Buffalo or Rochester (Syracuse, Niagara Falls: hotels, homes, neighborhoods)

[bergs76]

I may have the opportunity to relocate to Rochester or Buffalo sometime in the next year or so.

If you had the opportunity to choose, would you live in Rochester or Buffalo? Why? What are the pros/cons of each?

[5ive8ight5ive]

If you're coming from outside the region, you wont find an appreciable difference between the two cities. However, locals from both cities will flood you with rhetoric as to why one is better than the other. But, i'll give you some of the objective differences between the two:

-Buffalo is bigger; more of a 'city' type feel to it; arguably a better location (niagra falls, toronto)pro sports teams; public tran, etc.

-Rochester has a slightly better economy; the surrounding suburbs are some of the best in the nation; better local universities (though Buffalo does have some nice schools).

Other than these differences, Rochester and Buffalo are quite similar. They're equally dangerous, equally blighted, and equally cold. That said, I would suggest you choose Rochester. Rochester is 10000000 times better than Buffalo in every single aspect.....



.....I'm from Rochester by the way.

[sick of the winter]

I view Buffalo as more blue collar, factory worker type. More bars and overall more nightlife, if your into that...Sports are pretty good also. They ***** about the teams but still love them.....

Rochester is more of a medical facility oriented area. I have lived in both and Rochester for the most part is much cleaner, and the area is overall "better looking"...I think Buffalo looks much more run down than Rochester.....

Buffalo is much larger in area and population.... The traffic is generally worse....

I'd pick Rochester for family, QOL etc...

[just_sayin']

I obviously have hometown bias towards Rochester (as most people who post here will, seeing as this is the Rochester forum after all) but to be objective as possible I'll break it down .....

Better about Rochester:

1.Larger, more modern economy with a more stable population (not growing a whole lot, but not shrinking dramatically like the Buffalo region's population)

2.Better developed suburbs

3. More educated/white collar population than Buffalo


Better about Buffalo

1. More traditional/middle class neighborhoods in the city itself (The city of Rochester is pretty much inner-city poor families or wealthy/upper class/bohemiam singles or empty nesters). Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who is married with kids, a single person might prefer the latter

2. Major-league sports teams/community bond over them

3. Proximity to Niagara Falls and Toronto.

I've always said that I'd rather live in the Suburbs of Rochester (which is where I do live) vs. the Suburbs of Buffalo, but at the same time I'd rather live in the City of Buffalo vs. The City of Rochester.

[rochacha]

I grew up in Rochester; went to school in Buffalo; lived in Rochester, Buffalo, Connecticut and NYC; and live in Rochester now that I am older and have a family. Buffalo is a fun place to visit, but I don't like how it is laid out. It is almost like they took a city and slammed it into the edge of the lake, and have the traffic problems that result from it. Buffalo is a very blue collar union town, where Rochester is more non-union and technology driven. Buffalo people would probably disagree with that assessment and point to the banks and UB, but that is nothing like Kodak, Xerox, B&L, Coopervision, Paychex, U of R Medical, etc. Rochester has a better cultural scene IMO, much better golf, food is comparable, better festivals (except Taste of Buffalo). Buffalo is better if you like to go out drinking and to casinos (4am, Chippewa, Elmwood) and the park with the zoo (name escaping me) is better than any of the Rochester parks. Buffalo Zoo is better, art galleries and museums comparable, but Buffalo has nothing like Strong Museum. I think that covers it generally but any specific questions I would address.

[RottenChester]

Having grew up in Rochester, but having visited Buffalo extensively and often over the course of many years, I personally am glad that I grew up in Rochester and not Buffalo. Rochester is much cleaner, many of the suburban streets have a park-like setting, and it has less traffic. But it is still close enough to Buffalo to enjoy the major league sports. While the food is good in Buffalo, I think Rochester has an edge when it comes to places like; Bill Gray's, Tom Wahl's, Abbott's custard, Don's Original, Carbone's, Pontillo's, Dinosaur BBQ, and Merchant Street Smokehouse. Rochester also has the garbage plate. Strong Museum is THE place for children. Rochester also has a lot of colleges for a city its size.

