"Without hesitation, I choose the city" by William Graebner

This pretty much sums it up.


Originally published in the [Buffalo News](http://www.buffalonews.com/), April 1, 1997, p. B-3.

I choose the city . . .

Because I want to live–and I want my children to live–in the society of the future, rather than the society of the past. The future is multicultural, global, and heterogeneous; the suburbs offer monoculture, isolationism, and homogeneity. Why would anyone choose to live in a place that is 97 percent American white? Can children thrive if they grow up in a social and cultural backwater?

Because I believe in a community of shared responsibility, in which those who are more fortunate help those who are less so. Despite its limited resources, the city at least tries to be this kind of community. Think of the City Mission, Friends of the Night People, the downtown YWCA, and dozens of other social agencies. The suburbs have community, too, but it is a different sort of community–the community of the cul-de-sac, the community of the country club–built on exclusion rather than inclusion.

Because I believe in living life with a sense of adventure. The suburbs are peopled with cowards, those who fled from the challenges and rigors and anxieties of diversity and difference to harbors of safety. Still cowards, they are afraid to come downtown. Can flight be described as a moral choice? Is this the lesson that suburbanites teach their children: that fear is the basis for a satisfying life?

Because the city is a place of elegance and beauty, designed with human beings in mind. The suburbs have no elegance and not much beauty; they were designed for cars, not people; for isolated private enterprise, not public life. The suburban culture that produced the intersection of Sheridan Drive and Niagara Falls Boulevard is aesthetically bankrupt. What kind of person trades Elmwood Avenue for the pre-fab, mirrored, muzaked interiors of suburban shopping malls? Can a child learn to interact with th e world from the back of an Explorer? The suburbs are ugly. Even the driving is better in Buffalo. Am I missing something?

Because in the city I am surrounded by history, touched by the noble legacy of my culture: by the refined elegance of Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building; by lingering signs of the Pan American Exposition; by the incredible vision of Frank Lloyd Wright; by the ornate splendor of Shea’s Buffalo; by the grace of Edward Lupfer’s Peace Bridge; by the soaring optimism of City Hall; by the haunting hulks of 19th century grain elevators; by the lore that surrounds the Canadiana; by historic neighborhoods. The suburbs will be old someday, too. But what will be there to preserve? Which big-box store will be saved for posterity? Around which of those office parks will preservationists of the future rally?

Because the city has physical integrity. It was built with real plaster, solid oak, beams 6 inches wide, and by craftsmen with skills. The simplest corner bar has palpable authenticity. In the suburbs, the doors are hollow (take that as a metaphor), and the corner bar has been replaced by national chains with the “old-timey” feel. Will you tell your kids about the good old days at Fuddruckers?

Because the city is stimulating. It is alive–alive with ethnic groups and new immigrants, people of color, the young down on Chippewa at midnight, the poor and downtrodden (and even some of the rich), the avant-garde at Hallwalls, the mentally ill, the Chevy worker on the graveyard shift–and those who live in it are alive. The suburbs were created as a haven from all that stimulation, all that life. They are its antithesis. The suburbs are a living cemetery. Count me out.

i like this town too, seriously i do… and i support it

but man…

you have the biggest boners over buffalo

this was more or less just how I wanted to respond to AWDrifters murder thread… but this guy said it better than I could have.

I lol’d. Because its true.

Maybe if I’m bored tomorrow I’ll write a pretty and alliterative poem about how I don’t want my kids growing up in the worst schools in the county, while watching murder after murder in their neighborhood.

Oh wait, I don’t need to, because that pretty much sums it up right there.

Edit:
And if that wasn’t clear enough:

Seven Riverside High School students were arrested Tuesday after two separate fights erupted inside the school. Buffalo police said the first incident involved a 15-year-old boy punching a teacher, while the other was a group of girls brawling in a girls bathroom.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070117/1015915.asp

June 2, 2000: Buffalo, NY

Police arrested a 17 year old male for shooting a Buffalo school bus aide in the ankle as the aide was helping elementary school children off of a school bus at a corner bus stop. The suspect had allegedly fired multiple shots down a street at someone who had fired a round at him nine days earlier in a drive-by shooting.

http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_violence99-00.html

Buffalo Murder Rate Jumps 30% in 2006

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16374038/
http://www.wkbw.com/archives.aspx?PageID=LN&StoryID=17127

Want me to stop back in this thread and post the link to each Buffalo murder that comes up this year? We can start a seperate thread for Amherst murders and compare numbers at the end of the year.

