Tell Me about Buffalo, New York (Rochester, Syracuse: sales, lease, violent crime)

[zenguy21]

Hi everyone

I'm looking at the University of Buffalo Law School and interested in possibly practicing or working upstate. I have been to Ithaca and Binghamton and thought it was a pretty area and lot of stuff to do. I went in the summer and am not quite used to your winter. However I go to school in the Chicago area and am used to cold temperatures and bitterness.

What is Buffalo like? Is it an up and coming area? Pretty houses and neighborhoods? Good restaurants? Bars and sports teams? How are opportunities for skiing/outdoors and how far are you from a big city?

Also I'm a bit of a closet Brit so you better have good Indian restaurants and if not a professional soccer team a decent following for the sport Good band scene would be cool too.

Thanks

[AWNY]

Buffalo is a nice place to live. There is alot of culture in the city it has more of a small town feeling to it rather than Chicago, it's about 1.5 hours from Toronto and about 6 hours driving to NYC. North Buffalo is the nicest Area of the city and has alot of nice restaurants. The winter is snowy but it's no different than Chicago weather (less wind). Amherst is very mixed as far as ethnicity. Just like any city it has good and bad neighborhoods. It's a college town.

Originally Posted by zenguy21

Hi everyone

I'm looking at the University of Buffalo Law School and interested in possibly practicing or working upstate. I have been to Ithaca and Binghamton and thought it was a pretty area and lot of stuff to do. I went in the summer and am not quite used to your winter. However I go to school in the Chicago area and am used to cold temperatures and bitterness.

What is Buffalo like? Is it an up and coming area? Pretty houses and neighborhoods? Good restaurants? Bars and sports teams? How are opportunities for skiing/outdoors and how far are you from a big city?

Also I'm a bit of a closet Brit so you better have good Indian restaurants and if not a professional soccer team a decent following for the sport Good band scene would be cool too.

Thanks

[bellafinzi]

Buffalo is much bigger than Ithaca or Binghamton. Metro Buffalo is 1.1 million, Compared to: Ithaca Metro at 100,000...Binghamton Metro at 250,000

Rochester, only an hour away from Buffalo, has a minor League Soccer club. Syracuse used to have an USL-1 soccer club and are working on bringing it back by 2008.

[zenguy21]

Thats right-- Rochester Raging Rhinos. Almost forgot about them. I'm sure there are some other league kind of stuff opportunities to play is more what I meant also in Buffalo. I like to keep playing the sport as long as I'm able but watching the pros is cool too. Syracuse-- are you looking for defenders? No seriously I have enough on my plate to keep me from playing pro.

[renault]

Invest in a good snow blower.

[James9283]

I agree that North Buffalo and Amherst are very nice! My sister just started a job on Grand Island, which is nearby and she says she loves the area. I helped move her there and although there are nice nieghborhoods we drove right through the worst parts of town at first. If I were you I would check out Elmwood Avenue, downtown, and of course the parks.

[dinge1977]

Let me just say that I love Buffalo. I've lived here for six years and moved here with the intent of working with at-risk populations. If you don't mind the city and county politics, the ridiculous sales taxes (8.5%), parking ticket *****, and dealing with a few too many people with backwoods philosophies on life....you'll love it.

The city is rich with history. There are countless historical neighborhoods with absolutely beautiful houses. You'll never have to worry about food...there are some really amazing and diverse restaurants to check out.

Elmwood Village, IMHO, is the ONLY place to live.

[Atlantis]

Buffalo is not an up and coming area. Politicians and the media talk and talk about developing the waterfront, Bass Pro, a new casino, etc., but until that happens, no, it's not up and coming. Downtown is downright depressing.

However, there are certain neighborhoods that I'm sure you would like. Check out Elmwood Ave., Allen St., and Hertel Ave.

Main St. in the University District (by University of Buffalo south campus) is nice, too.

Yes, there are pretty houses and neighborhoods. Check out Linwood Ave. and Delaware Ave. Also check out all the side streets around the Elmwood Village.

If you come here, pick up an Artvoice (free weekly paper) to see what's going on around town.

Some popular restaurants are Pano's, Cozumel, Casa Di Pizza, Ambrosia, and Chef's. Then there's the Anchor Bar, the tourist spot, known for their wings. Also, we do have good Indian restaurants for eat-in or take-out.

The bars that I would suggest if you like local bands are Crocodile, Nietzsche's, Big Shotz, Merlin's, and the Pearl St. Grill.

For skiing, there's Holiday Valley and Kissing Bridge.

As far as sports teams, the Sabres play in downtown Buffalo and the Bills play out in Orchard Park. For minor league baseball you can go downtown and see the Bisons. For major league baseball or basketball you'll have to go to Toronto.

[homeward bound]

I second Atlantis' take on Buffalo, including the specifics about good neighborhoods, restaurants, etc.

I lived there a long time, in many neighborhoods (and in several places outside the city), and I visit whenever possible. From the outside, you can really see its decline more obviously. Violent crime in particular is an increasing problem there, getting more brutal and spreading into neighborhoods where it's been very, very rare until the last few years.

I can see what others mean in the postive views of Buffalo they've given here. The city has tons of character and charm--I will always love it. It's got a lot more heart, a lot more real-ness, than all the up-and-coming suburbs and growing-too-fast cities across the country. It's a generalization, I know, but I truly believe that most Buffalonians are very decent, down-to-earth people with a lot of sincerity and loyalty. And with luck and effort, you certainly can still create a good life there.

But it will be a struggle in some ways--starting with keeping safe. You have to look over your shoulder there as you haven't in the past. The school system is a mess. Downtown is still largely a ghost town. Its ghettos are no-man's-lands. Its government has periodically been infamous for corruption and bungled chances for improving conditions. It's been in decline since the 1950's, and it has a decade or perhaps many more's struggle back into prosperity ahead of it.

I'd urge you to choose any place to live within the city VERY carefully, and to consider the outlying towns instead--the commutes are quite easy, and the towns & city handle the snow (when there is some!) very, very well. There have been a lot of threads on this forum about good areas around Buffalo. Since the city is so old, you really have a lot of outside-the-city choices there. From older suburbs (Kenmore, etc.) to ritzy edge-of-town enclaves (Snyder) to typical American suburbs (Amherst, Williamsville) to more stately (though somewhat farther out) true small towns (Hamburg, East Aurora, etc.). A lot if very nice nearby countryside you could live in, too, from hilly areas southeast of the city to flat to the east and north. A lot of pretty nice small towns eastward, between Buffalo and Rochester, too. And again, fairly easy commutes.

I say all this sadly, believe me. I wish I could say "Go without a worry" instead. But be very judicious in all this, especially if you've kids or will have them soon. Buffalo is something of a different world than Ithaca and, due to the recent spiking of violent crime, even Binghamton.

Good luck!

[ay_chee]

I have lived in every neighborhood (East, North, West, Allen, etc.) in Buffalo and everytime my lease is up, I start gravitating back toward the Elmwood Village. It's where I and many of my friends are the happiest. There are tons of restaurants and shops. Walking Elmwood and window shopping (and some real shopping) is a perfect Saturday afternoon activity.

Also, I have a friend that attends UB's Law School and she seems pretty happy with it. And commuting from Elmwood to north Campus isn't that bad with all the highways.

Good Luck!