Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York
City
Flag of Buffalo, New York Flag Official seal of Buffalo, New York Seal
Nickname(s):  City of Good Neighbors, The Queen City, Nickel City, Queen City of the Lakes, City of Light
Location of Buffalo in New York State
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Erie
Government
• Mayor	Byron Brown (D)
Area
• City	52.5 sq mi (136.0 km2)
• Land	40.6 sq mi (105.2 km2)
• Water	11.9 sq mi (30.8 km2)
Elevation	600 ft (183 m)
Population  (2005)
• City	279,745
• Density	7,206/sq mi (2,782.4/km2)
• Metro	1,254,066
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Area code	716
FIPS code	36-11000
GNIS feature ID	0973345
Website	Buffalo, NY

Buffalo (prounounced /ˈbʌfloʊ/ by many local residents, /ˈbʌfəloʊ/ by most others) is an American city in western New York. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 292,648. Buffalo is the state's second-largest city after New York City and is the county seat of Erie County.Template:GR It is the economic and cultural center of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area which has an overall population of 1.2 million people. Buffalo is the dominant city of Western New York which is part of the broader Buffalo Niagara Region. The Buffalo area is also adjacent to the Golden Horseshoe. This is an urban region in southern Ontario, Canada.

Buffalo lies at the eastern end of Lake Erie and at the southern head of the Niagara River. The Niagara River connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario via Niagara Falls.

History

Buffalo Panorama 1911

Passenger boats at Buffalo 1909

Pan-American Exposition - Ethnology Building at Night

Main article: History of Buffalo, New York

The City of Buffalo received its name from the creek that flows through it, and likely dates from the mid-18th century, when the area was first settled by Europeans. The area was originally settled by a Neutral Nation tribe, the Ongiara. Later, the Senecas of the Iroquois Confederacy won control over this land from the Neutrals. In 1804, Joseph Ellicott, a principal agent of the Holland Land Company, designed a radial street and grid system that branches out from downtown like bicycle spokes, and is one of only three radial street patterns in the US. During the War of 1812, on December 30, 1813, the village of Buffalo was burned by British forces. On November 4, 1825 the Erie Canal was completed with Buffalo being at the western end of the system. The population at the time was about 2,400. The Erie Canal brought a surge in population and commerce which lead Buffalo to incorporate as a city in 1832 with a population of about 10,000.

The City of Buffalo has been a long time home to the African-American community. An example is the 1828 village directory which listed 59 "Names of Coloured" heads of families. In 1845, construction was begun on the Macedonia Baptist Church (commonly called the Michigan Street Baptist Church). This African-American church was an important meeting place for the abolitionist movement. On February 12,1974 the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Abolitionist leaders like William Wells Brown also made their home in Buffalo. Buffalo was also a terminus point of the Underground Railroad. Many fugitives crossed the Niagara River from Buffalo to Fort Erie, Ontario and freedom.

During the 1840's, Buffalo continued its growth as a port city. Both passenger and commercial traffic expanded with some 93,000 passengers heading west from the port of Buffalo. Grain and commercial goods shipments led to repeated expansion of the harbor. The one of the first steam powered grain elevators was constructed which led to faster unloading of lake freighters.

Abraham Lincoln visited Buffalo on February 16,1861 on his way to accept the presidency of the United States. He stayed at the American Hotel on Main Street between Eagle Street and Court Street. The Civil War years saw a great increase in the population of Buffalo it increased from 81,029 to 94,210 in 1865. The Niagara Steam Forge Works manufactured turret parts for the iron clad ship the USS Monitor.

At the start of the 20th century, immigrants from Europe came in to work in the local mills which used hydroelectric power generated from the river. The city got the nickname City of Light at this time due to the widespread electric lighting used. In 1881, Buffalo had deployed the first electric street lights in the United States.

President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on Sept. 6, 1901. He died in the city eight days later and Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th President of the United States.

The link to Fort Erie, known as the Peace Bridge, was opened in 1927.

The city's economy declined in the later half of the 20th century, due to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1957, cutting the city off from the normal trade routes. The city, which boasted over half a million people at its peak in the 1950s, has seen its population decline by almost 50%, as industries shut down and people left the Rust Belt for the employment opportunities of the South and West. However, the suburbs adjacent to Buffalo have grown from 300,000 in the 1950s to over 600,000 in 2007.

The end of 2006 saw an upturn in the city's prospects. Economic development in the city was marked at $3.5 billion in 2006 compared to a $50 million average for the previous ten years. New proposals and renovations were numerous, especially in the downtown area. Buffalo ranked 83rd on the Forbes best cities for jobs list, an increase from the previous year, and beating out cities like New York City, Cleveland, and Detroit. Buffalo is also scheduled to get a new tallest building in 2010; the Buffalo City Tower will rise 600 feet (180 m).

