Over the past 12 years or so, the Buffalo Bills haven't exactly been the luckiest franchise in the world.
Since their last playoff appearance in 1999 ended with a Music City Mis-call, the Bills haven't been back to the post-season and, in fact, have only managed one winning season in that time (a 9-7 almost-was in 2004 behind Drew Bledsoe).
Looking back, you have to wonder if maybe Buffalo is just a mass of self-perpetuating bad karma. Though there was rampant success in the early 90s, four Super Bowl shots resulted in four losses, including

Work at the former Rite Aid on Grant Street and Auburn Avenue is underway as crews begin to expand and renovate the store for a Save-A-Lot. The project was first announced in the Buffalo News almost a full year ago. It has been vacant for nearly six years.

On Friday September 7, 2012, there's going to be a stellar intergalactic blast held at the Marcy Casino in Delaware Park. The party is one of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy's largest fundraisers and each year the theme changes, while the venue remains the same. This year the event is going to "boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before". 
Once at the Marcy Casino, party-goers will be greeted by the live sounds of the Parkside Avenue Brass, as they play the music from the Star Wars cantina scene. From there guests will be met by make-up artists who are prepared to

The population on the East Side has grown by the thousands in recent months.  Birds, bees, butterflies, insects and a number of small mammals are now visiting and calling the Urban Habitat Project (UHP) home.  The Urban Habitat Project occupies a three-acre site along Memorial Drive at the doorstep to the Buffalo Central Terminal.  It is seen as a living inner-city demonstration classroom that features habitat restoration,

The Atlantic Cities has posted a segment on Silo City that shows much of the potential that the industrial site has to offer. It seems that each year the grain elevators manage to attract more attention from outside of Buffalo. 
From the article:

"The magnitude of this campus is huge," Smith says. "I'm trying to take clues from what the site wants to become. It's taken me six years to get my arms around the place," he

Yesterday, at 5pm, my wife and I drove up to Toronto to catch Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket. Now normally I don't cover concerts that take place in Toronto, but there is an ulterior motive that I would like to share. Every so often I meet with people who are considering moving to Buffalo. Out of the blue I will get an email from someone asking if I can grab a cup of coffee, to discuss the city and the opportunities to be had. Sometimes it's the husband or wife of someone who has recently landed a job in Buffalo, and other times it's someone who has moved away a long, long time ago and is

A longstanding downtown Buffalo club venue will soon be reopened as Eden Lounge and Nightclub. At this point in time, two sister-owners, Lauren and Maria Lamendola, have hired club General Manager Jim Hellerer to undertake the process of refurbishing the 4000 square foot interior of the former Icon and Club E as a live music night club. I asked Jim about Eden and he told me that "it's a huge venue which can hold upwards of 400+ guests. It's a place to give downtown office workers etc a place to go and enjoy themselves aside from the younger crowds on Chippewa. I myself am 40 and

Gatur's Ethiopian Cuisine opened on Allen Street this week (see back story). My wife and I ate there last night, along with a number of other people who had been waiting for the doors to open. Ethiopian is the perfect cuisine for Allentown. It's an extremely social and varied in its ability to create dishes for meat lovers and vegetarians alike. Being vegetarians we found the ful (appetizer) to be excellent, especially when combined with the green spicy chutney and the pita bread... a real hit! The ful was also very

I wasn't planning on dwelling on the Main Street bike lane issue, but as chance would have it I was checking out a Google map just now looking for a building that BRO writer Mike Puma had identified, when all of a sudden some wording jumped out at me. Right there on Main Street I saw hiding in plain sight "NYS Bicycle Route 517". As I sat there staring at the absurd text, I decided to do a Google search for "NYS Bicycle Route 517". Interestingly enough I came across a blog called www.nysbicycleroute517.blogspot.com. Apparently a blogger by the

One of the aspects I love most about the city is all of the commercial offshoots from streets such as Elmwood. Take a walk down Lexington Avenue on any given evening and you will find all sorts of activity. In coming weeks that activity will, once again, be amplified, as jewelry designer Staphanie Robb opens her newest design boutique called Turnstyle Creations. Stephanie, one of the founders of Wild Things (also located on Lexington) told me that the idea behind Turnstyle Designs was to open a sister store that would compliment the street and Wild Things. "In essence, this is my design studio,"

Mayor Byron W. Brown and Council President Richard Fontana announced today plans for a million dollar plus improvement project for the Lovejoy District, which will include East Lovejoy Street, Clinton Street and East Delavan Avenue.  They also announced that LiRo Engineers, Inc. has been hired as the Consultant engineer for the project.

