[Dr Nevergold]

Its good news, and I've seen the changes since I've been here as stated in other threads. As of this fall I will have been in Buffalo a full 4 years, starting #5. I've gotten to know the city fairly well.

On the city budget, I tend to think a failure of a government budget tends to be the end result of private market failures, since government revenue comes from taxes on the private sector. The better credit rating is the end result - not the cause - of a city that has collected itself and dusted off the worst of the past. One thing I think is helping Buffalo are the public-private partnerships and tax incentives that are being thrown around. While I don't love the wrong kind of incentives, for example I think new ballparks only go so far and should have a larger private role, the incentives the state and local governments seem to be working with are helping smaller business and individuals who purchase housing and services/goods from those business ventures.

This government and private industry finally holding hands (to a degree) and getting along is going a long way toward Buffalo's recovery.