Geography and climate

Buffalo in Bloom

Blizzard of 1977

File:BuffaloAvgTemps.png

Buffalo is located on the eastern end of Lake Erie, opposite Fort Erie, Ontario in Canada, and at the beginning of the Niagara River, which flows northward over Niagara Falls and into Lake Ontario. It is located at 42°54'17" North, 78°50'58" West (42.904657, -78.849405).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 136.0 km² (52.5 mi²). 105.2 km² (40.6 mi²) of it is land and 30.8 km² (11.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 22.66% water.

Buffalo has the sunniest and driest summers of any major city in the Northeast, but still has enough rain to keep vegetation green and lush. Summers are marked by plentiful sunshine and moderate humidity and temperature. Obscured by the notoriety of Buffalo's snowstorms is the fact that Buffalo benefits from other lake effects such as the cooling southwest breezes off Lake Erie in summer that gently temper the warmest days. Rainfall is moderate but typically occurs at night. The stabilizing effect of Lake Erie continues to inhibit thunderstorms and enhance sunshine in the immediate Buffalo area through most of July. August usually has more showers and is humid as the warmer lake loses its temperature-stabilizing influence.

Buffalo has a reputation for snowy winters. The region experiences a fairly humid, continental-type climate, but with a definite maritime flavor due to strong modification from the Great Lakes. The transitional seasons are very brief in Buffalo and Western New York.

Winters in Western New York are generally cold and snowy, but are changeable and include frequent thaws and rain as well. Winters can also be quite long in Western New York, usually spanning from mid-November to early April. Snow covers the ground more often than not from late December into early March, but periods of bare ground are not uncommon. Over half of the annual snowfall comes from the lake effect process and is very localized. Lake effect snow occurs when cold air crosses the relatively warm lake waters and becomes saturated, creating clouds and precipitation downwind. Due to the prevailing winds, areas south of Buffalo receive much more lake effect snow than locations to the north. The lake snow machine starts as early as mid-October, peaks in December, then virtually shuts down after Lake Erie freezes in mid to late January. The most well-known snow storm in Buffalo's history, the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, resulted from a combination of lake effect snow and high winds. Snow does not typically impair the city's operation, but can cause significant damage as with the October 2006 storm.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1830	8,668		—
1840	18,213		110.1%
1850	42,261		132.0%
1860	81,129		92.0%
1870	117,714		45.1%
1880	155,134		31.8%
1890	255,664		64.8%
1900	352,387		37.8%
1910	423,715		20.2%
1920	506,775		19.6%
1930	573,076		13.1%
1940	575,901		0.5%
1950	580,132		0.7%
1960	532,759		−8.2%
1970	462,768		−13.1%
1980	357,870		−22.7%
1990	328,123		−8.3%
2000	292,648		−10.8%
2005 (est.)	279,745
Historical Population Figures

City proper

Like most formerly industrial cities of the Great Lakes region--the so-called "rust belt"--Buffalo has suffered through several decades of population decline brought about by the loss of its industrial base. The city's population peaked in 1950, when it was the 15th largest city in the United States. Its population has declined in every year since, particularly during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the city lost nearly one-third of its population in only five years.

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, the city had a total population of 292,648 (2006 estimate: 276,059).

At that time of the 2000 census there were 292,648 people, 122,720 households, and 67,005 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,782.4/km² (7,205.8/mi²). There are 145,574 housing units at an average density of 1,384.1/km² (3,584.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 54.43% White, 37.23% African American, 0.77% Native American, 1.40% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.68% from other races, and 2.45% from two or more races. 7.54% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 122,720 households out of which 28.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.6% are married couples living together, 22.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 45.4% are non-families. 37.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.29 and the average family size is 3.07.

In the city the population included 26.3% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $24,536, and the median income for a family is $30,614. Males have a median income of $30,938 versus $23,982 for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,991. 26.6% of the population and 23.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 38.4% of those under the age of 18 and 14.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Buffalo has very sizable populations of Irish, Italian, Polish, German and African descent. Major ethnic neighborhoods still exist but they changed significantly in the second half of the twentieth century. Traditionally, Polish-Americans were the predominant occupants of the East Side, while Italian-Americans composed a close-knit neighborhood in the west side. The East Side is now a predominantly African American neighborhood, while the West Side has become a melting pot of many ethnicities, with Latino culture being the strongest influence. Throughout the history of Buffalo, the neighborhoods collectively called the First Ward, as well as much of South Buffalo, have been comprised almost entirely of people of Irish descent.

Metropolitan area

As of 2006, Erie and Niagara Counties had a combined estimated population of 1,154,378. The racial makeup of the area is 82.2% White, 13% African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.32% Asian, 3.3% Hispanic, and 1.4% of all other races. In the metropolitan area, 39.68% of people are under the age of 18 or over the age of 64, and the median age is 38. Of the total population, 82.88% have a high school diploma and 23.2% have obtained a Bachelor's degree. The median income for a household is $38,400 and the per capita income for the area is just under $29,000. Approximately 12% of the population is below the poverty line.

