Investing in Niagara Falls is smart

In one of those exchanges that Facebook facilitates I said the other day that moving to Niagara Falls from Clarence was one of the smartest things Beth and I ever did.

A well-meaning curious person asked why.

The answer is real estate value. In Clarence, we lived on a country road with no sidewalks, polite neighbors and a house we never really liked.

It was nestled between farm fields where they spread chicken shit 2x per year, around the corner from a dairy farm that brought 100s of flies a couple times a year.

12 months of the year our neighbor's kids would drive fast and turn left in their yard, dirt bikes, 4-wheelers, snowmobiles even the occasional field car.

Another neighbor explained to me when Obama got elected “he wasn’t racist or nothin’ but we shouldn’t have someone like Iin the White House.”

He worked for the Park Department in town and bitched about the government while making $80,000 a year to union labor in the parks department.

“We pay all these tax dollars,” he said. “What does the town even do for us?”

I looked at him and said “my taxes are too high but if I had my way I’d replace the whole parks department with Mexicans who would work harder for $15 an hour. We wouldn't even have to give them health insurance or a pension.”

Our home there was worth a substantial sum. For just more than half we were able to buy a home in DeVeaux a few blocks from the gorge and DeVeaux Woods with the nicest neighbors we have ever had.

I walked in and was blown away. Leaded glass, hardwood floors and mouldings, built in 1930. It would sell for $500,000 or so in East Aurora, Williamsville or Lewiston without being in such a cool place. I believe the value is depressed because the Niagara Gazette sends police reports to Shredd and Ragan and allows them to trash the city for half an hour weekly, solidly branding it as a shithole.

Tell anyone in WNY you live in the Falls and they react like "wow, how did you fall so far you had to move there." Tell someone in California, Newfoundland or Ireland you are from the Falls and they think you live in Disney. Whenever we travel to cool places we scope out real estate and fantasize about living there.

We moved to Niagara Falls without knowing what we were doing. We now live in one of those vacation destinations. The argument over schools is moot because our kids are done. They went to Clarence. I think Falls schools are better than anyone gives credit for but my wife disagrees.

In Niagara Falls, we are just regular people. In Clarence, we were the poor people. I don't ever again want to hear someone's lament that they had to settle for a Vail ski trip rather than the Swiss Alps because their husband had an off year.

Those things said, there are things in Niagara Falls that are more expensive. For example, taxes on a $300,000 home in Clarence are equal to taxes on a $185,000 home in Niagara Falls. Water and sewer bills are double.

 Everywhere we need to drive in the Falls is 5 or 10 minutes or I ride my bike. In Clarence, it was 20 minutes and Transit Road traffic. Traffic on our road there was noisy and there were Harleys all summer long. Remember "loud pipes save lives."

Also, restaurants and pizza are better in Niagara Falls and Lewiston. We love being 10 minutes from Lewiston but only having to deal with it in festival season when we choose. Ditto being home in 10 minutes after an Artpark concert.

There is a lot wrong in Niagara Falls. The executive and legislative branches are a hot mess. Voter turnout and involvement is abysmal. The positives still outweigh the negatives.

Thanks for asking and Merry Christmas to you and anyone about whom you care.