Living in Los Angeles is an adventure for sure, but although I have lived in many cities and visited even more over the last 12 years, this one is the most dissimilar to anything I know. The city itself is immensely spread out and not so much a collective whole as a series of counties that have little to nothing to do with each other and its inhabitants, although usually friendly, are flakier than anyone I've ever come across. This is not a statement about the state of California, but rather on thecity of LA itself. It's a tough place to live and get around, particularly when you are here alone and are from the east coast where ppl are more on top of the game and the cities have public transportation that you can take anywhere. So in honor of the Queen City, today I have decided to make a list of all the things I miss about Buffalo. Is it true that Buffaloians make a sport out of dissing their own city? Absolutely. Are they valid complaints? Sometimes. We do have a brain drain and we don't have jobs available in a lot of areas of expertise that larger cities do. However, the weather is not a big deal- it snows everywhere in the Northeast and in many places across the country! So as a transplanted Buffaloian turned Angeleno, I had some things I wanted to commemorate....
1) The fact that you don't have to be in your car for an hour every time you have or want to go somewhere. And the fact that rush hour doesn't begin at 2:30 pm. Sometimes this isn't too bad but I've mostly just been around surrounding areas of Santa Monica- anywhere else and you're in your car, freeway or side road, for an easy hour one way and the city isn't that big! It could be a 20 minute trip that takes an hour! Buffalo suburbs might not all be literally 15 minutes apart but it's a dream come true compared with here, and oh, couple it with the worst and most belligerant drivers you've ever come across. If you think drivers are bad in your area, take a trip out here.
2) Obviously family and friends and loved ones- it doesn't matter if you're in a huge urban city with lots to do (something Buffaloians often complain about- 'there's nothing to do, SSDD, etc")but if you don't really connect to the ppl around you, then no 'cool' activities are even fun- everything feels empty. and right now I'm still in that headspace which is a shame because I make friends easily but this place has been different. I'm not in school anymore and ppl are older and you have got to WATCH for ppl here, lots of sketchiness, lots of flakiness. I can be with ppl I really like and just walk by the Buffalo waterfront and have a great time. Also, if you are in the know (paying attention to friends, to the paper, to free papers, websites) you can find fantastically fun things to do in Buffalo!
3)Thursday In the Square- I know it starts May 31st and that's something I'll miss for sure and will have to catch when I'm home. It's not just about the bands, although we have been getting some good ppl the past few years, it's about the community vibe and the energy and the going out afterwards- not only is it a great time to go out (Thursday night) to bars you might not necessarily be a huge fan of because the Square spirit pervades, but it makes your weekend feel longer because of being out Thursday (I've had some late nights that made my Fridays tired but they were totally worth it.) I had some of the best nights of my life last summer during the Squares- again, it all has to do withwho you're out with. And who can forget the hootchies that show up to the Square? It's awesome free entertainment to see girls try and walk around in lame outfits and heels the size of the Rand building while hotstepping beer cans, paper cups and dirt.
4)The restaurants- sure we have great ones in LA but I still miss places like the Eagle House (love those Pink Prozacs), The Gatehouse Grill, Mothers, Sample, etc. There's just something about going out in Buffalo and how each of the restaurants has their own unique persona, it's not just about the food. Depending on what suburb you're in, the feeling is totally and radically different but yet always good and cool. And just while I'm on the topic and to explain why I included this photo- O'sfor sushi is the BEST and the place I drag my parents to every time I come back into town. I can eat POUNDS of sushi and I always get the O special in addition to all these other crazy rolls that means I have a lot left over for the next day. This is also in addition to eating edamame, miso soup, drinking wine, sharing their appetizer, and finishing it off with green tea ice cream. Yes, I embarass all of us but I just try to put that out of my head because it's fantastic!
5) When you go out in Buffalo, you usually run into someone you know or someone that knows them or even just someone you don't know that knows you and says that they saw you out to your other friends or to your family. Some Buffaloians find this annoying but I love it, I love being connected. Maybe that feeling is really coming out in my now because I feel so UNCONNECTED here. You can be all dressed up or casual, doesn't matter, and go to the hottest or most dive places and you won't see anyone you know unless you're purposely meeting them there. Or unless you're a celebrity and you don't know them but they know you. It's just somethingI love about B'lo, that feeling of connection and 6 degrees of separation.
6) The bars- similar to the restaurants, its less about who's getting in and who's not and more about the persona each one has. For example, my boyfriend hates Soho- refuses to go there. Now, I agree that it's cheesy and sometimes I can take it and sometimes not. But we agree that it DOES have a persona and clientete different from other places in B'lo. LA isnt quite like that- a lot of the places are just so SIMILAR to each other.
7) The airport- ok, I know I've complained about this in my youth when it was winter and I was heading back to NYC and they made me take off my Doc Martens a million times, but I'm over it. Anyone would get over it quickly after dealing with LAX. The NYC airports were big but a piece of cake. This one, not so much. I love the Buffalo airport b/c the signs make sense, the directions make sense, and there's justa sense of comfort about it. LAX is all over the place, you need to get there with LOTS of time (now yes, Buffalo sometimes has problems prioritizing those in line for whose flights are first but until you've dealt with the winding yellow brick road and HORRIBLE main room of LAX that looks like a bad prison train station, just learn to get verbally assertive and deal with it) and wear sunglasses because the lighting is ATROCIOUS.
8) The prices of things here are absolutely ridiculous- you'd be amazed. However, we DO have great dollar stores that have everything from fresh produce tocleaning supplies, so thats a plus. But everything is way too expensive on the by and by.
9) The waterfront- I know I live on the beach here and it's great to ride yoru bike near or get a great tan from but there's NOTHING like the Buffalo waterfront (even if its not used well at all) to go to and take a walk with your better half at sunset and stare out at what I call the Party Hut. You know that little building hut structure out in the middle of the water that is most likely a filling station of some sort? When I was little (and my boyfriend thought the same thing) I thought it was this place you attached your boat to andthere was a bar and pool table and waitresses and music- a magical, fun place out away from the Buffalo waterfront. Now I didn't LITERALLY think this was what it was but it's what I imagined and wanted it to be. I just think that the waterfront is really romantic down there by the rocks.
I could go on and on about what Imiss but I'll stop here because you get the idea. I couldn't be more excitedto go home at the end of June...LA is where i need to be for work right now but it's not home and I doubt it will EVER feel like that. No matter where I move to, Buffalo has something I love and sometimes it takes someone who hasmoved around as much as I have to bring to others' attention.