Education

Lafayette High School

City Honors School

Like the rest of New York, Buffalo is subject to the state’s benchmark evaluation system. The Buffalo Public Schools curriculum is aligned to state standards set by the Education Department. At the high school level, students are required to pass Regents Examinations for each course upon its completion. Currently, there are 78 public schools in the city including a growing number of charter schools. As of 2006, the total enrollment was 41,089 students with a student-teacher ratio of 13.5 to 1. The dropout rate is just 5.3%, and 83% of students who graduate go on to college. More than 27% of teachers have a Master's degree or higher and the median amount of experience in the field is 15 years. When considering the entire metropolitan area, there are a total of 292 schools educating 172,854 students. Buffalo is noted for its model magnet school system attracting students with special interests, which include science, bilingual studies, and Native American studies. Specialized facilities include the Buffalo Elementary School of Technology; the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Multicultural Institute; the International School; the Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet School; Build Academy; Leonardo da Vinci High School; the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts BAVPA; the Riverside Institute of Technology; Lafayette High School/Buffalo Academy of Finance; Hutchinson Central Technical High School; and the Emerson School of Hospitality. The City Honors School was recently ranked #8 in the nation by Newsweek magazine. Buffalo is currently in the process of a $1 billion city school rebuilding plan.

The city is home to 47 private schools while the metropolitan region has 150 institutions. Most private schools have a Roman Catholic affiliation including St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Nardin Academy and Canisius High School. However, there are schools affiliated with other religions such as Islam and Judaism. There are also many nonsectarian options including The Park School of Buffalo, The Buffalo Seminary, and The Nichols School.

Complementing its standard function, the Buffalo Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education Division provides education and services to adults throughout the community. In addition, the Career and Technical Education Department offers more than 20 academic programs, and is attended by about 6,000 students each year.

Buffalo is home to two State University of New York (SUNY) institutions. Buffalo State College, a comprehensive college, and the University at Buffalo, the flagship university center of SUNY, each are the largest institution of its type in the system. Combined, they account for roughly 40,000 students in the area.

Other academic institutions in Buffalo or its suburbs include: Bryant & Stratton College, Canisius College, D'Youville College, Daemen College, Empire State College, Erie Community College, Hilbert College, Houghton College, Medaille College, Trocaire College, Villa Maria College, Niagara County Community College (Niagara Falls, NY and Sanborn, NY).

Economy

Buffalo and the surrounding area were long involved in railroad commerce, steel manufacture,automobile production, Great Lakes shipping and grain storage. Most of these industries have left the city through the years. Major steel production no longer exists in the area, although several smaller steel mills remain in operation. For example, Gibraltar Industries, a leading manufacturer, processor, and distributor of steel products for the building, industrial, and vehicular markets is headquartered in Buffalo.

In addition, Ford maintains operation of its Buffalo Stamping Plant south of the city, and Chevrolet has two plants, a production plant in Tonawanda near the city line, and a tool and die plant in the city. The windshield wiper was invented in Buffalo, and the Trico company still operates some facilities there. For many years, Buffalo was the nation's second largest rail center, with Chicago being the first.

The traditional reputation of Buffalo as "blue collar" industrial town really no longer applies however, as much of this industry has left the area. The regional economy can now best be described as a mix of industrial, light manufacturing, high technology and service-oriented private sector companies. Instead of relying on a single industry or sector for its economic future, the region has taken a diversified approach that has created opportunities for growth and expansion in the 21st century.

Overall, employment in Buffalo has shifted as its population has declined and manufacturing has left. Buffalo's 2005 unemployment rate of 6.6% was 32% higher than New York State's 5.0% rate. And from the fourth quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2006, Erie County had no net job growth, ranking it 271st among the 326 largest counties in the country. Yet the area has recently seen an upswing in job growth as unemployment has dropped to only 4.9% in July 2007 from 5.2% in 2006 and 6.6% in 2005. The area's manufacturing jobs have continued to show the largest losses in jobs with over 17,000 fewer than at the start of 2006. Yet other sectors of the economy have outdistanced manufacturing and are seeing large increases. Educational and health services added over 30,400 jobs in 2006 and over 20,500 jobs have been added in the professional and business [mostly finance] arena.

Buffalo has also increasingly become a center for bioinformatics and human genome research, including work by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. This consortium is known as the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. It also includes: Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, Buffalo Medical Group Foundation, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Kaleida Health, Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired and Upstate New York Transplant Services.

Buffalo is the headquarters of M&T Bank, a Fortune 500 company with assets over $60B as of 2007. HSBC Bank USA also has major operations in Buffalo (The sports arena, which hosts the Buffalo Sabres NHL franchise, is named HSBC Arena). Other banks, such as Bank of America and KeyBank, have corporate operations in Buffalo, and Citigroup has recently announced it will soon follow in Amherst, New York Buffalo's largest suburb. Geico also has a regional office in the inner-ring suburb of Amherst.

Another successful industry in Buffalo is debt collection. There are 6 major firms located in Buffalo and the surrounding area.New Era Cap Company, the largest sports-licensed headwear company in the United States, is based in Buffalo. They opened new headquarters in 2007 in the former Federal Reserve Building in downtown Buffalo.

