I have a new computer with a giant screen on which I put this gorgeous 1951 areal image of downtown Buffalo and its surrounding neighborhoods.  It shows an extremely dense city of Buffalo near its peak population of almost 600,000 people.  Probably over 100,000 people lived within walking distance of downtown and another 100,000 or so within a few minutes via street car ride.  All of the radial streets are jam packed with commercial, industrial, and retail buildings.  It was an aging city past its prime but still full of bravado, vibrance, and big thinking.  Industrial

THE BASICS: This long one act by Buffalo native A. R. Gurney is making its WNY debut this month at the Kavinoky Theatre. Directed by Chris Kelly, and starring Peter Palmisano and Saul Elkin, BLACK TIE runs weekends through January 29th. It runs approximately 90 minutes.
SIDEBAR: "Pete" Gurney is a naturalist of sorts. He has spent the lion's share of his creative life studying the life cycle, preferences and habits of a single species: the Great Dinner-Dressed (read: Tuxedoed), Silver Spooned WASP. Here, as in THE DINING ROOM and many others, Gurney

By Evangeline Conley:
On a crisp, sunny, January Sunday afternoon, Fathers Christos Christakis and Perikles Kallis, along with approximately 75 members of the Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Buffalo, celebrated the Epiphany, at the Niagara River. 
Traditionally celebrated on January 6, it commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. The location was an ideal setting with the similarity of the water of the Niagara River blessed as the Jordan River was in ancient times. It signifies when Jesus

The Board of Directors of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) today voted to enter into a contract with DiPizio Construction Company, Inc., for the construction of historically aligned public canals at Canalside.  The board also took action based on the findings of the Canalside Cultural Master Plan, issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the selection of a museum operator for a children's museum experience at Canalside.
 
"This is a historic day for Western New York," said ECHDC Chair Jordan Levy. "We are done with talking and planning and we are moving

By Jennifer Westerholt: Merge Restaurant will host the first of a number of Scrabble®Fest parties throughout Buffalo to benefit Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo & Erie County on Wednesday, January 18, from 5-10pm. The two month campaign is an effort to raise funds to support programs which combat illiteracy in our community.
Dozens of word lovers will enjoy friendly competition in the first of many Scrabble®Fest parties to be held in Buffalo. Literacy Volunteers staff and volunteers will sit alongside and play with members of the

Monthly social organization Ladies of the Vine Wine Club is going global for January's gathering, in the second of a series of dining experiences where members will be given the chance to sip, sample and savor cuisine and wines from around the world. 
On the heels of "Visiting India" in November, which was the first "Ladies of the Vine Goes Global" event, the club received several requests to add more ethnic dinners to their monthly rotation. Thanks to the popularity of the last event, the club is offering "Ladies of the Vine Goes Global" every other month,

A long time Elmwood Avenue business has closed its doors. After moving from its original location (where NoNoo Ramen is now) Sweet Tooth set up shop at the corner of Elmwood and Allen. The business operated at that corner for a number of years before announcing this past weekend that it was closing. First I want to say that I am sad to see such a wonderful business close its doors. Sweet Tooth is the ice cream shop that I went to with my father when I was little. 
At the same time,

By Caesandra Seawall:
The City of Good Neighbors, Buffalo, is home to hundreds of non-profit organizations. Our city, like many others across the country, has significant challenges and our neighborhoods have many unmet needs. People cannot wait around endlessly for our government to provide leadership or fund efforts locally. We are a society of very skilled and generous citizens.
Recently, I was asked to describe Buffalo in one word; I chose UNDERDOG, because if there is one thing I've noticed consistently since I moved here in

A few weeks ago I was in a conversation with Becky Harbison on The Preservation Ready site's Facebook page.  She had noted that she came into possession of a trove of 1950's era color slides showing scenes throughout Buffalo but did not have a slide scanner.  I offered up mine but in the interim Steve Cichon stepped up with his scanner in Buffalo, negating the need for any mailing to Chicago (which was giving me the creeps knowing how rare this images probably were).

