I know, I know. You’re thinking: Why does anyone give a %$#* what Forbes thinks?
The answer is: Because this time they’re preaching to the choir. We wouldn’t care where this article showed up or who wrote it; it shines a light on so much of the positives about Buffalo, that we couldn’t help but think it was relevant to this site. After all, corroboration can be important amidst all of the negative noise. It’s our reputation as a city we look to maintain, and having the rest of the world see us for who we truly are.
At the risk of being politically incorrect, it’s the fat girl with a pretty face and a heart of gold syndrome. (See Shallow Hal.)
But we’re making change – slow and steady – and it’s not the hardest sort of change to make. The metamorphosis, as has been described to us many a time, is one that started early for a Rust Belt City, and seems to be going very much in the right direction. That is, the direction new industry is taking destines us for future success. We didn’t latch onto the next thing to hit a decline; we latched onto the next big thing, and our medical community, coupled with the University at Buffalo, have a lot to do with that. It was smart.
Sure, we have a few matters to clean up; we have to make the city friendlier for development without giving it away, we have to keep our best and brightest and we need a lot of government cooperation on the city, county and state level in order to keep affordable lifestyles.
The bones of success are here; the change is in the right direction. Yeah, we’re starting to look good – not exactly who we were before – but good, in a sustainable way.
Image: ECB