When it comes to food and beverage industry, Buffalo is home to both Rich Products, one of the world's largest family-owned food manufacturers, and the American headquarters of InBev, the world's largest producer of beer. Labatt moved its US headquarters to Buffalo in May 2007. This is in large part due to Buffalo's location directly in the middle of the Northeastern Trade Corridor. The city is the heart of the Canadian-American corridor. Over 80% of all U.S.-Canada trade occurs via border crossings in the eastern United States and with 5 bridges to Canada, the Buffalo area is one of the key eastern border crossing locations.

Government

Buffalo City Hall an Art Deco masterpiece

Main article: Politics and Government of Buffalo, New York

Main article: List of mayors of Buffalo, New York

At the municipal level, the City of Buffalo has a council made up of the mayor and nine councilmen. Buffalo also serves as the seat of Erie County with 27 county representatives.

At the state level, there are three state assemblymen and two state senators in the Buffalo area. At the federal level, Buffalo is represented by three members of the House of Representatives.

In a trend common to Northern "Rust Belt" regions, Buffalo politics have been dominated by The Democratic Party for the last half-century, though its longest serving mayor of the past half-century, James Griffin, switched political affiliations several times and most frequently attained electoral victory from socially conservative platforms. In 2005, Kevin Helfer, the city's first major conservative mayoral candidate in over 40 years, defeated Byron Brown by a 2-1 margin in the Conservative Party primary. Despite this, voters ultimately chose Brown, making him the city's first African-American mayor. Union support bolstered Brown's campaign, ultimately providing a substantial fundraising and volunteer effort.

Cityscape

Buffalo, New York from I-190 North entering downtown.

Buffalo, New York's skyline

Neighborhoods

Buffalo consists of 32 different neighborhoods: Allentown, Bailey-Lovejoy, Black Rock, Central Park, Cold Springs, Delaware District, Downtown, East Side, Elmwood Village, Fillmore-Leroy, First Ward, Fruit Belt, Hamlin Park, Hospital Hill, Humboldt Park, Kaisertown, Kensington, Kensington Heights, Lower West Side, Masten Park, North Buffalo, North Park, Parkside, Polonia, Riverside, Schiller Park, South Buffalo, University District, University Heights, Vernon Triangle, Upper West Side, and Willert Park.

According to the American Planning Association the Elmwood Village neighborhood in Buffalo is ranked the third best neighborhood in America The Elmwood Village is a mixed use neighborhood with hundreds of small, home grown stores and restaurants.

Parks

Main article: Buffalo, New York parks system

Olmsted Park System - 1914

One of Buffalo's many monikers is the City of Trees, which describes the abundance of green in the city. In fact, Buffalo has more than 20 parks with multiple ones being accessible from any part of the city.

The Olmsted Park and Parkway System is the hallmark of Buffalo’s many green spaces. Three-fourths of city park land is part of the system, which comprises 6 major parks, 8 connecting parkways, 9 circles and 7 smaller spaces. Begun in 1868 by Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner Calvert Vaux, the system was integrated into the city and marks the first attempt in America to lay out a coordinated system of public parks and parkways. The Olmsted designed portions of the Buffalo park system are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and are maintained by the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

Waterfront

Aerial view of the waterfront at Buffalo, New York. The city is to the north.

Situated at the confluence of Lake Erie and the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers, Buffalo is a waterfront city. The city’s rise to economic power came through its waterways in the form of transshipment, manufacturing, and an endless source of energy. Buffalo’s waterfront is still a hub of commerce, trade, and industry that is essential to its economic prosperity.

Buffalo's waterfront is being transformed from its industrial past into a focal point for social and recreational activity. A literal focal point, viewed from above, is a marina taking the shape of a buffalo (located near the junction of the Buffalo Skyway NY 5 and the New York State Thruway I-190.

Standard of Living

The loss of traditional jobs in manufacturing, rapid suburbanization and high costs of labor have led to economic decline, making Buffalo one of the poorest amongst U. S. cities with populations of more than 250,000 people. An estimated 30% of Buffalo residents live below the poverty line, second only to Detroit. Buffalo's median household income of $27,850 is third-lowest among large cities, behind only Miami and Cleveland; however the median household income for the metropolitan area is $57,000.

The Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area has the most affordable housing market in the U. S. today. The quarterly NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) noted that nearly 90% of the new and existing homes sold in the metropolitan area during the second quarter were affordable to families making the area's median income of $57,000. The area median price of homes was $75,000. This high affordability within the housing market combined with the metropolitan area's short commute time and cultural offerings such as the Albright Knox Art Gallery or professional sports teams such as the Sabres or Bills offer area residents a good quality of life.

