Buffalo

by Frank Gullo

Cities are like people. New York is a high-rolling executive. Paris a chic runway model. Dallas is a big oil, brash swaggerer, and Hollywood is a tanned and toned celebrity.

But what about Buffalo? Buffalo is best described as a middle-aged man, slightly overweight and balding, who had a good run in his formative years and 20s, but unfortunately believes his best years are behind him. He grew up hard and came of age through frontier building, the Erie Canal boom, and the industrial age. He worked alongside some friends, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, with similar backgrounds, who also struggled as they hit middle-age and came up against a changing economy that no longer coveted their big industrial skills.

Buffalo worries that he is no longer valued among his peers and is struggling through a full bore mid-life identity crisis. He is chagrined that others would rather seek out and befriend newcomers, like Raleigh and Boulder, mere kids without his long years of service. He does not like it when others criticize his neighborhood, and becomes defensive when they mock the snowy weather under which he lives. He is concerned that his professional skills are becoming stagnant, and fears that he will have to take a job paying less money or that he will be downsized. Buffalo has trouble letting go of the past and moving on.

Sometimes late at night when the Niagara River is still, he surveys the breath of his domain and hopes that he can hold on what he has: his businesses, his sports franchises, and his arts and culture.

He is not sure exactly what to do. He has thought about building a signature span bridge that would rival the great marvel that San Francisco built, or going back to school and concentrating in Bio-Informatics, or even going into business with a major fishing outlet. He knows that some of his friends have managed to turn their careers and fortunes around, such as his old neighbor, Cleveland. But if he builds, will they come?

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to meet Buffalo know that in spite of these failings, he has a great spirit and is a lot of fun. He works hard, is tough, can toast a cheer with anyone, and would stand by one of his own until the bitter end. He is a good man, an honest man, and he loves his family and friends dearly. More people than he knows still believe in his potential and are rooting for him to succeed and turn himself around.

He just needs to start doing instead of talking: build that bridge, make some new business friends, do something with the great waterfront in his back yard, and revitalize and change up his downtown wardrobe. And once and for all, he needs to forget the past: the busines ventures lost, the sports championships that almost were, and the colleagues who have left.

If he does that, they will come.

Frank Gullo
April, 2004