Sherman Says: The Queen City could learn from the Motor City

There are a multitude of comparisons one can make between Buffalo (the “Queen City of the Great Lakes”) and Detroit (the “Motor City”) in this weakened economy with its depressing spin-offs. Both cities have relied on heavy industry and were magnets for skilled and unskilled laborers alike to find employment, settle down and create neighborhoods and friendships they probably thought would last forever. Fast forward to the present day. Detroit’s population dropped 25 percent in the past decade, according to “USA Today.” At slightly less than 714,000, it is at its lowest count since 1910.

The 2010 census figures revealed that the city lost, on average, one resident every 22 minutes between 2000 and 2010.

Buffalo lost approximately half of its population between 1950 and 2000, according to the New York state comptroller’s office. This population loss is the fourth highest among large cities nationwide. Buffalo has also had five consecutive decades of declining population levels.

That brings us to the now-infamous Clint Eastwood commercial that broadcasted during the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. The plug for Chrysler forged a solid connection between the determination of Detroit and the recovery of the American automotive industry. I admit seeing a thread of politics when I saw the ad, but if I lived in Detroit, I would have been proud of it.

“People are out of work and they’re hurting. And they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback. And we’re all scared, because this isn’t a game,” Eastwood said in the commercial. “The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together; now Motor City is fighting again.”

He added that, if we cannot find a way through tough times, we make one. It’s tough to argue with a guy so rugged and unflinchingly strong. He even stands in a grimy, darkened alley - not a lush golf course.

“This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again and when we do, the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah! It’s halftime, America. And our second half is about to begin,” he concluded.

Buffalo needs a Clint Eastwood. Our voices were raised the same Super Bowl weekend, not in pride, but in indignation. Why? Because New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady voiced negative comments about hotel accommodations here. Brady’s assessment wasn’t worthy of a response, yet plenty of people rose up out of their chairs and said they were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

Detroit’s “Dirty Harry” would have turned the other cheek and gone back to work. Aren’t we all a little tired of defending ourselves whenever a talk show or second-rate comedian serves up some smart remark about Buffalo?

Last month, Detroit firefighters were surrounded by an unruly mob as they tried to do their jobs on the city’s west side. Two people were saved from the flames, but a man and woman inside the home died. Detroit police told television station WJBK that it took officers 13 minutes to get to the scene. They said that, considering travel time and other emergencies that night, the response time was “acceptable.” The president of the firefighters’ union said his men and women are often “unprotected” on the streets.

Yet, people stay and make their way out of tough times in Detroit, just as Eastwood said. And they are doing the same thing in Buffalo. It’s time we devote less time to submitting suggestions to the Food Channel and concentrate on helping build a better community. It should not require a road trip to Detroit to discover how hard work pays off and that giving up is not an option. It’s not about just hotel rooms and chicken wings.

It’s halftime in Buffalo. What will you do to make our engines roar in the second half?

David F. Sherman is managing editor of Bee Group Newspapers and a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York. He can be reached at dsherman@beenews.com.