Buffalo faces issues with vacant and abandoned houses, as the city ranks second only to St. Louis on the list of American cities with the most vacant properties per capita. Since 2000, the city has torn down 2,000 vacant homes but as many as 10,000 still remain. Mayor Byron W. Brown recently unveiled a $100 million, five-year plan to rip down 5,000 more houses. However an overwhelming majority of these houses are in Buffalo's east side, a predominately African American community. The city's move away from hard industry and toward a service and bioinformatics industry has led to an improving environment which has allowed area residents to further enjoy the area's natural offerings that include two Great Lakes, the Niagara River, and Alleghany Mountains. In July 2005, Reader's Digest ranked Buffalo as the third cleanest large city in the nation.

Culture

Nicknames

The most common of its monikers The Queen City first appeared in print in the 1840s, referring to the city being the second largest city in New York State behind New York City. The Queen City has also been used to describe Buffalo as the second largest American city on the Great Lakes after Chicago. Buffalo has also been called The Nickel City due to the appearance of a bison on the back of Indian Head nickel in the early part of the 20th century. The City of Good Neighbors refers to the helpful, friendly spirit of its inhabitants. Buffalo is also known, especially among its residents, as The City of No Illusions. The city was also called the City of Light because of the widespread use of electric streetlights in the 1880's.

People

Buffalo was first settled by New Englanders and a small but influential number of African Americans. The first wave of European immigrants was a large influx of Germans. The city was further populated by Irish immigrants escaping famine, and infused by Polish, Italian and Sicilian, Jewish, and more recently Latino populations, all of which have made it a melting pot of ethnic cultures. The newest immigrants are from Somalia, Asia, and the Arab world.

The old First Ward in South Buffalo retains a strong Irish identity, and Kaisertown reflects a German heritage. The city's East Side was once home of Buffalo's Polonia centered around the Broadway Market, a microcosm of Polish traditions and food delicacies. The East Side is now home to African Americans who came north during the Great Migration. The Juneteenth Festival of Buffalo, NY is an important component for Black-Americans of summertime events in the Buffalo-Niagara region.

The West Side is home to the city's Hispanic community, predominantly of Puerto Rican descent. The West Side was once home to Buffalo's "Little Italy," but in the 1980s much of Buffalo's Italian American heritage shifted to North Buffalo. There is also a small Italian-American enclave in the East Side neighborhood of Lovejoy. The Sicilian custom of preparing St. Joseph's Day (March 19) tables, at which various meatless Lenten courses are laid out for the poor, continues in many Buffalo households as well as in some churches and restaurants.

Buffalo is also home to a sizable Jewish community. German Jews immigrants originally settled on Buffalo's West Side in the mid-1800s. Less well-off Russian Jews and Polish Jews immigrating to the Niagara Frontier in the early 1900s initially settled on the lower East Side, near William Street and Jefferson Avenue. The community migrated to the Masten Park neighborhood on the East Side, and then to North Buffalo between the 1940s and the 1960s. Although many still live in the city, particularly in North Buffalo and the Delaware District on the city's West Side, the majority of Buffalo's approximately 13,000 (was at its height about 26,000) Jews now live in the northeastern suburbs of Amherst and Williamsville. Buffalo's Jewish Community centers are located in the Delaware District and Amherst.

Distancing itself from its industrial past, Buffalo is redefining itself as a cultural, banking, educational, and medical center and the city was named by Reader's Digest as the third cleanest city (environmentally) in the United States in 2005. In 2001 USA Today named Buffalo the winner of its "City with a Heart" contest, proclaiming it the nation's "friendliest city." Also, in 1996 and 2002, Buffalo won the All-America City Award.

Food

Country-fried steak, baked beans and mashed potatoes with white gravy

Bowl of "Wings"

Beef on Weck sandwich

As a melting pot of cultures, cuisine in the Buffalo area reflects a variety of cultures. These include Italian, Jewish, German, Polish, African American, Greek and American influences. Beef on Weck, Wardynski's kielbasa, Sahlen's hot dogs, sponge candy, pierogi, and haddock fish fries are among the local favorites. As is a loganberry-flavored beverage that remains relatively obscure outside of the Western New York and Southern Ontario area. Teressa Bellissimo, the chef/owner of the city's Anchor Bar, first prepared the now-widespread Chicken Wings here on October 3, 1964. Local or regional chains with a significant presence in the Buffalo area include Ted's Hot Dogs, Andersen's Frozen Custard, Duff's Wings, John & Mary's, Jim's SteakOut, Just Pizza, SPoT Coffee, Tim Horton's, Mighty Taco, GiGi's and Bocce's Pizza. Buffalo's pizza is also of unique, perhaps because Buffalo is geographically located halfway between New York City and Chicago, Illinois, the pizza made is likewise about halfway between thin-crust New York-style pizza and deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. The city is also home to the Pearl Street Brewery and Flying Bison Brewing Company, who continue Buffalo's brewing traditions. Labatt USA, the US operation for Labatt Beer, a Toronto-based brewer, is also headquartered in Buffalo. Twice a summer thousands of Western New Yorkers descend into the city for two food festivals, the Taste of Buffalo and the National Buffalo Wing Festival.

