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But you've never even been to Buffalo to say it "feels" like anything. For that matter, you've never been to Richmond...
Here you come again. You see my name pop up next to Richmond, and you have to comment. I have been to Buffalo, and don't need you telling me where I have and haven't been lol. You take everything much too personally. What next, you going to read me my bank statements?
Ok....What does this have to do with where the lady went to in the city of Buffalo?
Honestly, it may depend on who you ask as to which and what they may like as well. I think Richmond's more older, historical and cleaner look in some neighborhoods would appeal to some/many. This isn't to say that Buffalo doesn't have this look, as it isn't really considered or it isn't as old, when thinking about the city. For instance, not too many people think or know about the West Village neighborhood near Downtown, Lake Erie and Hutch Tech, a very good and diverse magnet high school: http://<b>https://www.google.com/map...312!8i6656</b>
Interesting how these two streets below look so similar. Thicker canopy and rowhomes vs. the airier feel from the Buffalo view.
You do have quite a few smaller villages/cities in the area as well. Lewiston, Youngstown, Kenmore, Williamsville, Lancaster, Lockport, Akron, Hamburg and Orchard Park are some that come to mind.
That's a huge plus to Buffalo and probably the tie-breaker for me. Richmond has almost no small urban villages outside of the core area. People will say Ashland, but it's extremely small/quiet and it is the only example that I can think of. Outside of the core and the streetcar suburbs, Richmond is very very sprawly.
And for the record, Short Pump is not what I'm talking about. Those "walkable" developments next to Whole Foods are mostly just a facade for autocentric living.
That's a huge plus to Buffalo and probably the tie-breaker for me. Richmond has almost no small urban villages outside of the core area. People will say Ashland, but it's extremely small/quiet and it is the only example that I can think of. Outside of the core and the streetcar suburbs, Richmond is very very sprawly.
And for the record, Short Pump is not what I'm talking about. Those "walkable" developments next to Whole Foods are mostly just a facade for autocentric living.
Highland Springs? Petersburg? Hopewell? In the case of Petersburg especially, it has a very vibrant and urban core, though tiny, for a small town. Even Colonial Heights, in the Boulevard district west of 95, is comparable to Buffalo's urban villages. These are Richmond's suburbs with any urban nature. I will agree that Buffalo's are much more varied, diverse, and take on a culture of their own. My mentor is from Cheektowaga...
Ashland isn't more urban than any of the aforementioned areas. If we're including Ashland, we may as well include Chester, Glen Allen, Mechanicsville, Varina...
Highland Springs? Petersburg? Hopewell? In the case of Petersburg especially, it has a very vibrant and urban core, though tiny, for a small town. Even Colonial Heights, in the Boulevard district west of 95, is comparable to Buffalo's urban villages. These are Richmond's suburbs with any urban nature. I will agree that Buffalo's are much more varied, diverse, and take on a culture of their own. My mentor is from Cheektowaga...
Ashland isn't more urban than any of the aforementioned areas. If we're including Ashland, we may as well include Chester, Glen Allen, Mechanicsville, Varina...
Hopewell and Petersburg are fair, although both have had much better days (Petersburg has a ton of social issues, as my wife would go there frequently for work). Highland Springs is not what I would consider a walkable main street-type area. It's really just sprawl for the most part.
And Ashland is more urban than Chester, Glen Allen, Mechanicsville, or Varina IMO (although super small):
There isn't much of this thing in Richmond unfortunately. Richmond has a great core and a couple of nearby cities that are ok, and the rest is sprawl. My wife and I loved our time in Richmond for the most part, but day trips to close-by places with nice main streets was limited. We loved going to places like Staunton, but you had to leave the metro for that.
This is a close city-to-city. The tiebreaker to me is the higher vibrancy and quality of life in Richmond. Buffalo probably had this hands down pre-2000, but Rich's reinvention and reinvigoration since 2005 has swung it the other way...
I wouldn't be so quick to give "culture" to Buffalo, either. I was thinking last night, the two cities are so different culturally, so they excel in different cultural areas that should be expressly defined:
Richmond's culture is decidedly more upper crust. This lends itself to a higher quantity and level of fine dining, shopping, and a more diverse array of foreign food. Where Buffalo specializes in homegrown dishes, Richmond is literally overflowing in the variety and sheer volume of food options. There is a HUGE food and restaurant subculture in both cities, they just operate differently...
