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Upstate Uptick


UTCdude23

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I think it has to do with a combination of all the factors that you just mentioned.  It'd be interesting to compare these factors with those of Niagra Falls Canada, and Toronto.  They have similar weather and are very close, but the Canadian side has grown while the Upstate side has declined.

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You can't compare Toronto with ANY upstate city. Toronto is Canada's largest city and it's financial capital. Toronto is more in league with NYC/Chicago/LA

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You can't compare Toronto with ANY upstate city. Toronto is Canada's largest city and it's financial capital. Toronto is more in league with NYC/Chicago/LA

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Does upstate derive any benefit from being so close to Toronto? Again, I remember growing up in NYS hearing so much about how Buffalo, Niagara, etc was going to boom and benefit so much from NAFTA and trade with Canada/Toronto...

- Garris

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First off, I went to a college up in Rochester, NY.

I want to tell, Rochester is not struggling, it is spreading out, but retaining the same population. I have read some Rochester Democrat and Chronicle articles that say people are moving out of downtown and settling in other cities inside of Monroe County. I know there are still some empty stores and stuff in downtown Rochester, but Rochester is already suffering from suburban sprawl. The big reason is education, and NYS government is not paying Rochester what it needs to retain students, and therefore, the population in general.

Buffalo has some worst schools. I know the population of Buffalo and Erie County is declining, but the NYS government has to pay some schools the money they need, otherwise the population is leaving. Housing in both Rochester and Buffalo is still affordable. Other than the brutal winters that Rochester and Buffalo endure every year, the governments of Buffalo and Rochester are not getting things right in some times. Toronto's growth is not going to affect Buffalo/Rochester in some way, because Toronto is a 2-hour drive from Buffalo and a 3-hour drive from Rochester.

Anybody have some info on War Memorial Stadium of Buffalo? I think it's torn down (it served as the backdrop for the Natural movie with Robert Redford).

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I read some interesting articles in the Rochester and Syracuse newspapers a few days ago. The Rochester Area has 17,000 fewer jobs than they did in 2000. This is some sad news, but not unexpected with the dramatic shift in industry that they are trying to take. As the manufacturing sector continues to decline, and is replaced by higher tech ones, you will see the populations shift as well. The Syracuse area has seen an uptick from last year, the area has gained about 2,000 jobs. On a side note, the Utica-Rome area had a gain of about 600 job as well. These two areas make up the core populations of Central New York, a region that encompasses about two and a half million people. Is it because of this large economic area that Syracuse is able to recover some sort of growth while Buffalo and Rochester fight over consumers? Their economic areas basically encompass a smaller number of people due to their close proximity to one another. I just find it interesting.

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As long as NYS continues its incredible high tax burden on commerce and industry as well tight regulations that result in stagnancy & bringing little hope for the future, Middlesex County will continue to shine with Raritan Center, Heller Industrial Park & Metro Park. These aforementioned areas are less than 10-15 minutes away from the Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island and about the same distance to Newark Airport and Port Elizabeth/Newark.

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First off, I went to a college up in Rochester, NY.

I want to tell, Rochester is not struggling, it is spreading out, but retaining the same population. I have read some Rochester Democrat and Chronicle articles that say people are moving out of downtown and settling in other cities inside of Monroe County. I know there are still some empty stores and stuff in downtown Rochester, but Rochester is already suffering from suburban sprawl. The big reason is education, and NYS government is not paying Rochester what it needs to retain students, and therefore, the population in general.

Buffalo has some worst schools. I know the population of Buffalo and Erie County is declining, but the NYS government has to pay some schools the money they need, otherwise the population is leaving. Housing in both Rochester and Buffalo is still affordable. Other than the brutal winters that Rochester and Buffalo endure every year, the governments of Buffalo and Rochester are not getting things right in some times. Toronto's growth is not going to affect Buffalo/Rochester in some way, because Toronto is a 2-hour drive from Buffalo and a 3-hour drive from Rochester.

Anybody have some info on War Memorial Stadium of Buffalo? I think it's torn down (it served as the backdrop for the Natural movie with Robert Redford).

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Go to downtown Syracuse and really look at what is there. I think you night be surprised at what you find. Don't discount the value of a building if it is dirty and worn. That is not what makes a building worth while and important. Look for history and craft and texture. Look for human interaction and how space is created. Old cities have a soul. the newer ones almost never do.
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Buffalo & WNY is Dying !

540,000 YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE LEFT WESTERN NEW YORK

SINCE 1990 ! WOW !

