Living In Buffalo

Buffalo, New York: the city with something for everyone

New York's second-largest city, Buffalo is situated at the eastern end of Lake Erie. The city has a legacy of great architecture and plentiful green space; fine museums, art galleries, and cultural institutions; exciting night life, theater, music, and sports; and a surprisingly diverse array of restaurants to suit every taste and budget -- not to mention a low cost of living that is the envy of many larger cities.

Buffalo goes by many names, but each of them points in the same direction, marking this warm, diverse, lively city as an immensely livable-and loveable- hometown.

City With A Heart: Community

• Buffalo's official nickname is the "Queen City" of the Empire State. As the second-largest city in New York State, Buffalo is large enough to have plenty to offer to a diverse population, while small enough to feel comfortable and neighborly.
• Since 1996, Buffalo has been recognized by the National Civic League as an "All-America City," a designation that honors exemplary civic spirit in a select number of U.S. communities.
• As reported in Money magazine, an annual study conducted by the Morgan Quitno Press research company has named the Town of Amherst (home of UB's North Campus) the "safest city in America" three times in the past four years (in 1997, 1998, and 2000).
• The American Chamber of Commerce Research Association (ACCRA) has found that Buffalo housing costs are 15% lower than the U.S. average, making Buffalo living as affordable as it is appealing.

The 20-Minute City: Location and Accessibility

• Buffalo has been dubbed the "20-minute city" by the many inhabitants and visitors who appreciate its proximity to a wealth of cultural and natural resources.
• A recent federal study of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. recently determined that Buffalo boasts the shortest work commute time, averaging 19 minutes.
• The Buffalo/Niagara region lies directly in the middle of the Northeastern Trade Corridor running from Chicago to Boston, and is within comfortable driving distance of Toronto, Ontario.
• Situated on the banks of Lake Erie and within an hour's drive of Lake Ontario, Buffalo is a true "waterfront city."
  
• Buffalo is also a border city, located minutes from Niagara Falls, and within clear view of Ontario, Canada.
  
• Buffalo is located at the heart of the "Canadian-American corridor" spanning the region from Toronto to Syracuse. With over 9 million residents, this regional area is the third largest market in North America.
• Over 80% of all U.S.-Canada trade occurs via border crossings in the eastern U.S. With three bridges to Canada, the Buffalo area is one of the key eastern border-crossing locations-in 1993 and 1995, World Trade Magazine named Buffalo one of the Top Ten U.S. Cities for international trade.

"College Town": Educational Resources

• The flagship university in the SUNY-System and the largest public university in New York State, the University at Buffalo lies at the heart of a rich and diverse educational community.
• Buffalo is truly a "college-town" in feel and in function: Western New York's 30 higher-education institutions attract over 100,000 college students per year.
• Fortune magazine ranked this region in the top 20% of 60 areas in the nation for the quality of its public education. Erie County's public and private secondary schools consistently soar above state and national standardized test averages.

City of Light: Arts and Entertainment

As the first city in the nation to have electric street-lights, Buffalo has a longstanding reputation as the "City of Light." The nickname is just as appropriate in a figurative sense: Buffalo arts are consistently in the limelight, attracting national and international attention.

• Buffalo is home to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, housing one of the world's finest collections of modern painting and sculpture.
• Anderson Gallery has been hailed by Art News as "a shrine to a world-class collection of contemporary art."
• The nationally-renowned Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra performs in Kleinhans Music Hall. Designed by the famed Finnish father-and-son team, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Kleinhans itself is widely admired both for its acoustic qualities and for its architectural beauty.
• UB's own Slee Concert Hall is also a rich cultural resource for the Western New York community, giving over two hundred concerts per year.
• Hallwall's Contemporary Arts Center art space in downtown Buffalo showcases progressive visual art and other avant-garde cultural performance.
• The theater district in downtown Buffalo offers New York State's richest and most extensive network of theaters outside of New York City. There is something for every theater lover in Buffalo, from the lavish operas, musicals, and ballets at the ornate Shea's Performing Arts Center, to contemporary Broadway shows at Studio Arena Theater, to productions of Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde plays at the intimate Irish Classical Theater.
• Ontario's Stratford Festival-the largest theater company in North America and the second-largest Shakespeare festival in the world-is within a two-hour drive of the Buffalo-Niagara region.
• Shakespeare enthusiasts can also enjoy the Bard's work within Buffalo's city-limits at Shakespeare in Delaware Park, a free, open-air, seasonal production.
• Just over the Canadian border in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the Shaw Festival (the second-largest theater company in North America) offers world-class productions of plays by George Bernard Shaw and other modern dramatists.
• Nearby, New York's Chautauqua Institution-a famed gathering place for artists and scholars since it was founded in the 19th century-attracts 180,000 guests each season.
• Buffalo has been home to many literary figures, including Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald-and more recently, Lauren Belfer, author of the acclaimed historical novel City of Light, a portrait of Buffalo at the turn of the century.