Here's another one of those, "Why didn't I think of that!" ideas that is coming to bustling US cities. The concept helps to alleviate parking problems, and it also puts a couple of bucks into pockets of those who could use some extra spending cash. Founder of ParkatmyHouse.com, Anthony Eskinazi, saw an opportunity one day when he was looking for a parking space and became frustrated as he passed house after house with empty driveways. He decided to explore the idea of driveway rentals. Basically, if you've got an extra spot in your driveway you can make a few bucks by renting it... not a bad

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, is a rock musical written by John Cameron Mitchell, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 off Broadway, where it ran for a couple years and racked up both Obie and Outer Circle Critics awards. It has since been performed all over and has finally come to Buffalo in this excellent ALT production. 
Mr. Mitchell starred in the 2001 film version of HEDWIG, which I recall as a somewhat muddled and confused affair, a result which could well be derived from the sometimes confusing material. The stage version

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Michelle Snyder:
The first line of Daughter of Smoke and Bone grabs you and doesn't let go: "Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well."  
Laini Taylor has an imagination that knows no bounds and the world she created is rich and beautiful. Daughter of Smoke and Bone opens in the mysterious and beautiful city of Prague, following the life of Karou, an art student with natural blue hair, unexplained eye tattoos on her

It's 2012 and and with the new year comes a couple of homeless cats that we are featuring who would make great companions for anyone who's feeling down with the blues. There's nothing like a feline pick-me-up when you're feeling a little lonely. Also, when the snow is falling, and there's a chill in the air, you always know that there's a warm furry friend waiting for you when you return home. 
Ms. Haley is a 6 year old, DECLAWED, bundle of love who is a bi-product of a move to a new apartment where they can't have pets (see lead photo).  Wouldn't you think

When visiting the Market Arcade last evening, I was reminded just how stunning the place really is. While I stood on the mezzanine overlooking the first floor I couldn't help but envision what the building could, and should, become. To me, the Market Arcade cries out to be a food marketplace. Have you ever been to the Grand Central Market (see photo below) in NYC? It's a smaller version of the Saint Lawrence Market in Toronto. It features a narrow central aisle with food purveyors to the left and the right. There's a cheese vendor, a butcher, a fish monger, a flower stall, sweets, cooked and uncooked

Last evening The Buffalo Architecture Foundation held an opening of their Arts and Education exhibit at the CEPA gallery. The opening reception took place at the Market Arcade Building (617 Main Street). After checking out another show by photographer Max Collins at the Main Washington Exchange, we found ourselves walking into the Market Arcade to see what some of the young students had dreamed up. If you're not familiar with the Arts+Education Exhibit, then here's a quick rundown from Mike Puma:

The

One of our former writers, Lorne Opler, happened to be scouring the web when he came across an article in Atlantic Cities that redirected him to Architizer.com. Lorne pointed out that the article rated the top ten beautiful buildings of modern architecture, and that one of the buildings, located in Germany, looked similar to one of our newest buildings in the Medical Campus. The="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;

I've had a bunch of broken electronic waste stashed in my garage for about six months, just waiting to hear when the next urban recycling day was to be scheduled. It turns out that that day is tomorrow, and it's taking place at the Buffalo Zoo (coinciding with Zooper Saturday). There's nothing worse than seeing electronic equipment, such as microwaves, stereos, computers, etc. thrown out in the garbage. Now it's your chance to be green, while helping out The Zoo at the same time. Just wrangle your electronics together, bring them over to The Zoo's parking lot (located at Parkside Ave.

While food trucks are generally shunned from setting up in Buffalo business districts, there is one event that is welcoming them into the fold. Taste of Buffalo apparently understands the importance of these types of mobile operations, and are reaching out to the food truck industry to apply to be vendors in this year's event. This will open the playing field  for a couple of days and will give the food trucks the opportunity to work alongside the 'brick and mortars' even if it is just for one weekend. 
The invitation should also be looked at as a great marketing

By Jamie Nash:
Romance is a genre that tends to get a bad rap, but the Western New York Romance Writers are working to change that perception. The chapter has been around since 1989 and is part of the larger organization Romance Writers of America. Cassandra Carr is President of the Western New York Chapter, and is proud of the recent success this group of writers has had. "Right now more than half of the group is published or soon-to-be published, and we're signing new contracts every month," she said.
The chapter's goal is to promote

This morning Steel sent me a link to an informative study that attempts to decipher the affect of city rankings. No matter where you live, there are those who are constantly ranking your surroundings, whether it's regarding the economy, culture, the environment, walkability, compatibility, sports, transportation, education, cost of living, weather, food, health... the list goes on. 
What I found most interesting about this study, conducted by Samuel Arbesman, a senior scholar at the Kauffman Foundation, was not necessarily the overall rankings, but how the certain