Buffalo also has several specialty import/grocery stores in old ethnic neighborhoods, and is home to an eclectic collection of cafes and restaurants that serve adventurous, cosmopolitan fare. Locally-owned restaurants offer Soul Food, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Arab, Indian, Caribbean, and French.

Several well-known food companies are based in Buffalo. Non-dairy whipped topping, later imitated by Cool Whip, was invented in Buffalo in 1945 by Robert E. Rich, Sr. His company, Rich Products, is one of the city's largest private employers. General Mills was organized in Buffalo, and Gold Medal brand flour, Wheaties, Cheerios and other General Mills brand cereals are manufactured here. One of the country's largest cheese manufacturers, Sorrento, has been here since 1947. Archer Daniels Midland also operates its largest flour mill in the city.

Buffalo is also home to one of the largest privately held food companies in the world, Delaware North Companies, which operates concessions in sports arenas, stadiums, resorts, and many state & federal parks.

Art

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Buffalo is home to over 50 private and public art galleries, most notably the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, home to a world-class collection of modern art. The local art scene is also enhanced by the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, CEPA, and many small galleries and studios. AmericanStyle ranked Buffalo fourth in its list of America's top art destinations.

Two street festivals - the Allentown Art Festival and the Elmwood Festival of the Arts - bring thousands of people to the city to browse and purchase original crafts. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, which performs at Kleinhans Music Hall, is one of the city's most prominent performing arts institutions. Shea's Performing Arts Center, long known as Shea's Buffalo, is an old-style large theatre that continues to show productions and concerts. :See Also: City of Buffalo Public Art Collection

Architecture

Darwin D. Martin House Buffalo, New York

Kleinhans Music Hall

Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society

Asbury Delaware Church

Many architectural treasures exist in Buffalo, including:

The country's largest intact parks system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, including Delaware Park. Buffalo was the first city for which Olmsted designed (in 1869) an interconnected park and parkway system rather than stand-alone parks.

The Guaranty Building, by Louis Sullivan, was one of the first steel-supported, curtain-walled buildings in the world, and its thirteen stories made it, at the time it was built, the tallest building in Buffalo and one of the world's first true skyscrapers.

The Hotel Buffalo was the first hotel in the world to feature a private bath in each room.

The H. H. Richardson Complex, originally the State Asylum for the Insane, is Richardsonian Romanesque in style and was the largest commission designed by prominent architect Henry Hobson Richardson. The grounds of this hospital were also designed by Olmsted. Though currently in a state of disrepair, New York State has allocated funds to restore this treasure.

There are several buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright, including the Darwin Martin House, George Barton House, William Heath House, The Graycliff Estate, as well as the now demolished Larkin Administration Building. Currently under construction is the never built boathouse designed by Wright, on Buffalo's Black Rock Canal. Buffalo has more Frank Lloyd Wright buildings than any other city except Chicago.

Other notable buildings:

• Buffalo Central Terminal, the massive Art Deco railroad station designed by Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner. See: Buffalo Central Terminal
• Lafayette High School, a stone, brick and terra-cotta structure in the French Renaissance Revival style by architects August Eisenwein and James A. Johnson, is the oldest public school in Buffalo that remains in its original building, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
• St. Adalbert's Basilica, is a large, basilica-like structure on the city's east side. Built by Huber and Company in 1890-1891, it was built by Polish immigrants. The building itself is brick, its dimensions are 240 feet (73 m) high, 118 feet (36 m) wide, nave 70 feet (21 m) high, the two towers are 150 feet (46 m) high with a dome 40 feet (12 m) wide and soaring 125 feet (38 m) above the main nave. At that time it was the largest church in Western New York and cost $63,000 without the furnishings.
• Albright-Knox Art Gallery, a world-renowned repository of art, was designed by Gordon Bunshaft, a native Buffalonian and graduate of the above-noted Lafayette High School.
• Richard Upjohn designed St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
• Eliel Saarinen and Eero Saarinen designed Kleinhans Music Hall
• Max Abramovitz designed Temple Beth Zion
• Alexander Phimister Proctor designed the Lions for the McKinley Monument
• Grain elevators were invented here in 1842. Buffalo's collection is the largest in the world.

Nightlife

Last call is at 4 a.m. in Buffalo, rather than 2 a.m. as in most other areas of the U.S. This is often attributed to the historically high density of industrial facilities and the demand of second and third shift patrons. It is also because New York law allows bars to be open until 4 a.m. (However, local municipalities can override it to an earlier time.) This law was actually designed to accommodate the thriving late nightlife of New York City, but the state's "Second City" has adopted it as well.

