I was born and raised in Buffalo, and have since lived in LA, NY and now Toronto. I have dreams of moving back to Buffalo, starting my own little shop along Elmwood and living a more simple life. So much so that I'm actively looking for real estate. Unfortunately, a recent trip to Buffalo made me incredibly sad, and forced me to question my plans. Read this knowing this took place at 3:00 on a Tuesday afternoon.
I got off the Peace Bridge and landed in the middle of the ghetto. My husband is always uncomfortable once we get off the bridge, but has come to terms with the streets we need to drive through, and tries to get out of the area as quickly as possible. Graffiti stained houses have plywood boarding up windows, and the only people walking the streets have stained clothes, are unshaven, overweight, eating junk food, throwing trash on the ground, and look like they are highly medicated.
Downtown was a ghost town.
We made our way to Elmwood to be just as alarmed, and ultimately frightened. The only people walking around were dressed in clothes either too big for them, or too small. Mostly everyone had a look of incredible depression on their face, and again, looked to be highly medicated (or in other cases - should be medicated), men cat-called women on the street, and what looked like drug dealers stood outside multiple shops. I'm not talking about the east side, I'm talking about Jim's Steakout on Elmwood, Wilson Farms, and the rest of what's supposed to be the best neighbourhood in the city. It's so bad that Wilson Farms puts Pepto Bismol behind locked glass. I must have seen at least a hundred people walking the streets, and only 10 or so looked like they wouldn't fit perfectly in an episode of COPS.
Why does it seem everyone in Buffalo is on drugs? Why is there such little care about appearance? Why are so many people obese? Who are these people walking around? Why were the educated people of this forum nowhere to be found? Why didn't I see police anywhere? Why was I afraid walking along Elmwood in the middle of the day in the spring?
This is the face of Buffalo. It might not be what people on this site want to hear, but it's true. The city is truly scary. Enough about restoring the historic buildings of the city. What is being done to educate the community, stop crime, enhance sophistication, build a cosmopolitan community that's not just gangsters and hunters (a quote from my Canadian husband), and get people motivated to better their lives and community?
I hope someone responds. Unfortunately, until then, we've put our plans on hold.
The (ugly) Face of Buffalo.
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Keep your plans on hold. In fact, cancel them.
Was this meant to be serious commentary, or are you just joshing us? Sounds like Amherst might be more your style.
Unfortunately this is why so many have chosen to live in Amherst instead of Buffalo. The area is great but the city needs a lot of help. It won't improve unless we have more people willing to take a chance on living in the city. The more that choose to only see the negative instead of the opportunities the longer the city will continue to decline.
An interesting diatribe coming from somebody who has lived in both NY and LA. You must not have left your condo much in either place. Maybe things will be better if you stay in Canadia, where people are merry and life is as sweet as the ketchup.
Louis and RumRunner, I appreciate your feedback - but can assure you, I am not the kind of person who lives in Amherst, and am not looking for a homogeneous, suburban city. I thrive on culture, arts, style, history, and choices - and have enjoyed those things in the major cities I've chosen to live.
It's unfortunate my comments weren't taken seriously. I hoped to hear enlightening feedback about what seems to be a serious issue in Buffalo. People driving down the street, coming in from the suburbs or another city/state/country see the city of Buffalo the same way I did. The only difference is, they don't have the love and passion for the community like I do. Frankly, I'm tired of defending Buffalo to my Toronto friends.
I lived on Elmwood seven or so years ago. Pepto Bismol at Wilson Farms wasn't locked up then. You can't tell me no one else sees this as part of a larger problem. Regardless, my point - it was a ghost town, and the few people walking the streets were not who should be the face of the city.
Dude, you weren't taken serious because your comment was a joke. The unfortunate conditions you've described are experienced in most cities in the world. You must've had your blinders on if those were the only things you saw on that particular day. Is your nose in the air? Your comments come off snobby. Poverty exists. Homes on Richmond go for up to...? 300k? Two blocks west you can purchase a home for the price of a Chevy Cobalt. If you lived on Elmwood 7 years ago and you think the street as a whole has regressed, then I don't know what to tell you. Sounds like Amherst is more your style.
And nothing against you or your spouse, but re: his hunters and gangsters comment. Have you ever watched Red Green? How about Strange Brew? Canada and Canadian cities are just as sophisticated, and equally unsophisticated as US cities. Let's make sure our own shit really doesn't stink before pointing fingers.
Louis, you've completely missed the point. Elmwood is supposed to be the cosmopolitan and cultural magnet for the city. The majority of people walking the street in the middle of a beautiful spring workday appeared to be thugs and those that, frankly, are unemployed - possibly for a reason. You'll see that in any city - but both my husband and I remarked on the un-proportional amount in Buffalo. We see this in our neighbourhood here in Toronto, but it's tempered by the mass majority of others walking the streets.
We've traveled to major cities all over the world and have never felt so uncomfortable as we did that day in Buffalo.
Have you forgot that I opened my "diatribe" stating my dream is to move back to the community to invest and help continue development? You've chosen to be defensive rather than recognizing Buffalo, and even the best part of Buffalo, has many problems to address. The only way to become competitive is to find the problems - and fix them.
If you think I'm being snobby, so be it. Hopefully others find that I'm sharing my experience and comparisons to help make the city better.
Seriously. Pepto Bismol was locked behind glass.
