What’s economic strength got to do with it

A story in today’s Buffalo News tells of the state of our local economy in the midst of this national and global mudslide into recession.  Or, I should point out, it reminds us Buffalonians that we’ve essentially been living in the same state of economic depression that many parts of the country are now experiencing for the first time in, potentially, a long time.  The article reports on the declaration by BusinessWeek magazine this week that Buffalo is a good place to be in a time of economic distress, which we are in today.  It doesn’t come right out and state that we’re a depressed city, void of economic opportunity or value of life, rather that our cost of living and reasonable sustainability is so much lower than in similarly sized and larger U.S. cities.  Also, it says that the progress we have been making in our health care industry and other medical-related development means that there are lots of jobs for people in that line of work.

Let’s not kid ourselves here:  They’re not just mentioning that we have a booming health care corridor, as we undoubtedly do.  BusinessWeek is pointing out that beyond the growth in that field, we’re already living with a level of income, property value and taxes that would be considered a depression in other areas of the country, in cities like Chicago, Boston or Atlanta, say.  I’m no economist, and I won’t get into why that’s politically accurate, inaccurate or otherwise unfortunate.  It is what it is, we are what we are, and I don’t know enough about how these things work to be able to say that this report is too negative a spin on an already depressed state of affairs.

What I can say is this (and what we, as civic proponents and proud Western New Yorkers, hold firmly to despite our myriad problems)—We live in a wonderful town that, while not high on the list of employment rates or growing industries, offers a significant quality of life that is not apparent in other like-minded cities.  We have a local culture that thrives on the threads of our history and sustainability; a familiarity with unfortunate luck and decision-making that thickens our skin every time it falls into our lap; and a legitimate reason to believe that things will remain the way they currently are—in regards to the size of our city’s footprint, the scope of our workforce, and other major elements that a city is structured around—unless we step up and prove to our leaders and lawmakers that we want what we deserve.  And we will fight for what we want.  See how amazing civic pride can be when you act on it and not just repeat the words?

Now I know what you’re all saying; you’re saying that I think life is glorious here so long as you’re an artist, so long as you can pay your bills and so long as all you want from life is the bare minimum of options.  I wouldn’t have this job if I didn’t believe the opposite of that sentence.  I understand that there are large pockets—not just small, withering neighborhoods or vacant street corners from generations past—of our community that are poor.  Poor, as in the textbook definition of poor.  We don’t deny that we have major obstacles and that our outlook on life here is as optimistic wherever you go.  I know there are issues, and I know that I don’t even know the half of those issues, nor the impact they have on a person’s reality.  I’m fortunate that I don’t know that firsthand, but I know it’s my responsibility to know that it exists and to try to help spread dialogue about it so that more don’t go another day ignorant to the truth.

So, in short, we’re not a flatlined city by any means, but we’ve got our significant challenges.  And we’re not a big city that’s ever depended on the glories of a booming economy (and we haven’t been so in 50 or so years).  We are Buffalo, which means we’re hard-working, we’re community-appreciating, we’re understanding of our history and despite of—and to spite—all of those qualities, we work harder, reach out more and share our stories and memories to more people.

I hate to sound like a billboard for sunshiney civic pride, but I love this town.  Maybe the rest of the country will start to notice what we’ve got, and what we can do with very little.

Photo courtesy this guy.

Posted by on 10/15 at 05:04 PM