I have lived in Indiana, and hated it. The people I lived near, and worked with, were reactionary, and bigoted and paranoid, especially about non natives. Also, the education system in the county I lived in, was very bad. Out of date texts, few computers for kids, no kindergarten, school buildings were in need of a lot of maintainance. The things that were going on in the world, that people near me knew nothing about, was astounding. I had to get out of there-and I won't ever return!
I grew up in Western NY, and have returned there. Yes, the taxes are high, but our public education system is extremely good. Infrastructure is good, whereas in Indiana, roads were full of potholes, and if they were washed out, in the area I lived in, it took ages to get those roads repaired.
We know when a blizzard is coming, we know when its going to get humid, or we're going to have a thunderstorm with high winds. We don't get many tornadoes, and the ones we do get, are very weak, usually. Yes, we have some faults nearby, but the earthquakes we get, are only strong enough, to maybe shake the floor. Maybe. We don't get floods much, as most of our streams and creeks have been managed so they don't overflow their banks during a rainstorm. We don't get forest fires. Yes, we get that frigid snap in January, when everyone says, its ever been this cold-well, not since last year at this time, that is. And, we get maybe 90 of so inches of snow. So, learn to ski! Downhill, or cross country, either is done here. Or, just sit by the window, and watch the snow come down-its a lot prettier to watch than rain! And, we get humid summers that can get in the low 90's. So what. You just pick one of two Great Lakes, or Chautauqua Lake, and sit in a nice easy lake breeze, beverage of choice in your hand, and watch the world go by.
And, Buffalo has the original chicken wings. Always served with bleu cheese dressing, never ranch! And, we have beef on weck, fresh horse radish, home made pierogis, fantastic pasta, Burmese food, Thai food, Yemeni, Chinese, Japanese, Greek...and every where you go in the summer, there's a farm stand with at least 3 kinds of corn on the cob.
We have great wines, produced locally, and lots of craft breweries as well.
In the summer, there's a festival-a BIG one-every weekend. Summer weekends are for food, wine and beer and cider produced from local grapes, hops, and apples. For wandering around paintings and jewelry and hand crafted furniture. For watching chalk artists.
People are friendly here. If you look lost, someone will stop, ask you what you're looking for, and usually walk with you there. If you have car trouble, more than a few people will stop, and offer to change a tire, let you use their cell phone to call AAA (or, put your flat tire or empty gas tank on their AAA card), or ask if you'd like a ride to a gas station. When there's a BLM protest, with a curfew, its not unknown for everyone, police and protestors, to take a knee, as one, have a moment of silence, then stand, and say to each other, "Well, see you tomorrow." I did have a bit of an argument with a cop at a protest not too long ago-but over whether a cover should be put over Buffalo Bills stadium, to cut down on the wind off Lake Erie, that makes kicking a punt or field goal so damned hard.
Florida and the Carolinas are nice to visit, but, Western NY, with all its variety, is always going to be home.
