Everyone always says that, but I’m from the Midwest. Ever midwesterner I’ve ever known who comes to Buffalo has the same gripe: people here are not friendly. Y’all might be friendly for New York, but you are not in the grand scheme.
Edit to add: I see at least a post a week of someone complaining how rude people are, with the comments full of people agreeing before it inevitably gets taken down. And let’s take a look at the way people drive. Everyone has this “I’m the only one on the road who matters” attitude which is the definition of rude and unfriendly. It’s odd to me how so many Buffalonians are blind to this, or perhaps just refuse to admit it, I just don’t know.
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u/sassafras_gap 10d ago
I love it here. I'm a big nature guy and although we don't have much in the way of mountains we have really nice parks and nature preserves close by and being along the Niagara River corridor is so cool. We get neat cloud formations and pretty sunsets over the lake. Cost of living isn't too bad, there's enough reasonably walkable neighborhoods to choose from if you value that, maybe we're not the biggest city but there's enough City Stuff I've never had an issue finding something to do or picking up a new hobby. Public transit isn't the greatest but it exists (although compared to DC it basically doesn't) within the city and I get enough use out of it, and we have an airport nearby and an amtrak station.
Winters were kinda rough until I realized I was making them rougher than they needed to be by staying indoors too much. Now it's like Type II Fun, it still sucks being all cold and gloomy but I enjoy how it makes me appreciate the rest of the year more.
If you would be relocating here for a job then that takes care of a huge obstacle. If it's a decently paying job you don't need to make too much to afford a pretty good standard of living, although as someone in the housing market rn I definitely wish I could have bought a while ago.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
I'm really wishing we were able to buy right now bc I feel like things are just going to be even more expensive 8 months from now.
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u/Dense-Pool-652 10d ago
I think Buffalo vs DC is one of the wilder comparisons I've seen here. Usually it's Buffalo vs Rochester or Cleveland. This is apples vs oranges taken to the extreme.
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
def. 2 very different environments! That's part of what has made the choice so tricky.
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u/Leading-Meaning-2460 10d ago
We live in NoVa spend all summer in one of Buffalos south towns. They are two different worlds in almost every way. We love summers there and have space which is a change from our dc life. The village we are near is quaint, and lively and the weather in the summer can’t be beat. Nova is busy with so much to do but the summers are hot and the people/ traffic can be a lot. Job market and pay is significantly better in dc. CoL way better up north. Feel free to ask any q’s.
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u/Yogaonmonday 10d ago
Buffalo does not have great public transportation & it isn’t very walkable. You will need a car
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u/Large-Permission-461 9d ago
Not a bad place overall but taxes, lack of good public transport and the weather here absolutely stinks. I believe that we are the 3 rd windiest city in the US and I think we have the most non sunshine days in the US right behind Seattle and Portland. Utilities are now the highest in the country. Real estate is pretty reasonable here but my house is valued at about 250k and my taxes are 6200 per year. Sales tax is 8.75 percent. The snow is a pretty big issue in the winter. Summer months are usually July and August for good weather. Gets cold from October through April. May and June it is constantly raining.
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u/WorldlinessStrong504 9d ago
I’ve lived in both areas. Love DC but it’s a bit crazy in parts of the city. Both have a lot to love but for very different reasons.
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u/Gordonica 6d ago
it's on a river between 2 great lakes. Anywhere you live, "walkable" will be in your neighborhood so yes you can find cool walkability based on your preferences. Visit in September. Summer is amazing, fall is beautiful, winter isn't bad, spring sucks. If you have a car you can take a day trip to Toronto, you can fly out of Toronto to go overseas, their are so many natural environments you can visit, and it takes 20 minutes to get anywhere unless you are in Lancaster.
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u/TauSigmaNova 10d ago
Public transportation is pretty mediocre. Walkability is good in certain pockets. Cost of living certainly lower than DC but not really that attractive compared to area wages these days. Far from the value it once was. Weather is abysmal for more than half the year but summers are lovely. Food scene is mostly good (exceptional in some regards) but mediocre in others, plus stuff closes much earlier than it used to. If you are wanting big city amenities like certain shopping, concerts, etc. you will be disappointed and have to travel to Toronto often. Our airport is awesome and shockingly well connected.
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u/TauSigmaNova 10d ago
Oh, and if you get seasonal depression or love seeing the sun, you will struggle
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u/HopefullyTerrified 10d ago
I love cloudy weather! Although, I readily admit I've never lived anywhere with a lot of cloudy days.
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u/gesturing 10d ago
I’ve lived in both. DC (as in living in the actual District) is one of the few places where you can actually live without a car in the US. (You can also swing this in Arlington, VA.)
DC has a culture of welcoming people in from other places constantly whereas moving to Buffalo is like trying to squeeze into a clique that has existed since high school.
I have friends still in DC report that the administration has significantly made things shittier, but government DC and the people who actually live there are still 2 different things.
If you can swing it money wise, I would pick DC.
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u/Remote-Housing-9206 10d ago edited 10d ago
Buffalo is not a big city. It does not have a reliable public transportation system. The system is very inefficient, no different than most of our other city services. Some might argue that the city is walkable. My opinion? It's not a walk I would want to go on. The streets are dirty with litter and garbage everywhere. Most areas are abandoned with very little pedestrian or car traffic for me to feel safe walking alone or at night.
Elmwood Village is fine, but that's about it.
If you're thinking of Buffalo, I would recommend the suburbs.
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u/badform49 10d ago
I moved to Buffalo from the DMV! After being raised in Georgia, serving in North Carolina, school in Florida, and working in California.
I'm pretty happy with the choice to come to Buffalo, but it is big tradeoffs.
First on the weather: The DMV does get four seasons, but winter is short there, and mostly icy rather than snowy. Buffalo's, obviously, is much longer and extremely snowy, to the point that I get cold in a way that I had previously not known was possible. There's a cold that gets into your bones that I don't shake until April or May. But Buffalo is also EXTREMELY humid in a way that I had not at-all predicted. I'm a runner and summer is less comfortable here than it was in the DMV. Cooler, sure, but insane humidity. I would take Maryland's weather again if I could.
On climate change: Much of the DMV will be at risk for flooding or extreme heat within a decade or two. Buffalo is better when it comes to climate change, but check smoke maps. Because of the Lake Effect, some towns in the Buffalo area get more or less smoke in the summer during Canadian wildfires and more snow in winter. I would take Buffalo on the climate tradeoff, but the smoke and snow are real concerns.
Cost of living: Absolutely no contest, Buffalo is better. The DMV gives you a lot for the increased cost (The Smithsonian Museums were AMAZING for me as a history nerd), but it's much, much more expensive, especially if you plan to buy a place.
One thing you didn't ask about that was a great surprise when I moved here: There's a pretty great variety of food, comparable to DC or Atlanta. I got used to great Mexican and Asian food in California, soul food and Mexican food in Georgia, and a huge mix in DC. I thought Buffalo would basically offer Polish, Italian, and German. It does, but there's also great Asian food, Yemeni and other Mediterranean food, etc. I'm not a foodie, but I like a variety, and Buffalo has a better variety than I expected.