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| Buffalo Information | | |
From the renaissance of the waterfront area to downtown's phoenix rising, from the major airport expansion to a revived arts and cultural scene, New York's second-largest city is booming again.
This rebirth harkens back to the glory days, when Buffalo was known as the "Queen City of the Lakes" and the "Gateway to the Midwest," supplying steel, cars, meat, grain and textiles to the rest of the nation and the world. These were the days when the port bustled, the railroads hummed and the manufacturing plants, using cheap Niagara Falls electricity, produced chemicals and refined oil for a hungry industrial engine. At the turn of the last century, the city was on top of the world, boasting the known universe's largest grain and livestock markets. Buffalo was the logical choice for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition and one of those buildings still stands, housing the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Buffalo was an exciting, bustling place: the homeland of two presidents (Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland) and the site of six structures built by Frank Lloyd Wright and a park system created by one of the designers of Manhattan's Central Park.
Dark Clouds Dispelled Oh, Buffalo saw some dark times in the three decades between 1960 and 1990, climaxing with the 1982 closing of most of its steel mills and the death of the Courier-Express morning paper, where Mark Twain had served as editor a century before. But through it all, this city of just over 300,000 (with 1.2 million in the surrounding suburbs) has always maintained its class and dignity and, above all, its friendliness. It's not called "The City of Good Neighbors" and "The Biggest Small Town in America" for nothing.
Buffalo's ethnic diversity includes people of Greek, Irish, Italian, African American, Polish, Scottish, Latino and German decent, to name a few. That, combined with a basic blue-collar mentality, creates a solid foundation for the community to build and re-build. And re-build the city has, by pumping millions into its downtown showpiece Theater District, by expanding the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, by creating waterfront housing and establishing a Metro Rail line from HSBC Arena to the South Campus of the State University at Buffalo. It has diversified its economy, moving from strictly "rust belt" industries to services and tourism, then to high tech and fiber optics. It has put up hotels, banks, office buildings and a state-of-the-art convention center.
All the while, the city has been mindful of the distinctive neighborhoods that make up the heart of Buffalo, a compact area of a mere 42 square miles. Allentown, Bailey-Lovejoy, Black Rock, the Delaware District, the Elmwood Strip, Kensington, North Buffalo, Polonia, South Buffalo, West Side: each has its unique story to tell and will defend its heritage with the ferociousness of a mother protecting her child.
National Historic District Allentown National Historic District is home to both the Wilcox Mansion (where Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated) and the Allentown Art Festival. The Bailey-Lovejoy area is committed to preserving its railroad-rich past through the Iron Island Museum and the annual neighborhood festival. Delaware Park, the jewel of the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park system, the historic Forest Lawn Cemetery, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Cofeld Judaic Museum of Temple Beth Zion are all a part of the Delaware District. Polonia features traditional Broadway Market food vendors and the New York Central Terminal.
With Lake Erie and Canada to the west, Buffalo is bordered on its other three sides by suburban areas that are also rich in history and heritage. To the north and northeast lie Tonawanda and Amherst, the first combines a strong industrial base with beautiful parks and natural scenery and the latter is home to the huge University at Buffalo North Campus. To the east is Cheektowaga (aka, Land of the Crabapple) with the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and the Walden Galleria Mall, the largest mall in Western NY. To the south and southeast lie the aptly named Southtowns: Lackawanna, Hamburg, West Seneca, Orchard Park and East Aurora, that combine a range of heavy industry and farms, shopping malls and village boutiques, modern condos and 19th century architectural gems.
Economic and Cultural Hub It is here that the 1929 Art Deco masterpiece, Buffalo City Hall, rises high above the tree tops. Also note the French Renaissance-style Ellicott Square Building finished in 1896 as the largest office building in the world at that time.
Within the compact Downtown is where you'll find the hive of performing arts activity known as the Theater District. Shea's Performing Arts Center, with its classic Baroque interior, serves as an anchor for the 20-block Theater District. You'll find plenty of night life in the Chippewa Club Zone, which rose from the ashes of the former red light district . Buffalo Place has a pedestrian mall and a reputation for being festival central. If ice hockey's your thing, you'll be interested to find the HSBC Arena (formerly the Marine-Midland) where the NHL Buffalo Sabres skate.
And it's true: Buffalo chicken wings actually were created here, thanks to a stray shipment of wings that made its way to the Anchor Bar in the mid-1960s. Buffalo is also home to the Beef on Weck sandwich and it is the Friday fish fry capital of the world.
Not to be overlooked, Buffalo is a mere 25 miles from what has been called one of the seven natural wonders of the world. For 11 million visitors a year, the breath-taking Falls are attraction enough to check out Buffalo.
Now comes a mystery: How did Buffalo get its name? Woolly bison have never been part of the landscape (except inside the Buffalo Zoo). One theory says the first settlers gave the name Buffaloe's Creek to what is now the Buffalo River after seeing Native Americans in the area. Another thought stems from the French influence in the area. A French missionary-explorer, dazzled by the beauty of the Niagara River, called it beau fleuve or beautiful river and this eventually came to be mispronounced "Buffalo" by the locals.
Whatever the true story behind the name of the city (which was originally called New Amsterdam), one thing is no mystery. The "City of Good Neighbors" offers all its visitors small-town hospitality in a big-city environment. Explore the it ethnically-diverse cuisine, high-caliber theater, Elmwood Avenue's Victorian mansions or the Chippewa Club Zone's sizzling nightlife and you're sure to find something just to your liking.
Michael Mirolla | | | | | © Copyright (C) 1999-2006 wcities, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contact Wcities |
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Yosemite National Park
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