Sunday, March 8, 2015

Guilty by Association

Being about a one-hour drive from Buffalo, Rochester owes some of its reputation to The Queen City.  Unfortunately, if Rochester's reputation is marginal, Buffalo's reputation is putrid.  Buffalo is dying (or plain dead), frozen, and undereducated.  Or is it? Perhaps it's time for an update on our friendly neighbor to the west:

  • According to City Observatory, from 2000-2012, the Buffalo metro area saw a 34% increase in the number of 25-34 year-olds with a college degree.
  • According to the same source, 42.1% of the 25-34 year-olds in the Buffalo metro area have at least a 4-year degree.  For some perspective, Chicago finds itself at 41.5%, Austin 40.8%, Seattle 39.4%, Denver 38.9%, Portland 37.1%, and Rochester 36.7%.
  • Per the Democrat & Chronicle, 18 new independently owned restaurants have opened in and around downtown Buffalo in the past 7 months
  • New York State recently committed $1 billion to Buffalo (a sore spot among Rochesterians, I know.)  Per The Buffalo News, as of February, $853.9 million had been allocated, generating $5.37 billion in private investment and an expected 4,550 jobs
  • The 2013 population estimate for Erie County, NY of 919,866 is higher than the 919,040 noted in the 2010 Census.        
  • The Buffalo Bills...maybe we'll skip that one for now

Could it be (say it ain't so) that proximity to Buffalo is an asset?

If you have 12 minutes to spare, this video on the new Buffalo is a must watch:



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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 9, 2015 at 11:09 AM

    The proximity of the two should be use more as an asset for BOTH cities. Maybe my head is in the clouds, but it seems like we're so close together that it would be "relatively" easy to put in some kind of high speed train between the two cities. Downtown to downtown in 20 minutes? How cool would that be. We could be the first two cities in the country, and it seems like it would be a pretty big deal on the national level.

    I would just like to see some kind of unity between the two, as opposed to the constant opinion that Rochester is "East Buffalo". Last time I check, we weren't even that much smaller than Buffalo any more, despite what the people there want to believe.

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    Replies
    1. Amol ShrikhandeMarch 9, 2015 at 6:40 PM

      Thanks for the comment. I totally agree that the proximity of the cities could be a huge asset. Friendly competition is fine, but true economic competition seems counterproductive. There should be more collaboration than just hockey. Love the train idea!

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