We went to Buffalo

[electricland]

Delightful weekend during which Jen, life_on_queen and I did our level best to shore up the U.S. economy. I think I came off best in the shopping stakes (fave purchase: these boots), but we all did well. We shopped, we ate buffalo wings, we swam in the hotel pool, we mocked the GPS. It was a good trip.

Buffalo, on the other hand, is looking a little downtrodden. I'm sure it's worse than the last time we went, which is a few years ago now. We went to a movie (Eagle Eye: totally ridiculous yet strangely compelling) Saturday night in the "theater district" and it was completely dead, although two blocks of a nearby cross-street, crowded with sports bars as they were, were reasonably hopping. For the Toronto girls, it was more than a little spooky.

Interesting clues to why in this article from Artvoice, "Buffalo's #1 Newsweekly":

Look around you. Within the 42.5 square miles of the City of Buffalo, for example, there are at least 10,000 vacant houses, and no credible government rehabilitation program, even while there is an ongoing program of construction of new, federally subsidized housing for which there is little market. That’s because there is ongoing, locally subsidized construction of housing in the suburbs, despite a declining population in the region, and therefore a declining housing market overall. (Some of us think that oversupply of housing is itself a reason why there is a declining population…) But because the incentives are there to keep building new houses, developers keep building new houses. Where there is oversupply, prices (i.e. values) stay low. That’s great news for folks who want to buy a cheap house. It’s not such great news for folks whose entire lifetime savings is the equity in their paid-off home.

That’s what oversupply does. Yet some people still get paid to develop and build housing. There is, for example, a new development built by Mayor Brown at the intersection of Sycamore and Jefferson. Why—is there a demand for it? No. Is there a shortage of supply? No. Will there have to be incentives, discounts, and subsidies (like, maybe, a special mortgage of the subprime variety) put forward in order to get somebody into those houses? Probably. Will the value of other houses go down if these houses go vacant? You betcha.

Even on a weekend getaway, there's no escaping the financial crisis!

Not that Buffalo isn't trying. There were any number of brochures advertising self-guided walking tours, and in fact the city does have some very lovely buildings. They're also making an effort with pedestrian-friendly areas like Elmwood, although some pedestrian traffic signals would sure help to send the right message. But it was hard to shake the idea that the city was crumbling to dust around us.

Another phenomenon that's always bizarre to our Canadian eyes is the advertising billboards. The moment you cross the border, they're all for either (1) hospitals, (2) health plans, or (3) ambulance-chasers in case you don't have (2) and need (1). It's creepy.

But it was a good trip regardless.

Comments

[pretentiousgit.livejournal.com]

Buffalo is easily the creepiest city I've ever been in. I was there on a grey wet President's Day in February, and it looked as though it had been taken out by zombies. When we finally found the local vegan cafe (I took the +2 Gaydar upgrade to be able to find one _literally anywhere_), it was packed with what looked like the entire remaining population of the city.

So, fifty people.

[themusesbitch.livejournal.com]

Parallel lives... I bought these boots this weekend, although I bought them in Canada.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Oooh, very nice! Where did you find 'em?

[themusesbitch.livejournal.com]

Town Shoes, at Eaton Centre.