Buffalo it is time to GET REAL. No one can argue that this is a city that has lots of potential but if we don't make dramatic changes fast the Queen City will be known as the Peasant City.
The first step is to Face the Facts and wake our fellow citizens up to reality. Then we can drive change with innovation and with a ruthless pursuit of tangible results we will make a difference.
FACE THE FACTS:
FACE THE FACTS:
- Population growth (66th out of 67 largest U.S cities): The Buffalo area lost 3.9 percent of its residents between 2000 and 2008. The only metro to do worse was New Orleans, which was ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
- Young adults (66th out of 67 largest U.S cities): Just 24.7 percent of the residents of Erie and Niagara counties are between the ages of 25 and 44. That’s well behind the study group’s median of 28.1 percent, and it trails every single market but Pittsburgh.
- Housing age (66th out of 67 largest U.S cities): The Buffalo area has the second-oldest housing stock in the study, with just 10.6 percent of local homes being built since 1990. New York City is last.
- Self-employment (67th out of 67 largest U.S cities): Entrepreneurship is not flourishing in the Buffalo market, where 7.1 percent of workers are self-employed, the lowest figure in any of the 67 metros. The median for the whole group is 9.4 percent.