[JWRocks]

First, I'm from Rochester. As for population, it's approx Buffalo 1,117,000 to Rochester's 1,034,000. Pretty close. Buffalo used to be twice as large, thus the bigger city feel, but Buffalo has dropped and Rochester has gained. Economy- Rochester's GDP is $43B to Buffalo's $38B, with Rochester also having a huge exporting economy and the #1 per capita reciever of patents granted. Buffalo brags of it's arts, but Rochester's arts "business" has them beat at $200M to $160M. Sports- The Sabres were saved by a (former) Rochestarian who still maintains 3 homes and a 3300 person business in Rochester. A few years back (no recent data) Rochesterians "owned" more luxury suites at the Ralph. Fans are scattered all over upstate, Syracuse, southern tier, Canada and Pennsylvania. How many are actually from Buffalo remains a guarded secret. I don't understand the food thing. I've had some pretty bad meals in Buffalo, although Rochester can't brag either. I do love garbage plates, but that's not really cuisine. Neither are chicken wings. I'll give them the polish food, though.

Probablly the biggest tell-tale of which city is better would be the fact that it seems that at least half of the people in Rochester USED TO live in Buffalo, or their parents or grandparents used to. I think that says a lot. No, I don't hate Buffalo. I enjoy visiting there, but I just feel Rochester's future is much more promising. Buffalo is still struggling with the loss of 25,000 steel jobs 35 years ago, while Rochester has replaced most of the 50,000 Kodak jobs (and thousands of others) barely skipping a beat. Most of what is going on in Buffalo now is heavily state and federal subsidized.

[OverTaxedInNY]

Originally Posted by JWRocks

while Rochester has replaced most of the 50,000 Kodak jobs (and thousands of others) barely skipping a beat.

Do you have a certain set of stats to back that claim up?

[JWRocks]

Originally Posted by OverTaxedInNY

Do you have a certain set of stats to back that claim up?

No I am not giving a certain reference. I read Rochester and Buffalo's papers every day and ocasionally Syracuse's. I've found wildly varying stats on this site, so I've come to distrust them. I'm going by what I read and have read over the past few years. I'm sure you get the same news as you're from Rochester (I guess). My claim is that Kodak shed 50,000 jobs. Xerox also has shed about 7500 locally. B&L, I'm not sure, but it's in the thousands, and many other companies who've laid off. Rochester's population is pretty steady. The total employed, although we have lost some jobs, is pretty steady. I didn't say they have all been replaced. My comparison was to the Buffalo area, remember, losing fewer jobs 35 years ago, but taking much longer to recover.

[rochacha]

Originally Posted by JWRocks

No I am not giving a certain reference. I read Rochester and Buffalo's papers every day and ocasionally Syracuse's. I've found wildly varying stats on this site, so I've come to distrust them. I'm going by what I read and have read over the past few years. I'm sure you get the same news as you're from Rochester (I guess). My claim is that Kodak shed 50,000 jobs. Xerox also has shed about 7500 locally. B&L, I'm not sure, but it's in the thousands, and many other companies who've laid off. Rochester's population is pretty steady. The total employed, although we have lost some jobs, is pretty steady. I didn't say they have all been replaced. My comparison was to the Buffalo area, remember, losing fewer jobs 35 years ago, but taking much longer to recover.

It is the types of jobs as well. My limited experience is that Buffalo's growth has been primarily in low paying service jobs (hotels/restaurants/call centers) and government jobs. Look at the top 5 employers in Buffalo: State of NY (incl. UB), United States of America, Catholic Health Systems (private), City of Buffalo, and HSBC. Top 5 employers in Rochester are all private: University of Rochester, Eastman Kodak, Wegmans, Xerox, ViaHealth.