Which parts of Buffalo are "safe" and which aren't? (New York: apartment complexes, condos)

[jblake78728]

Williamsville's schools are consistently at or near the top of the yearly rankings. Amherst, Clarence, Orchard Park, West Seneca, East Aurora, Lancaster, Hamburg & Hamburg-Frontier are all good choices as well (and all ranked in the WNY top 20 for 2009). I know very little about Kenmore, Tonawanda & Cheektowaga's public schools but they tend to be in the middle of the pack or even lower half of the area's rankings. Lackawanna's schools are usually rated very low.

Here's a link to the most recent rankings, you can click on the district's name & it will give you some more details. Every Erie County school that is in the top 20 is also in what I would consider to be a very safe area.

2009 WNY school district rankings - Business First of Buffalo:

[Sumermarie]

Wonderful resource! Thank you.

[Canerican]

Amherst and Clarence and the most highly regarded - The most desirable is likely Williamsville North, followed by Williamsville South, then Clarence High, finally Sweet Home.

The Southtowns are less highly regarded, but have decent schools, certainly better than Buffalo.

Most people live in the Northtowns, if you aren't sure look at Amherst, or if your budget is in the $200,000 range look into Clarence, around $300,000 look at Getzville or at East Amherst.

[jblake78728]

ckhthankgod (another poster) posted this link on a different thread, I found it very helpful. It is a link to the states accountability reports for NY State school district. Lots of good info in it.

https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/Co...08&county=Erie

[bmd69]

Originally Posted by Canerican

Amherst and Clarence and the most highly regarded - The most desirable is likely Williamsville North, followed by Williamsville South, then Clarence High, finally Sweet Home.

The Southtowns are less highly regarded, but have decent schools, certainly better than Buffalo.

Most people live in the Northtowns, if you aren't sure look at Amherst, or if your budget is in the $200,000 range look into Clarence, around $300,000 look at Getzville or at East Amherst.

Your paying it for as well in the north towns. Much higher taxes.

East Aurora and Iroquois are really good.

[Canerican]

That's true. I have heard that Iroquois is the best from lots of people. If I remember right they had the highest score in something (maybe SAT, or most graduates).

I do really Iroquois, nice quiet area, away from the hustle and bustle. If I was planning on staying in WNY, I would definitely by looking for housing out there.

[RocketSci]

Don't forget that the finest private schools in Western NY are mainly located close to the Elmwood Village Area, including Nardin Academy, Canisius High School, Elmwood-Franklin School, Nichols School, and Buffalo Seminary. The sight of private school students in uniforms and dress code is often seen along Elmwood, and especially riding public transportation throughout the area. Also, City Honors, a public magnet school, has regularly been among the top schools in the nation in US News, and is open to qualifying Buffalo students.

[Canerican]

Buffalo's private schools are honestly, a joke. I went to the best parochial school in the area, and it was terrible. I'm sure it was better than the public schools, but certainly far worse than the parochial schools down south and in the midwest, where in some states 25% of students attend private schools.

[RocketSci]

Originally Posted by Canerican

Buffalo's private schools are honestly, a joke. I went to the best parochial school in the area, and it was terrible. I'm sure it was better than the public schools, but certainly far worse than the parochial schools down south and in the midwest, where in some states 25% of students attend private schools.

Business First Ratings of WNY 131 High Schools:
#1 - Nardin Academy
#5 - City Honors School
Nichols, Buffalo Seminary, Canisius, and Park school were not included in the ratings as they don't participate in Regents testing. If they did, they would also be listed among the top schools in WNY. They are Prep schools with a capital P, not neighborhood Parish schools.

Nichols always impressed me as a kid because they had not one, but two full sized indoor ice rinks. It used to be an all boys school, but went co-ed a long time ago. I would have needed a scholarship in order to attend there, however...

So what was 'the best' parochial school you attended? Are you sure they didn't just tell you that it was 'the best' because they knew how gullible the new kid was?

[Canerican]

No, it's been ranked as the best in the area by many magazines, very small class sizes (graduating classes between 20-35). The cost is ridiculous compared to the private school I came from, which was no doubt better.

For my parents, choosing the school was about finding the best education, not about cost... my sister left after half a year to go to Williamsville North, and forwent her tuition because this school was such a joke. I'm not going to give it's name, because if I give it, it really wouldn't be hard to find out of my name.

Seriously, you all need to get outside of Buffalo, this area doesn't offer the best of anything, I would say it is "above average" in very few areas.

Schools - bad
Economy - bad
Taxes - bad
Population growth - bad
Food - bad (I have had far better wings outside of Buffalo)
Politicians - bad
Arts - good
Urban decay - bad
White collar jobs - bad
Suburbs - Mostly bad
Downtown development - bad
Crime - bad
Shopping - Mostly good
Traffic - generally good
Social policy - Terrible

I think that about sums up how bad Buffalo is. But if you lived outside of Buffalo to go to college, you really wouldn't understand.

Some people say I haven't lived in Buffalo long enough to enjoy it (read: give up on finding something better). I would say that they probably haven't lived outside of New York, except perhaps for college, so they wouldn't know what good is.