Williamsville vs. East Amherst vs. Clarence vs. Hamburg vs. Lewiston (Buffalo: upper-class, section 8) - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

Vlags · 06-20-2011, 10:40 PM

My husband may be transferred up to Buffalo. Still not sure. We got some prelim advice on places to move to and have narrowed it to the following: Williamsville, East Amherst, Clarence, Hamburg and Lewiston.

Would love some input on the towns, the people, houses, schools, community stuff, etc. And pros/cons. Thanks.

jblake78728 · 06-20-2011, 11:04 PM

Where in the metro area will you be working & what exactly are you looking for in a new town/neighborhood. Clarence is a bit of an elite area & very expensive, Williamsville & East Amherst can be as well though they do have a few middle class price range areas. Hamburg is mostly middle class though it has a few more expensive areas. Its also in the Southtowns while the other locations are in the Northtowns ..... not a big deal if you are working downtown but if you are in North Buffalo or Amherst you might not like the commute from Hamburg (especially in the winter). Lewiston is a little further out than the others (in Niagara County). Very nice town but it would easily be the furthest commute to Buffalo.

Williamsville & Clarence schools are among the best in the area, I believe Lewiston schools are usually rated pretty high as well. Hamburg & Hamburg Frontier school districts are very good.

Shivel · 06-20-2011, 11:50 PM

Williamsville has a very nice village along Main Street, if thats your thing. It also has Glen Falls Park, which is beautiful. Housing is pretty diverse, ranging from upscale to working-class.

Clarence is more upper-class and (imho) snobby. Also, it is a very car-centric town, everything is very spread out, nothing is really within walking distance. Bedroom Community. However, it does have a very good school system and an extremely low crime rate.

East Amherst is similar to Clarence but more middle class.

Haven't spent too much time in Hamburg but it's a pretty affordable area I think. Lewiston is very pretty and has a nice village and marina, and also Artpark State Park.

magnum0417 · 06-21-2011, 05:00 AM

I suppose Hamburg is ok. If you like 150 plus inches of snow each year. Why in the world would you live in the Southtowns in the snow belt ?

Lewiston would be the best of all locations even if you drive further to work. It's actually located on an escarpment so yes....there are some real hills up that way with about a 300 foot drop in elevation from the south to north end of Lewiston. Very nice scenery for WNY standards. Plus, the village has strict codes that prevent scumbags and section 8ers from renting like the aforementioned towns do.

magnum0417 · 06-21-2011, 05:04 AM

Plus, Lewiston gets usually 50-60 inches of snow each year. 1/2 to a 1/3 as much as Buffalo (100 inches) and the southtowns (150 plus inches). That is about the lowest snowfall rate you will find in WNY. The lake effect junk from Lake Erie tends to stay south of Lewiston and the Lake Ontario Lake Effect tends to dissipate as it moves inland from Youngstown.

ckhthankgod · 06-21-2011, 05:45 AM

I'm that was no mention of the Snyder area of Amherst or Lancaster. Orchard Park as well.

jblake78728 · 06-21-2011, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by magnum0417

Plus, Lewiston gets usually 50-60 inches of snow each year. 1/2 to a 1/3 as much as Buffalo (100 inches) and the southtowns (150 plus inches). That is about the lowest snowfall rate you will find in WNY. The lake effect junk from Lake Erie tends to stay south of Lewiston and the Lake Ontario Lake Effect tends to dissipate as it moves inland from Youngstown.

The majority of the Southtowns rarely get anywhere near that much snow. This past season we got maybe 85" & the year before that we had less than 70". I suspect you are getting your information from some website like Sperling's where they give annual snowfall totals, the problem with that is they take the highest number in the whole area. Hamburg is a very large town (area) & the only parts of it that typically get anywhere near that 150" mark are the rural areas in the extreme south near Boston & Colden (which is where the Colden snowbelt runs across from the lake). My daughters schools have been closed exactly 2 times over the past 2 years due to snow, its just not the issue some people make it out to be.

HowardRoarke · 06-21-2011, 07:04 AM

I'm biased towards E. Amherst due to the fact some of my relatives live there. Nice area, although some areas you have to be leery of groundwater issues and whatnot (this has been discussed here, before).

Vlags · 06-21-2011, 10:55 PM

Thanks for the input. My husband would be working downtown. So we'd want a good commute and good schools, plus things to do. The towns I listed were ones given to us.

Based on what you've posted, the ones that jump out are Williamsville, East Amherst and Clarence. Hamburg sounds a bit far and I've done some research and I don't know about the Lewiston hills.

Anything else you can share on these towns would be great

Thanks.

jblake78728 · 06-22-2011, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlags

Thanks for the input. My husband would be working downtown. So we'd want a good commute and good schools, plus things to do. The towns I listed were ones given to us.

Based on what you've posted, the ones that jump out are Williamsville, East Amherst and Clarence. Hamburg sounds a bit far and I've done some research and I don't know about the Lewiston hills.

Anything else you can share on these towns would be great

Thanks.

Hamburg is actually an easier/shorter commute to downtown than the others. My wife works in Kenmore (a good drive north of downtown) and she's usually home within a 1/2 hour, I can be downtown in 15 minutes. Clarence & East Amherst can be a good 35-40 minutes from Downtown & the traffic in that part of the metro is a lot worse than in the Southtowns. Lewiston is the furthest out.