Is Buffalo a Northeastern city or a Midwestern city?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...it's definitely not the Midwest. WTF? I went to Purdue, an actual Midwestern school, and lived and worked in Buffalo for 7 years. It's a polite East Coast town, almost Canadian in its friendliness.

I also roll my eyes at what people think New York culture is. New York is a diverse state, and the city itself holds many cultures within it. Buffalo is rusty industrial New York. You don't need a coarse Brooklyn accent and a fake-hostile attitude to be a "New Yorker".

East Coast?!

Yes? East Coast is a geographic distinction not a qualitative one. There are plenty of shitholes throughout the east coast.

Of course there are shitholes on the East Coast. Buffalo is not on the East Coast. It's over a 7 hour drive from the coast.

NY State may touch the coast. Most of its people may live an hour or less from the coast. But just being in NY State does not make a municipality an East Coast municipality.

I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

That's pathetic. I lived in Massachusetts for years and visited all over New York state. I definitely met people like you, who were like, "Oh that's Buffalo, that's not REALLY New York." You know what all those people had in common? They were desperate for clout and thirstily latched onto NYC as if licking the pee-stained pavement would give them the validation they so desperately craved.

Boston had people with this same attitude, to be fair.

It's this sad BS that is causing the downfall of our country.

Wow. The anger and assumptions here…

Buffalo is part of NY State. It’s not on the East Coast. That’s all I’m saying. Look at a map.

[Anonymous]

This. In what world does upstate or western New York become the Midwest? It's got nothing to do with Midwestern culture, unless you decide that industrial small towns everywhere are Midwestern.

Buffalo is a rust belt city on a Great Lake which makes it midwestern. Just like Erie, PA. The eastern edge of the Midwest, but much more Midwest in culture than east coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

Ok, then give it to Canada. Or let it become its own state.

Pretty sure if the time ever came that there was a serious chance of losing votes and tax revenues from Western NY, whether from having it letting it become a separate state or the newest Canadian province, you'd quickly sit up and not only claim it as New York, but wax poetic about how culturally New York it is.

You think Western NY is a net positive for NY State?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...it's definitely not the Midwest. WTF? I went to Purdue, an actual Midwestern school, and lived and worked in Buffalo for 7 years. It's a polite East Coast town, almost Canadian in its friendliness.

I also roll my eyes at what people think New York culture is. New York is a diverse state, and the city itself holds many cultures within it. Buffalo is rusty industrial New York. You don't need a coarse Brooklyn accent and a fake-hostile attitude to be a "New Yorker".

+1 Exactly! People shouldn't write off or describe any entire area, state or region.

I've always found that attitude bizarre and off-putting myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

Ok, then give it to Canada. Or let it become its own state.

Pretty sure if the time ever came that there was a serious chance of losing votes and tax revenues from Western NY, whether from having it letting it become a separate state or the newest Canadian province, you'd quickly sit up and not only claim it as New York, but wax poetic about how culturally New York it is.

You think Western NY is a net positive for NY State?!

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

Ok, then give it to Canada. Or let it become its own state.

Pretty sure if the time ever came that there was a serious chance of losing votes and tax revenues from Western NY, whether from having it letting it become a separate state or the newest Canadian province, you'd quickly sit up and not only claim it as New York, but wax poetic about how culturally New York it is.

You think Western NY is a net positive for NY State?!

Wow.

Forgive me. I mean economically. PP mentioned tax revenue.

A lot of downstaters would drop Western NY in a second. I am not saying I would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Midwesterner. People from Buffalo are like the cousins of the Midwest. The only difference is that they aren't "Midwestern nice".

I’m from Rochester, only about 60 miles from Buffalo and very similar in culture.
I like this descriptive use of the term “cousins”. I also think we’re nice people, and very different from our downstate fellow citizens.
“Midwestern nice”, imo, is a real thing. I winter in SW Florida and there are midwesterners all over the place. Almost all of them are salt of the earth nice.
When asked where we are from we always say WNY in an attempt to distinguish ourselves from some of the negative connotations of the NYC/NJ area.

The reason I say that NY people are not "Midwestern nice" is that they are direct. They are friendly and nice, but direct. One of the hallmarks of Midwestern culture is that they are indirect. Midwesterners are basically masters of throwing shade, damning with faint praise, etc. They insult people so subtly that only other Midwesterners (or brits) can pick up on it. The great thing is that you grow up learning to be very polite and handle even extreme frustration in a way unlikely to arouse any retaliation.

