How to Improve Buffalo City - Speech or Presentation Example

SPEECH It is really good to see that we have gathered together today, for our Buffalo Buffalo has seen its good times in the past, but today, as we see, it appears that we are confronted with a number of perhaps intertwined and seemingly unsolvable problems, which have not only derailed our efforts to progress but have also impacted our morale negatively. I would like to bring your attention to a few things, and then leave the debate open for yourselves to think if we are being told the right or the wrong perspective, about our dear Buffalo city.

1 – We often listen about the population drain of our city. There are studies which mention that in only a few decades, the population of our city has declined by almost 50% (Rey, 2001). However, I would like to point out that if we compare the population of whites and blacks in our city, we come to know the astonishing fact that the population of blacks has in fact increased in the city, and it is only the white population that has decreased in number (Population of Buffalo, 2005). So, are we only reporting the figures of whites?

And if so, why only whites? Is there a hidden interest behind such reports? In my opinion and you can also see around the world that increasing populations are generally a problem. Im surprised to see that it is only in Buffalo city, that decreasing population has appeared as a problem. Less people, less traffic, less need for resources, less troubles and consequently more opportunities and prosperity. But why is it that our media portrays this trend to be negative for our city? Again, is there a hidden interest behind the scenes?

A general impression is created that the vast majority of people leaving Buffalo city are young people, and such change is happening due to the loss of jobs in the city. The Buffalo News in 2000 stated that the ranks of elderly were growing stating that 15.9% were older than age 65 in comparison to the national average of 12.4% (Heaney, 2000). However according to 2006 census, this average for Buffalo city is 13.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Now are we hiding something? And the next question is, hiding from whom?. Are we afraid to let common people know about the real picture?

Why half truth? The citizens of Buffalo need to know the complete truth. In my opinion, we are not in a position to trust the media blindly. We need to do our research prior to believing what media is feeding our brains. The conditions are not hopeless and there is much we can do to improve the condition of our city. We need to understand that cities develop as a result of collective efforts, and we need to take-off the blame from the oppressed and poor minorities of our city, and in turn our ruling corrupt elite will have to learn to take responsibility of what happens in our city.

I believe that the conditions of Buffalo city are far better than many other cities of the world, and if we are together and willing to bring back luck to our Buffalo city, we need to work together without being distracted by the untrue and unjust gestures of our media; and if we can do it, trust me; we can, not only build this Buffalo, but also another city greater than Buffalo city itself. References Rey, J. 2001. City falls below 300,000. The Buffalo News 16 March:A1. Population of Buffalo, New York: 1820–2000 for whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2005). Heaney, J. 2000. A graying WNY in public policy and private lives. The Buffalo News 27 February:A6. U.S. Census Bureau, 2006. Population characteristics of Erie County, NY. http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html? lang=en