Keeping the hometown talent home

By DAN HERBECK

News Staff Reporter

3/4/2007

Ashley Simmons is a bright, articulate Buffalo State College senior who doesn't want to leave for someplace like North Carolina or Las Vegas after she graduates.

"I do not want to move," Simmons said Saturday. "[but] for my generation, job prospects in Western New York are diminishing daily."

John Hoskins Jr. and John R. Koelmel are successful local businessmen who don't want her to leave.

They all spoke with passion at a Buffalo rally sponsored by the Unshackle Upstate coalition, a group of business leaders who want New York State to change the way it does business.

The rally was held in Buffalo's Curtis Screw Co. plant on Thielman Drive, with about 100 people in attendance. They are on a tour to take their message to Albany.

Some sobering economic statistics were discussed, including the fact that 540,000 young people have left Western New York to seek better opportunities since 1990. High state taxes and laws unfriendly to business created one of the nation's most expensive business climates, speakers complained.

But there were also glimmers of hope among some members of the group, who said they are beginning to feel that change really can happen in Albany.

A tentative agreement to reform the state's workers' compensation program, announced last week, is a sign of good things to come, said John Hoskins Jr., president of Curtis Screw.

He said he was "very encouraged" when the Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer and state legislators announced a proposal that could cut the costs of workers' compensation by 15 percent.

"We've got a governor who's only been in office a couple of months, and already he's making good on a couple of campaign promises," Hoskins said. "That's good news."

Hoskins' company makes parts for automobile transmissions and steering systems. Curtis employs about 400 people at its three plants in Buffalo, North Carolina and Connecticut. About 260 of the employees are in Buffalo.

According to Hoskins, his workers' compensation expenses in Buffalo are more than six times higher than what he pays in North Carolina.

"In New York State, it costs me $1 million for 260 employees," Hoskins said. "In North Carolina, for the same number of workers, it would cost $150,000.

"I grew up here. I want to do business and employ people here. . . I do everything I can to control my own company's costs, but the government-controlled costs make it very difficult to compete."

Andrew J. Rudnick, president of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, urged lawmakers to do everything they can to make sure the workers' comp bill is not watered down before it is voted on in Albany later this year.

Unshackle Upstate comprises 40 business and trade organizations, representing more than 32,000 companies that employ more than 1 million people across upstate, Rudnick said. Over the next three days, he said, the coalition will sponsor rallies in Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Albany.

"The message we're pushing is that we want our economy moving, not our people," Rudnick said.

In addition to changes in workers' compensation, the coalition has six other priorities, including reform of the state's $42 billion Medicaid program, overhauling state laws that increase labor and job safety costs, an increase in the availability of low-cost electricity in Western New York and improvement of the state's economic development efforts.

New York State has the highest state and local taxes in the nation, the group notes, adding that the cost of doing business in New York is higher than any other state except Hawaii.

The group outlines each of these issues on its Web site, unshackleupstate.com, and it has begun a new billboard and lobbying campaign, Rudnick said.

Formed early last year, the group wants state officials to enact reforms that specifically target problems outside New York City and Long Island.

Simmons, 21, of West Seneca, is a public communications and political science major at Buffalo State. She said she loves the Buffalo area, wants to raise a family here but feels she'll probably have to move elsewhere to find a good job after graduation.

"We care about our future, and we care about finding jobs," she said.

Those words hit home with Koelmel, chief executive officer at First Niagara Bank. He said he and his wife have a 23-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter. "The next generation is needed to carry our region forward in the years ahead," Koelmel said. "We can't continue to allow politics and egos to be the reasons why more progress isn't made."

The only lawmakers to speak at the rally were State Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville, and Assemblyman Robin L. Schimminger

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I live in Florida and want to come back to make a difference in Upstate (I'm originally from the Ithaca area and went to college at Brockport before moving to Florida for (eventually) grad school. The problem is that the jobs available in my field are few and far between, there are too many graduates for the jobs in my field (planning) that do exist, the pay is worse than in most areas of the country for a similar position, especially considering the tax situation, and the vestiges of corrupt machine politics (civil service system) have made it difficult for someone from out of state to get a job in NY. People talk about the Okies during the depression moving to California and the migration of Appalachia residents to Detroit in the 20's but the reverse migration, one of an educated workforce without jobs to the south is even more stunning, and practically unheard of. Yet this is upstate in a nutshell.

Buffalo & WNY is Dying !