The streetscape project, scheduled to begin next spring, will include street lighting replacement with energy saving LED lighting, pavement reconstruction curbs, sidewalks, drainage system plus new handicap accessible walkways.

Mayor Brown

Seeing that Children's Hospital will soon be vacating the Elmwood Village, it's time to take a look back at a post that Roger Schroeder did a few years back (see here). In his post, Roger featured a rendering as to what the corner of Elmwood and Bryant might look like if the underutilized parking lot was built upon. The infill would be an important piece of Elmwood's future growth and would help to complete the four corner puzzle (Coffee Culture being a recently completed piece). Not only would it add to the streetscape,

Tracy Street in the West Village recently got a major real estate boost. Four properties at the corner of Tracy and Elmwood have been either completely gutted or are in the process of being renovated. The owner has been acquiring the properties in recent years in hopes of making a significant investment in village. The brick houses have been repointed and painted, which has made a huge difference on the street, visually. But what is really amazing is the interior transformation. One of the 19th century Victorian houses (lead photo - right) was just completed and is currently available

Following is the response that several people were emailed yesterday after they contacted City Hall about the paving and re-striping on Main Street that was featured August 1st on Buffalo Rising (see here). Here's the response from The City:
Commissioner,
We have received several inquiries as to why bicycle lanes were not included in the recent restriping plan for Main Street between Delavan Avenue and Humboldt Parkway.  I

I have been neglecting the Preservation Ready series for quite a few months so I thought I would jump back in with one of my favorite buildings, one that is very important to the urbanism and future potential rebirth of a commercial district of South Buffalo.  This long, glazed, terra cotta clad, classical facade is the public face of the old Shea's Seneca Theater.   It was once the heart of what was essentially South Buffalo's downtown.  Sitting  astride the intersection of Seneca and Cazenovia streets, it has a powerful and important urban presence.  This is the

Over the last few seasons in the NFL, there's been a rise in talent at the tight end position, leading to a bit of an evolution at the position.
Traditionally a hybrid of offensive line and wide receiver, the tight end was usually used as a release valve in the passing game, a third or fourth option when protection breaks down or receivers are covered downfield, and as support in run and pass blocking.
Sure, there were some physical specimens making big plays along the way (Shannon Sharpe -10,060 yds, 62 TDs; Tony Gonzalez -12,053 yds,

Now here's an article where I'm glad that Buffalo is not mentioned. The Atlantic Cities writer Scott Reeder is asking, "Why Have So Many Cities and Towns Given Away So Much Money to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's?" It's a question that many Buffalonians were asking when it was announced that our waterfront was landing one of the hunting-fishing mega stores. Then, for years, Buffalo politicians' hopes dwindled as city after city announced

Did you ever hear the expression, "Be careful what you wish for, for it may come true"? In the following case, I am hoping that more Buffalonians wish for whatever it is that they desire, because sometimes all it takes is a wish to bring something great to this city. In this particular instance it's comedian Kristen Becker (Dykes of Hazard) who has wished for 'something great'. It all began about a year ago when Marc Grossman, owner of Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia (Facebook) called her up and asked that she consider using an online booking

Now here's a creative idea when it comes to art showings. Hallwalls' newest event is being called Art Parked, and it's a hybrid gallery exhibit and tailgating party. When it comes to Buffalo, this is the best of both worlds. Artists are expected to showcase their works out of the back of their cars, and browsers are expected to walk around purchasing artwork from trunks and hatchbacks. How much fun is that? 
At this point, Hallwalls has issued a 'Call for Submission', which you can see below. I'm hoping that not only will there be some awesome artwork, but that there might

It was back in May when we first heard that 'anatomy' was moving from Elmwood to the Hotel Lafayette (see here). Since that time clothing designer Ali Eagen has been busy transforming one of the most architecturally significant spaces in the city into a design showroom that would bring tears to any bride's eyes (and possibly a few grooms). To say that Anatomy's showroom is breathtaking would be an understatement. One walk up the stairs, to the lofted work space is enough to make anyone's face light up with