And you only had to go back to 1997 to find a guy who wanted to live in Buffalo. I wonder how he feels in 2007.

whenever i see articles like that

i just scan through

yup, there it is

‘grain elevators’

every article like this mentions the grain elevators

Sure the city’s got a lot of attractions, but that essay is kind of BS. I’ll admit I kind of take it personally because I’m one of those cowardly suburbanites, but still:

by lingering signs of the Pan American Exposition

Yeah, um. The Pan-American exposition was a monumental failure in every respect that culminated in the assasination of the president, and there is exactly ONE building left.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/papr/mckpanex.html

ahahaha

Because I want to live–and I want my children to live–in the society of the future, rather than the society of the past

[left][font=serif]Im[/left] not sure but it seems Buffalo has been living in the past for the past 60 years or so.

[/font]he future is multicultural, global, and heterogeneous; the suburbs offer monoculture, isolationism, and homogeneity. Why would anyone choose to live in a place that is 97 percent American white? Can children thrive if they grow up in a social and cultural backwater?

Last time i checked buffalo was not “global”. It also seems that lots of [left][font=serif]childern[/left] thrive in the “cultural backwater” with on average better test scores and reading levels then city students.

[/font]Because I believe in a community of shared responsibility, in which those who are more fortunate help those who are less so

Communism?

Think of the City Mission, Friends of the Night People, the downtown YWCA, and dozens of other social agencies. The suburbs have community, too, but it is a different sort of community–the community of the [left][font=serif]cul[/left]-[left]de[/left]-sac, the community of the country club–built on exclusion rather than inclusion.

I guess everything in the suburbs most consist of country clubs and playing polo, or maybe he just [left]hasnt[/left] looked into any on the community [left]activites[/left] in the suburbs.

[/font]Because I believe in living life with a sense of adventure

If dodging bullets is your fun of adventure I guess. I seem to prefer hunting, fishing, camping, etc… over the kinds of “adventure” that Buffalo offers.

Because the city is a place of elegance and beauty, designed with human beings in mind

yea last time i rode by the east side it had some real beauty with the drug dealers and hookers standing on street corners.

Can a child learn to interact with [left][font=serif]th e[/left] world from the back of an Explorer?

better then the back of the metro rail with a drunk bum passed out in the back.

[/font]Because in the city I am surrounded by history, touched by the noble legacy of my culture: by the refined elegance of Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building; by lingering signs of the Pan American Exposition; by the incredible vision of Frank Lloyd Wright; by the ornate splendor of Shea’s Buffalo; by the grace of Edward [left][font=serif]Lupfer’s[/left] Peace Bridge; by the soaring optimism of City Hall; by the haunting hulks of 19th century grain elevators; by the lore that surrounds the [left]Canadiana[/left]; by historic neighborhoods

The peace bridge? grain elevators? Optimism of city hall? [left]Im[/left] pretty sure this guy is on crack since those are some of the biggest problems buffalo has going.

[/font]Will you tell your kids about the good old days at [left][font=serif]Fuddruckers[/left]?
Fuck yea I will.

[/font]
Because the city is stimulating. It is alive–alive with ethnic groups and new immigrants, people of color, the young down on Chippewa at midnight, the poor and downtrodden (and even some of the rich), the [left][font=serif]avant[/left]-[left]garde[/left] at [left]Hallwalls[/left], the mentally ill, the Chevy worker on the graveyard shift–and those who live in it are alive. The suburbs were created as a haven from all that stimulation, all that life. They are its antithesis. The suburbs are a living cemetery. Count me out.

Buffalo has new immigrants? Oh yea and most of the young down on Chippewa are us “[left]burb[/left]” [left]childern[/left]. I guess you could consider the [left]subrubs[/left] s living [left]cemetry[/left] is murder, rape, and crime is your way of getting stimulation.
[/font]

Because I want to live–and I want my children to live–in the society of the future, rather than the society of the past

Im
not sure but it seems Buffalo has been living in the past for the past 60 years or so.

he future is multicultural, global, and heterogeneous; the suburbs offer monoculture, isolationism, and homogeneity. Why would anyone choose to live in a place that is 97 percent American white? Can children thrive if they grow up in a social and cultural backwater?