540,000 YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE LEFT WESTERN NEW YORK

SINCE 1990 ! WOW !

Keeping the hometown talent home

By DAN HERBECK

News Staff Reporter

3/4/2007

Ashley Simmons is a bright, articulate Buffalo State College senior who doesn't want to leave for someplace like North Carolina or Las Vegas after she graduates.

"I do not want to move," Simmons said Saturday. "[but] for my generation, job prospects in Western New York are diminishing daily."

John Hoskins Jr. and John R. Koelmel are successful local businessmen who don't want her to leave.

They all spoke with passion at a Buffalo rally sponsored by the Unshackle Upstate coalition, a group of business leaders who want New York State to change the way it does business.

The rally was held in Buffalo's Curtis Screw Co. plant on Thielman Drive, with about 100 people in attendance. They are on a tour to take their message to Albany.

Some sobering economic statistics were discussed, including the fact that 540,000 young people have left Western New York to seek better opportunities since 1990. High state taxes and laws unfriendly to business created one of the nation's most expensive business climates, speakers complained.

But there were also glimmers of hope among some members of the group, who said they are beginning to feel that change really can happen in Albany.

A tentative agreement to reform the state's workers' compensation program, announced last week, is a sign of good things to come, said John Hoskins Jr., president of Curtis Screw.

He said he was "very encouraged" when the Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer and state legislators announced a proposal that could cut the costs of workers' compensation by 15 percent.

"We've got a governor who's only been in office a couple of months, and already he's making good on a couple of campaign promises," Hoskins said. "That's good news."

Hoskins' company makes parts for automobile transmissions and steering systems. Curtis employs about 400 people at its three plants in Buffalo, North Carolina and Connecticut. About 260 of the employees are in Buffalo.

According to Hoskins, his workers' compensation expenses in Buffalo are more than six times higher than what he pays in North Carolina.

"In New York State, it costs me $1 million for 260 employees," Hoskins said. "In North Carolina, for the same number of workers, it would cost $150,000.

"I grew up here. I want to do business and employ people here. . . I do everything I can to control my own company's costs, but the government-controlled costs make it very difficult to compete."

Andrew J. Rudnick, president of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, urged lawmakers to do everything they can to make sure the workers' comp bill is not watered down before it is voted on in Albany later this year.

Unshackle Upstate comprises 40 business and trade organizations, representing more than 32,000 companies that employ more than 1 million people across upstate, Rudnick said. Over the next three days, he said, the coalition will sponsor rallies in Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Albany.

"The message we're pushing is that we want our economy moving, not our people," Rudnick said.

In addition to changes in workers' compensation, the coalition has six other priorities, including reform of the state's $42 billion Medicaid program, overhauling state laws that increase labor and job safety costs, an increase in the availability of low-cost electricity in Western New York and improvement of the state's economic development efforts.

New York State has the highest state and local taxes in the nation, the group notes, adding that the cost of doing business in New York is higher than any other state except Hawaii.

The group outlines each of these issues on its Web site, unshackleupstate.com, and it has begun a new billboard and lobbying campaign, Rudnick said.

Formed early last year, the group wants state officials to enact reforms that specifically target problems outside New York City and Long Island.

Simmons, 21, of West Seneca, is a public communications and political science major at Buffalo State. She said she loves the Buffalo area, wants to raise a family here but feels she'll probably have to move elsewhere to find a good job after graduation.

"We care about our future, and we care about finding jobs," she said.

Those words hit home with Koelmel, chief executive officer at First Niagara Bank. He said he and his wife have a 23-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter. "The next generation is needed to carry our region forward in the years ahead," Koelmel said. "We can't continue to allow politics and egos to be the reasons why more progress isn't made."

The only lawmakers to speak at the rally were State Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville, and Assemblyman Robin L. Schimminger

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Why are people leaving upstate ny? TAXES TAXES and more TAXES. My parents live in Hamlin NY. It is a blue collar town with mostly farms and some light residential. It is 25 miles from downtown Rochester. They live in a 30 yr old subdevelopment on a 1/4 acre in a 1200 sqaure ft house. Their combined Property & School Taxes: $4000!!!! I moved to Springfield MO about 4 years ago from Rochester. A similar house here would have about $500 taxes a year. That is NOT a misprint. Granted that metro Springfield is less than half of Rochester (400,000 compared to 1.1 million) but the economy is thriving because the lower taxes allow you to spend more money. I will never move back to a state with such greedy and corrupt politicians.

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