Buffalo has pro sports, so it has a giant pro sports following that's fiercely loyal. I also know Buffalonians like hockey and winter sports in general. However, Richmond has twice as many city parks, which lends to a larger outdoors culture. Richmonders are less obese. Rich is one of the top tennis cities in the nation, biking/cycling is huge here, and can't forget the river! Of course, Buff has the Lake, but Rich wins for parks and outdoor rec...
Richmond's architecture, I'd argue, more varied overall. Too many to name here. Richmond is architecturally gorgeous! Richmond also has a much more noticeable artistic and creative vibe. There is murals and graffiti all over town (street art). I think the VMFA is the best art museum in either city. The creative atmosphere is different than what you'd find in Buff, which is far more blue collar, and the locals give a more pronounced feeling of status quo/stick to what works, rather than inventiveness, reimagination, create...
Culture may be a slight edge to Buff because it's local culture is more recognizable, but can't we say that about everybody versus Richmond? Culture to me is a draw, and I didn't even mention the massive subculture surrounding Richmond's history--we are in love with our history in a way few cities are...
This is a close city-to-city. The tiebreaker to me is the higher vibrancy and quality of life in Richmond. Buffalo probably had this hands down pre-2000, but Rich's reinvention and reinvigoration since 2005 has swung it the other way...
I wouldn't be so quick to give "culture" to Buffalo, either. I was thinking last night, the two cities are so different culturally, so they excel in different cultural areas that should be expressly defined:
Richmond's culture is decidedly more upper crust. This lends itself to a higher quantity and level of fine dining, shopping, and a more diverse array of foreign food. Where Buffalo specializes in homegrown dishes, Richmond is literally overflowing in the variety and sheer volume of food options. There is a HUGE food and restaurant subculture in both cities, they just operate differently...
Buffalo has pro sports, so it has a giant pro sports following that's fiercely loyal. I also know Buffalonians like hockey and winter sports in general. However, Richmond has twice as many city parks, which lends to a larger outdoors culture. Richmonders are less obese. Rich is one of the top tennis cities in the nation, biking/cycling is huge here, and can't forget the river! Of course, Buff has the Lake, but Rich wins for parks and outdoor rec...
Richmond's architecture, I'd argue, more varied overall. Too many to name here. Richmond is architecturally gorgeous! Richmond also has a much more noticeable artistic and creative vibe. There is murals and graffiti all over town (street art). I think the VMFA is the best art museum in either city. The creative atmosphere is different than what you'd find in Buff, which is far more blue collar, and the locals give a more pronounced feeling of status quo/stick to what works, rather than inventiveness, reimagination, create...
Culture may be a slight edge to Buff because it's local culture is more recognizable, but can't we say that about everybody versus Richmond? Culture to me is a draw, and I didn't even mention the massive subculture surrounding Richmond's history--we are in love with our history in a way few cities are...
I do agree with most of this. Although I'm not sure about Buffalo's most recent advancements in dining. American cities are mostly all going through a renaissance in its neighborhoods and their dining scenes. I haven't been back to Buffalo since 2013, so not sure how it compares in this category.
I do prefer Buffalo's culture, but agree it depends on what someone prefers. One thing that is vastly underrated in Buffalo are the parks though. Olmstead and Vaux created a coordinated park system that is amazing!
Buffalo has pro sports, so it has a giant pro sports following that's fiercely loyal. I also know Buffalonians like hockey and winter sports in general. However, Richmond has twice as many city parks, which lends to a larger outdoors culture. Richmonders are less obese. Rich is one of the top tennis cities in the nation, biking/cycling is huge here, and can't forget the river! Of course, Buff has the Lake, but Rich wins for parks and outdoor rec...
Where is Richmond less obese? All the sources I'm seeing indicate the opposite.
I don't think Richmond having a lot of parks offsets not having a body of water, especially in a hot and humid Southern city.
After thinking about this more, I would amend a few of mine. While I originally thought I'd like Buffalo's location better, I think I'd actually prefer Richmond's. Also, as weather goes, I prefer Buffalo's, but, I think that showing winter temps of Richmond to my wife, she'd be down to move, but I'm not so sure about Buffalo.
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