Last time i checked buffalo was not “global”. It also seems that lots of
childern
thrive in the “cultural backwater” with on average better test scores and reading levels then city students.

Because I believe in a community of shared responsibility, in which those who are more fortunate help those who are less so

Communism?

Think of the City Mission, Friends of the Night People, the downtown YWCA, and dozens of other social agencies. The suburbs have community, too, but it is a different sort of community–the community of the
cul

de
-sac, the community of the country club–built on exclusion rather than inclusion.

I guess everything in the suburbs most consist of country clubs and playing polo, or maybe he just
hasnt
looked into any on the community
activites
in the suburbs.

Because I believe in living life with a sense of adventure

If dodging bullets is your fun of adventure I guess. I seem to prefer hunting, fishing, camping, etc… over the kinds of “adventure” that Buffalo offers.

Because the city is a place of elegance and beauty, designed with human beings in mind

yea last time i rode by the east side it had some real beauty with the drug dealers and hookers standing on street corners.

Can a child learn to interact with
th e
world from the back of an Explorer?

better then the back of the metro rail with a drunk bum passed out in the back.

Because in the city I am surrounded by history, touched by the noble legacy of my culture: by the refined elegance of Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building; by lingering signs of the Pan American Exposition; by the incredible vision of Frank Lloyd Wright; by the ornate splendor of Shea’s Buffalo; by the grace of Edward
Lupfer’s
Peace Bridge; by the soaring optimism of City Hall; by the haunting hulks of 19th century grain elevators; by the lore that surrounds the
Canadiana
; by historic neighborhoods

The peace bridge? grain elevators? Optimism of city hall?
Im
pretty sure this guy is on crack since those are some of the biggest problems buffalo has going.

Will you tell your kids about the good old days at
Fuddruckers
?
Fuck yea I will.

Because the city is stimulating. It is alive–alive with ethnic groups and new immigrants, people of color, the young down on Chippewa at midnight, the poor and downtrodden (and even some of the rich), the avant-garde at
Hallwalls , the mentally ill, the Chevy worker on the graveyard shift–and those who live in it are alive. The suburbs were created as a haven from all that stimulation, all that life. They are its antithesis. The suburbs are a living cemetery. Count me out.

Buffalo has new immigrants? Oh yea and most of the young down on Chippewa are us "burb"childern. I guess you could consider the subrubs a living cemetery if murder, rape, and crime is your way of getting stimulation.

a large portion of the upper level tax bracket has left the city and moved to the suburbs. so obviously by comparison buffalo will have worse numbers. but just like amherst is a “nice” area, the city has nice areas. I live in a $250,000 house, and it’s incredible around here. but yes, since the suburbs are exclusional to those with lower incomes, it would seem like a “safer” choice, as those “poor people” are kept at more of a distance rather than being helped by those with the money to help . (I’m thinking here to that anti-drug commercial where the kid says "i smoked weed and didnt do heroin or kill anybody. we just sat on pete’s couch for 14 hours). that’s what the suburbs are like to me. But you have to think of it from a regional approach

the suburbs could not exist without the city of buffalo. amherst, depew, cheektowaga, orchard park, none of it. think of it with a more of a community feel, rather than “oh im taking my money and leaving” yet completely reliant on it at the same time. suburbanites depend on the city to survive, yet those people don’t live in it, and when they leave when the workday is over, it does have a disproportionate amount of income levels for that very reason. and when people leave when the workday is over, they shop in the suburbs. they do their grocery shopping there. they do their clothes shopping there. How much of that money goes into the city, if you’re buying from stores in the suburbs? Big box stores at that. so when one lives in the suburbs, doesn’t contribute financially to the area they work in, then they leave the city after the workday and wonder why its not as “nice” everywhere as the suburbs.

roush97 i could say so many things about that.

if wanting to help anyone besides yourself is communism, then i guess im a Red.

talking about the east side -refer to the post I just read.