This is funny and also somewhat accurate. We moved to the Midwest a couple of years ago from the DMV to an irrefutable Midwestern state. We bought our house from former NY'ers (the city, not the state) who empty nested. The husband never could adapt to the Midwest and its social norms and went to great lengths to explain/warn us about them. DH and I are both from the Midwest originally and we get it somewhat naturally. We're also doing fine socially but find ourselves primarily friends with people who have also transplanted from different areas of the country. Not that our neighbors aren't great because they are and we're happy to have them. But if we don't keep up our yard and property, expect some serious shade.

[Anonymous]

I’m from Buffalo. It is not Midwest. I’d say rust belt is the best way to describe. We have the most in common with Pittsburgh and Detroit. But When I went away for both college and grad school, I gravitated toward other northeast people. I agree there’s a similar directness and sarcastic sense of humor with those from NYC, Boston, Jersey, Philly, etc. also a similar immigrant background makeup in food, religion, culture.

[Anonymous]

New Yorker here. It is an East Coast and Northeast state. And the city itself is Western New York (not “Upstate”).

[Anonymous]

Yeah the culture around Buffalo was more Irish than German.

[Anonymous]

Who are these people posting on here not understanding the Midwestern region of the U.S.?

Time for you to book a tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

Ok, then give it to Canada. Or let it become its own state.

Pretty sure if the time ever came that there was a serious chance of losing votes and tax revenues from Western NY, whether from having it letting it become a separate state or the newest Canadian province, you'd quickly sit up and not only claim it as New York, but wax poetic about how culturally New York it is.

You think Western NY is a net positive for NY State?!

Wow.

Former wester NYer here who moved away for jobs. Love it there but I mean...the votes and tax revenues aren't going the way you think they're going. Buffalo is more of a blue blip in a deep, deep red, not at all wealthy region. I'd be cool with annexing to Canada though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Midwesterner. People from Buffalo are like the cousins of the Midwest. The only difference is that they aren't "Midwestern nice".

I’m from Rochester, only about 60 miles from Buffalo and very similar in culture.
I like this descriptive use of the term “cousins”. I also think we’re nice people, and very different from our downstate fellow citizens.
“Midwestern nice”, imo, is a real thing. I winter in SW Florida and there are midwesterners all over the place. Almost all of them are salt of the earth nice.
When asked where we are from we always say WNY in an attempt to distinguish ourselves from some of the negative connotations of the NYC/NJ area.

That's too funny! You don't want to claim your cousins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...it's definitely not the Midwest. WTF? I went to Purdue, an actual Midwestern school, and lived and worked in Buffalo for 7 years. It's a polite East Coast town, almost Canadian in its friendliness.

I also roll my eyes at what people think New York culture is. New York is a diverse state, and the city itself holds many cultures within it. Buffalo is rusty industrial New York. You don't need a coarse Brooklyn accent and a fake-hostile attitude to be a "New Yorker".

East Coast?!

Yes? East Coast is a geographic distinction not a qualitative one. There are plenty of shitholes throughout the east coast.

Of course there are shitholes on the East Coast. Buffalo is not on the East Coast. It's over a 7 hour drive from the coast.

NY State may touch the coast. Most of its people may live an hour or less from the coast. But just being in NY State does not make a municipality an East Coast municipality.

I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

Hoosier here who went to Indiana University, not Purdue. Yes, it's East Coast. I'd never heard of 'mid-Atlantic' until I moved to DC-land. You can't get further east in the US than the East Coast and New York is one of those states. It doesn't matter how far Buffalo is from the actual coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...it's definitely not the Midwest. WTF? I went to Purdue, an actual Midwestern school, and lived and worked in Buffalo for 7 years. It's a polite East Coast town, almost Canadian in its friendliness.

I also roll my eyes at what people think New York culture is. New York is a diverse state, and the city itself holds many cultures within it. Buffalo is rusty industrial New York. You don't need a coarse Brooklyn accent and a fake-hostile attitude to be a "New Yorker".

East Coast?!

Yes? East Coast is a geographic distinction not a qualitative one. There are plenty of shitholes throughout the east coast.

Of course there are shitholes on the East Coast. Buffalo is not on the East Coast. It's over a 7 hour drive from the coast.

NY State may touch the coast. Most of its people may live an hour or less from the coast. But just being in NY State does not make a municipality an East Coast municipality.

I believe I posted on page 1 that Western NY is its own thing. Nobody wants to own it.

Hoosier here who went to Indiana University, not Purdue. Yes, it's East Coast. I'd never heard of 'mid-Atlantic' until I moved to DC-land. You can't get further east in the US than the East Coast and New York is one of those states. It doesn't matter how far Buffalo is from the actual coast.

^^Oh, and I still think of New Jersey as an industrial wasteland. Yeah, I know the license plate says 'Garden State' but from a midwestern perspective, it's a suburb of New York City.