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Many years ago, through a mutual friend, I had befriended a person living in the Cleveland suburbs. It had been some time since I had seen him, but then I took my son out to an Indians game in early June and got to see my friend before the game for lunch. I also got to meet his wife, and two young daughters (both under 2). We got to talking, and he wouldn't mind coming up to Buffalo with his family. It got me to thinking, what can you do in the greater Buffalo area that can't be done in Cleveland?
I'm not looking to create a tangent about socio-economic status, ethnicity, what town is better than others. I pose this as a tourism question.
Proximity to Canada and massive tourist attractions of Southern Ontario
Niagara Falls and associated attractions on NY and Canadian side
Niagara River fishing, boating, hiking, biking
18th and 19th century forts (George, Niagara, Erie)
Local architectural tours
Local galleries
Local foods
NHL Sabres
NLL Bandits
Toronto is about 1.5 hours away and boasts a ton of stuff to do. Finger lakes, Boston Hills, skiing, for natural stuff. Man-made stuff is probably pretty similar.
Originally from Buffalo, but lived in Cleveland for several years. Several years ago, I took a roadtrip to Buffalo with my native Cleveland girlfriend, who had never been there before. Her impression: Buffalonians seem to "use" their city a lot more than Clevelanders. She was very impressed by the amount of people on neighborhood streets. She was also impressed with Elmwood Village (there's no equivalent in Cleveland - think Coventry X 10) and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Buffalo's city neighborhoods -- at least those west of Main Street -- fared a lot better than those in Cleveland. There's still a lot of old money in the city proper, along with their institutions. You don't have to leave the city limits of Buffalo to find Lakewood- and Cleveland Heights-like neighborhoods.
Cleveland's suburbs are generally nicer than Buffalo's 'burbs. Buffalo's burbs lean more blue collar than those of Cleveland -- a bit more Parma and Eastlake, a bit less Bay Village and Shaker Heights. Even in affluent suburbs like Clarence and Orchard Park, there's still a strong blue collar influence; hole-in-the-wall bars, old school restaurant-in-a-house type places, volunteer firemen's picnics, strong nasal accents, etc. As far as suburban shopping goes, the Walden Galleria is much larger than Beachwood Place, although a notch less upscale.
How about checking the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture such as the Darwin D. Martin House? Somebody once mentioned to me that Buffalo is like a miniature Chicago. Buffalo does have works of such great architects as Wright, Sullivan, and Richardson just like Chicago.
I don't think Cleveland has something like Niagara Falls and the Niagara river. The falls are a nice backdrop for many potential events and gatherings. There is the Canadian side which is like an extremely mini Las Vegas. The river itself offers some great recreational opportunities like fishing especially below the falls for salmon and steelhead. I think those fish might be available in the Cleveland area but doing it on the Niagara is an experience in and of itself, look up the youtube vids. There's also the Niagara river jet boat that goes up some rapids that others wouldn't dream of. A portion of the rapids are just not navigable but quite a sight to see from the shoreline. The rapids are so strong that nothing is able to float, not even if you're wearing a life jacket.
I've been to the Martin House and I guess if you're an architectural buff it might be interesting but otherwise I think most people will find that place a yawn, just my opinion and might just be me. Take a look at their site, and if you're not blown away there, you won't be in person either.
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