I went to a city school, we had a ton of people go to ivy league schools. my high school is also ranked #4 in the nation. thats a big fuck you to that comment.

public transportation is a vicious cycle. if people don’t ride it, it doesnt have any money, nor the demand to put more money into the system. people dont ride the subway, hence not giving the nfta money, then whine that the nfta doesnt have money. lol

tom, there is no point. people have been raised in this suburban mentality that the city sucks. as illustrated in plain black in white right here. This is a tough cycle to break, and generations seem to be instilling these morals that the city is terrible. that will not help anything get better.

looking for help from these kinds of people will do no good, its apparent they have already dismissed the city.

i’m reading a book now called the Arc of Justice. It’s got a great quote that’s very pertinent to this thread. I left the book at work, but I’ll write it tomorrow

Multicultural! Buffalo’s not even close to being multicultural Let alone a real city. You don’t live in a real city unless you have a china town. LOL*

And Buffalo is the most segregated city I have ever seen. :meh:

I don’t believe for a second that Amherst wouldn’t survive without Buffalo.

We have our own police.
We have our own businesses and economy (a very large percentage of people in my neighborhood work either in Amherst, or other suburbs).
We have our own shopping.
We have the Pepsi center, so if Buffalo folded we’d have a place for the Sabres to play.
The Bills, Orchard Park, nuff said.

When businesses come to WNY, they don’t come to Buffalo.
Geico, Amherst
National Fuel, Amherst
Fisher Price, Angola
M&T, Amherst

HSBC is downtown, but only because they purchased Marine Midland and Marine Midland was down there already.

Bottom line, Buffalo has a gang problem, and Buffalo has a drug problem. Until that’s fixed Buffalo will never be a great place to raise a family. Sure, you can have a $250000 house, but it’s going to need a security system and a big gate. I own my own home in Williamsville, and last summer my front door popped open while we were out of town on vacation. I eventually got a call from my neighbor about it, who went over and closed it, and when we got back after talking to other people I found out it had been open for 2 days. Of course nothing was missing. I wonder what would have happened had I lived in Buffalo? I bet my HDTV wouldn’t still be here.

went to a city school, we had a ton of people go to ivy league schools. my high school is also ranked #4 in the nation. thats a big fuck you to that comment.

Yea the one highschool in Buffalo you need to test into. Look at all the other ones in Buffalo, they are shit.[/QUOTE]

public transportation is a vicious cycle. if people don’t ride it, it doesnt have any money, nor the demand to put more money into the system. people dont ride the subway, hence not giving the nfta money, then whine that the nfta doesnt have money. lol

Well Buffalo fucked that one up with the dumb metro rail that basically put all the business’s on main street out of business.

But yet it seems that the NFTA has enough money to have have NFTA cops running around :confused: [/QUOTE]

looking for help from these kinds of people will do no good, its apparent they have already dismissed the city.

yep, I was born and raised in the city when I was a kid and I have no feeling to ever move back.

also im not trying to be a dick since I really don’t hate buffalo but more or less hate the politics and crackheads in the city. But the orignal writer seems like he has no idea what he is talking about.

Jay - M&T Is founded and headquartered downtown. Two 10+ floor buildings, plus a few lease floors in other buildings.

ColdAccord - raised in the suburban mentality? You are spitting out more stereotypes then anyone else in this thread. I grew up in Riverside, the East side, and the West side. I’ll gladly quote You a few street names, spots, and corner stores.
Oh, Im also a Hutch Tech grad. Could of done City Honors but they didnt offer architechture.
I was part of the downtown workforce in two different capacities for ~4 years.
Yet… I bought a house in Amherst.

Facts are facts: Buffalo School districts are FAAAAR behind the Williamsville, Kenmore, Amherst districts… among others.
Crime rate, property values, traffic patterns, public services, hospital facilities, shopping (corporate and local small businesses)… THe EVIL EVIL SUBURBS win.

One day You’ll take a look around and realize that YES! Buffalo is turning around! But it has a rediculously long way to go.

You’ll find ALOT of people on THIS VERY FORUM that grew up in the city limits and moved out once they realized how lost the cause really was.

Am I the only one who noticed that the whole editorial is probably an April Fool’s gag?

Also, don’t you live in Orchard Park?

I don’t know how anybody survived without HDTVs.

I just don’t know.

Originally published in the Buffalo News, April 1, 1997, p. B-3

SI01- that is what i thought.

Tom lives in the city, you are thinking of his parents.

X…