Several distinct and thriving nightlife districts have grown around clusters of bars and nightclubs in the city. The most visible nightlife district is West Chippewa Street, located between Main Street and South Elmwood Avenue. The area is home to high-energy dance clubs, crowded bars, trendy coffeehouses, and restaurants. Allentown, where bars are as numerous but the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed, is a 20-minute walk north to Allen Street. Allen Street near Main Street houses several gay bars, while Allen near Elmwood has many bars that feature live music. Continuing up Elmwood Avenue from Allentown is the Elmwood Strip, which runs several miles to Buffalo State College. This strip has numerous small boutiques and restaurants, with few large corporate establishments. Crowds on this strip include everyone from college students to families to the elderly.

Other points of interest

Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park

• Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens
• Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
• Buffalo Museum of Science
• Buffalo Zoo - Third oldest zoo in the United States, established in 1875.
• Forest Lawn Cemetery
• Mark Twain Room - Houses original manuscript of Huckleberry Finn
• USS Little Rock (CG-4) in Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park
• The Anchor Bar, the birthplace of the Buffalo Wing.

Transportation

Airport

Buffalo is served by the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, located in Cheektowaga. The airport, recently re-constructed, serves over 5 million passengers a year and is still growing. Buffalo Niagara International Airport ranks among the five cheapest airports from which to fly in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The average round trip flight cost $295.58. As of 2006, plans are in the works by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer to make the under-used Niagara Falls International Airport into an international cargo hub for New York and Toronto, as well as Canada as a whole.

Public Transit

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) operates not only Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Niagara Falls International Airport, but also public transit throughout the Buffalo area. The NFTA runs a number of buses throughout the city and suburbs, as well as a 6 mile (9 km) Metro Rail light rail rapid transit system in the city.

The Metro Rail operates above ground in the section closest to downtown, the Main Street pedestrian mall referred to as Buffalo Place, then descends under Main Street as it heads toward University at Buffalo's south campus.

Intercity rail

Two train stations, Buffalo-Depew and Buffalo-Exchange Street serve the city and are operated by Amtrak. VIA Rail also serves these stations for travel into Canada.

Freight service for Buffalo is served by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern (NS), as well as Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) railroads from across the Border. The area has 4 large rail yards: Frontier (CSX), Bison (NS), SK (NS / CP) and Buffalo Creek (NS / CSX). A large amount of hazardous cargo also crosses through the Buffalo area, such as liquid propane and anhydrous ammonia.

Waterways

Buffalo/The Tonawandas is the western terminus of the historic Erie Canal, which ends in the Black Rock Channel, entering Lake Erie. Once a major route for passengers and cargo, the Canal is now used primarily for pleasure craft and some light local freight.

The city has an extensive breakwall system protecting its inner and outer harbors, which are maintained at commercial navigation depths for Great Lakes freighters.

Highways

Four Interstate highways run through the Buffalo-Niagara Metropolitan Area: Interstate 90, Interstate 190, Interstate 290, and Interstate 990. I-90 runs from Seattle to Boston and connects Buffalo's southern suburbs with the city and the eastern and northern suburbs. I-190 runs from I-90 through downtown and up to Niagara Falls and onto the Canadian border at two spots. I-290 makes a 10-mile (16 km) connection between I-190 and I-90, serving the area's northern suburbs. I-990 starts at I-290 and runs over 6 miles up to the Millersport Highway, just south of Lockport. I-990 was intended to run to Lockport but was never completed.

The Buffalo Area is also connected to the Golden Horseshoe part of Southern Ontario. Buffalo is as little as an hour away from Toronto, Ontario. Buffalo connects to the QEW via the Peace Bridge on I-190. Niagara Falls, NY connects to Highway 420 via the Rainbow Bridge (city traffic) and the Highway 405 (I-190) connects to Lewiston, New York via the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge.

U.S. Route 219 and New York State Route 400 are major expressways that run south of the city to the edge of the metropolitan area in Springville and East Aurora, respectively.

Federal Offices

US Army Corps of Engineers

The offices of the Buffalo District, US Army Corps of Engineers are located adjacent to the Black Rock Lock in the Black Rock channel of the Erie Canal. In addition to maintaining and operating the lock, the District is responsible for planning, design, construction and maintenace of water resources projects in an area extending from Toledo, Ohio to Massena, New York. These include the flood-control dam at Mount Morris, New York, oversight of the lower Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario), review and permitting of wetlands construction, and remedial action for hazardous waste sites.

Sports teams

Current teams

Dunn Tire Park, home to the Buffalo Bisons.

Sport	League	Club	Founded	Venue
Baseball	IL	Buffalo Bisons	1887	Dunn Tire Park
Basketball	ABA	Buffalo Silverbacks	2005	Buffalo State College
Football	NFL	Buffalo Bills	1960	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Hockey	NHL	Buffalo Sabres	1970	HSBC Arena
Lacrosse	NLL	Buffalo Bandits	1992	HSBC Arena
Soccer	NPSL	Queen City FC	2007	All-High Stadium

Former teams

• The Buffalo Bisons of the National League from 1879-1885.
• The Buffalo Blues of the defunct Federal League of baseball from 1914-1915.
• The Buffalo Bisons of the defunct All-America Football Conference in 1946.
• The Buffalo Bills of the defunct All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949.
• The Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League from 1940–1970.
• The Buffalo Braves of the National Basketball Association from 1970–1978.
• The Buffalo Norsemen of the North American Hockey League from 1975-1976
• The Buffalo Stallions of the defunct Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979–1984.
• The Buffalo Stampede of the defunct Roller Hockey International from 1994–1995.
• The Buffalo Wings of the defunct Roller Hockey International and Major League Roller Hockey from 1997–1999.
• The Buffalo Blizzard of the defunct National Professional Soccer League II from 1992–2001.
• The Buffalo Destroyers of the Arena Football League from 1999–2003.