The Rainbow City: Architecture and History

• From its magnificent Art-Deco City Hall building, built in 1931, to its hundreds of lovingly restored Victorian homes, Buffalo is home to a myriad of architectural treasures.
• The Cargill Grain Elevator, one of the most impressive sights on Buffalo's waterfront, is one of the most famous of what is often termed the nation's best collection of historic grain elevators.
• Five Frank Lloyd Wright houses are located within the city of Buffalo, as well as many gems designed by H.H. Richardson, D.H. Burnham, and Louis Sullivan-including his 1896 Guaranty Building, then and now one of the world's most stunning skyscrapers.
• The Allentown district in downtown Buffalo-one of three Buffalo areas listed on the National Register of Historic Places-is crammed with antique shops, boutiques, cafes, and Victorian homes.
• Immediately adjacent to Allentown is Delaware Avenue, familiarly known as "Millionaire's Row," where the headquarters of many of Buffalo's major businesses and civic institutions are centered today.

Buffalo's rich history extends back long before the turn of the century, however:

• Buffalo was a major stopping point on the Underground Railroad: the Niagara River was a primary route used by fugitive slaves en route to Canada, and many existing buildings in Buffalo have been identified as safe houses and stations that sheltered fleeing former slaves. (See the Underground Railroad Historic tour, from Michigan Baptist Church to the Whirlpool Bridge near Niagara Falls.)
• French-and-Indian War battle re-enactments are regularly staged at nearby Old Fort Niagara.

"City of Good Neighbors - and Good Times": Recreation and Social Life

• Buffalo is well-known for its NFL team (four-time AFC champions, the Buffalo Bills) and its NHL team (1999 Stanley Cup finalists, the Buffalo Sabres). Area sports-fans are also treated to a Triple-A baseball team (the Bisons, minor league affiliate of the New York Mets) and a National Lacrosse League team (the Bandits, 2008 NLL Champions).
• Delaware Park-designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, architect of New York City's Central Park-is the recreational heart of the city: a mecca for joggers, cross-country skiers, tennis players, softball teams, and dog-walkers alike.
• A short drive out of the city, Buffalonians can enjoying hiking and camping in a wide range of breathtaking natural areas, including Letchworth State Park, which boasts over 20 waterfalls, and Allegany State Park, the largest in New York State
• The Buffalo Niagara region also boasts prime hunting and fishing grounds.
• Kissing Bridge, Holiday Valley, and Peek'n Peak, and nearly 20 other ski-resorts in the region, offer world-class downhill skiing.
• Buffalo's culinary offerings go well beyond its world-famous Buffalo-wings (a Buffalo original served up at the Anchor Bar, where they debuted almost forty years ago-and at nearly every other bar and restaurant in town). At the annual "Taste of Buffalo" festival, held downtown every July, thousands of Buffalo residents and visitors crowd downtown streets to enjoy samples of some of the city's finest cuisine, from dozens of local restaurants.
• A street festival takes place nearly every weekend from May through September, including ethnic celebrations like the Hellenic Festival in June, the international Canadian/American Friendship Festival celebrated every July, and the Allentown Art Festival, where over 500 local artists display their work to crowds of several hundred thousand.
• Weekdays are just as lively in the summer as weekends are: thousands of Buffalonians of every age and walk of life throng to downtown's Lafayette Square on Thursday afternoons in the summer to enjoy free live musical entertainment at the "Thursdays-in-the-Square" series sponsored by the city.

"All-Weather City": Climate and Weather

• While most famous for its winters, Buffalo boasts four distinct seasons, each remarkable in its own right.
• Lake Erie is responsible for far more than producing lake-effect snow: it also is a major site of water-recreation in the spring and summer, and one of the area's chief natural beauties year-round.
• With a pleasant, temperate climate, and the "highest percentage of summer sunshine of any region in New York State," Buffalo's spring and summer months richly deserve the widespread notoriety its winters have attracted