Media

Television

See also: Category:Television stations in Buffalo

Newspapers

See also: Category:Newspapers published in New York

• The Buffalo News - (The region's main paper)
• Artvoice (Weekly Alternative newspaper)
• South Buffalo Online - http://www.SouthBuffaloOnline.com
• Buffalo Courier-Express - (ceased publication in 1982)
• The Beast - (left-libertarian biweekly)

Radio

See also: Category:Radio stations in Buffalo, New York

Film industry

Though Buffalo is not a major center of film production, the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission exists to promote and assist with filmmaking in the area. In addition, the non-profit Buffalo International Film Festival helps to highlight the work of Buffalonians associated with the film industry. Squeaky Wheel, a non-profit media arts center, provides access for local media artists to video and film equipment, as well as screenings of independent and avant-garde films.

Films set in the Buffalo area

There have also been a number films that were set or filmed in the Buffalo area.

• Best Friends was filmed in Buffalo in 1982.
• Buffalo '66 was set and filmed in Buffalo.
• Bruce Almighty was set in Buffalo.
• Evan Almighty was set in Buffalo in the beginning of the movie.
• Hide in Plain Sight was set and filmed in Buffalo.
• Manna from Heaven was set and filmed in Buffalo.
• The Natural, while not set in Buffalo, was mostly filmed in Buffalo.
• Shadow Creature was filmed in Buffalo.
• The Savages (film), starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, was filmed throughout Buffalo in the spring of 2006. Set to be released at theaters in 2007.
• Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, A low budget Troma film shot in Buffalo at an old McDonalds location on Bailey Ave.
• The Buddy Holly Story depicts the name "The Crickets" being bestowed upon Buddy's group by Buffalo disk jockey 'Madman' Mancuso, who (after having locked himself in the studio while he plays "That'll Be the Day" over and over), tracks down Buddy for a phone interview. Upon learning from Buddy that one of the songs the as-yet-unnamed group had recorded in Buddy's garage "has a cricket on it," the DJ anoints them "Buddy Holly and the Crickets."
• Stiletto Dance starring Eric Roberts as a Buffalo cop trying to foil a Russian mafia-nuclear weapon deal was set and filmed in Buffalo in 2001.
• Planes, Trains & Automobiles starring Steve Martin and John Candy. The "Automobile" scenes were filmed along U.S. Route 219, south of Buffalo.
• Canadian Bacon although largely set in nearby Niagara Falls, had significant scenes in Buffalo.
• You Kill Me is half set in Buffalo, although it was mostly filmed in Winnipeg
• the falls shot in and takes place in Buffalo, about a man who realizes a girl he is in love with is kidnapped and how the story unfolds

Sister cities

Buffalo has a number of sister cities as designated by Sister Cities International (SCI):

• Cape Coast, Ghana
• Dortmund, Germany
• Drohobych, Ukraine
• Horlivka, Ukraine
• Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
• Kiryat Gat, Israel
• Lille, France
• Rzeszow, Poland
• St. Ann, Jamaica
• Siena, Italy
• Tver, Russia
• Torremaggiore, Italy

See Also: Sister Cities of Buffalo

Honorary Consulates in Buffalo

Main article: List of foreign consulates in Buffalo

• Austria
• Canada - (Consulate General)
• Czech Republic
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Sweden
• Switzerland

See also

• Famous people from Buffalo
• Polish Cathedral
• Buffalo City Hall
• Buffalo Fire Department
• Buffalo Airfield

Further reading

• The Ten Most Indispensable Books About Buffalo

External links

• Buffalo Central Terminal
• City of Buffalo webpage
• Buffalo at Curlie
• Visitor Information from Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau
• An Online Resource for Art, Architecture & Design in Buffalo, New York
• Buffalo Architecture and History
• The Buffalonian, history of Western New York
• BuffaloResearch.com, a portal to researching ancestors, buildings, companies, literature, and more in Buffalo
• Buffalo Music Hall of Fame
• Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
• Buffalo Airport
• Buffalo Place - Events, dining, theater and other resources
• MetroBuffalo.com - News, weather, sports, events, attractions, and more.

Template:Geolinks-US-cityscale

Northwest: Grand Island	North: Kenmore, Tonawanda	Northeast: Amherst
West: Fort Erie, Niagara River	Buffalo	East: Sloan, Cheektowaga
Southwest: Lake Erie	South: Lackawanna	Southeast: West Seneca