Maybe there was a diarrhea epidemic going on. What do you suggest? Or what are you looking for? People below the economic median or who happen to be unemployed (a significant percentage of the population last time I checked - people of all walks of life, including those prosperous, educated, and who care about their appearance) to not be allowed on Elmwood or to walk city streets in general? Isn't a mix of people what makes a city a city? As opposed to the homogenized stereotype of the suburbs. I'd just like to hear what you would like to see. Poor people might not be able to afford a vehicle and so have to walk. Buffalo is an auto-loving city; people who can afford one probably weren't walking on Elmwood or any city street on the days you were in town. What can we do to improve the image of Buffalo for you?
While I think the comments were maybe a little over the top there are some good points brought up. Visitors coming over the Peace Bridge are faced with a pretty rough neighborhood right off the bat. Now JnnTo, just so you know, that neighborhood is actually seeing quite a bit of rebuild and investment. There is an official Porter Avenue rebuild plan in place.
http://www.buffalorising.com/2011/03/residents-hope-to-tweak-porter-avenue-plan.html#SlideFrame_0
As far as Elmwood goes, I work on Gates Circle and am walking on Elmwood near every day and see plenty of well dressed and also "hipster" type folks around. Are there homeless and panhandlers? Yup there are but from my experience they are far outnumbered.
Downtown? It is a ghost town. There has been some positive work done as far as residential dwellings (lofts and high end co-ops) and the Medical Campus has seen a huge amount of investment but you are correct as far as business investment. Not much happening but we'll see how the Waterfront plans go.
Don't give up on Buffalo. For the most part it's nothing like you described it. I moved here from Long Island about 6 years ago with plans to stay for maybe a year or so to help out my friend's business. Here I am 6 yrs. later. Married, owning a home off Hertel Ave and loving Buffalo.
"We've traveled to major cities all over the world and have never felt so uncomfortable as we did that day in Buffalo."
We've traveled a lot too and couldn't disagree more. SF homeless sleep all over Market Street. NYC depends which neighborhood but I assure you there are plenty you would not feel safe in, even ones considered 'trendy' coughwilliamsburg', not to mention the true bad neighborhoods.
basically like others have mentioned this is part of City living. I don't care what neighborhood you live in you wouldn't leave an unlocked bike on your porch, but that doesn't make it bad or dangerous.
You might laugh at the security for pepto (actually bismuth subsalicylate, active ingredient in pepto) but some countries have outright ban it's use, ie France.
jinnto,
You visited Buffalo in April, which is a bad time for Buffalo as everybody has Seasonal Affective Disorder, joking of course. I can offer you this: during the last 50 years there was a migration of the middle class of Buffalo to its surrounding suburbs this happened in a number of cities and is commonly called “White Flight.” The Economy of the City of buffalo has only recently made a slight comeback. In The 1960’s through the maybe the late 1990’s Buffalo had experienced a number of setbacks, including, Olmsted’s being Proponent of White Flight, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement, Which sent American Manufacturing Jobs to Mexico, of which there is no better example than TRICO, The St. Lawrence sea way, 1980’s stagflation, the fall of the union boss and numerous other things that have almost destroyed the city of Buffalo. But still the people of Buffalo, Grin, Bare it, and get on with their lives.
There are still very pretty, very safe, very clean parts of Buffalo; however most of these are in the Suburbs, Clarence, Amherst, and East Aurora (actually has a happening arts scene). In the city the most affluent parts are The Waterfront, University bordering Amherst, Elmwood (parts) and Delaware Park areas.
The people of this Forum are very interested in not necessarily “Brining Back” Buffalo, but improving it and preserving what needs to be preserved, and work very hard to do so.
You tell your Toronto friends that they wouldn’t understand, there city hasn’t had any hardship
It really does sadden me that you had a bad experience. Perhaps you will try again.
Caz
I've never felt uncomfortable on Elmwood Avenue. However, a few years ago, when I was living in Cleveland, my then-girlfriend and I took a weekend getaway to Buffalo. We walked down Elmwood Avenue from Forest to Allen, and she felt _very_ uncomfortable between Summer Street and North Street. There were a lot of thugs loitering around that area, many wearing oversized parkas and puffy coats despite it being June.
@ Jnnto:
People are not taking you "seriously" (in your opinion) because your subjective experience is meaningless to everyone except for you. Having said that, your subjective experience is, of course, paramount to you. So put your plans on hold and, while you're at it, don't hold your breath waiting for everyone in Buffalo to stop looking like they're on drugs. Continue judging people based entirely on what they look like - that is very cosmopolitan and artistic of you, by the way - and just enjoy your life wherever it is you live it. Once our elected officials have figured out how to eliminate crime for the first time in human history, then perhaps you'll want to live here. There is no sense in wasting time wishing this place was different from the way you perceive it to be, since your perception is yours and yours alone, and I'm going to guess that nobody can dissuade you from your opinion.
I can attest that the Elmwood Village is a very nice place to live. I have lived here with my wife and child for over three years without incident. And, while this may be hard to believe, we live close to the allegedly frightful "Summer-to-North Street Oversized Parka Cauldron." Nevertheless, of all the neighborhoods I have lived in, Elmwood is by far my favorite. If given the choice, my wife would pick a brand new house in an exurban suburb 100% of the time. When we moved to Erie County, I decided that we would live in this neighborhood. Nevertheless, she likes it here, too.
But who cares about us? If YOU don't want to live here, then don't. If you do want to live here, then do. It really is that simple. Hey, I would move back to Brooklyn if I could get a 2,000 square foot 4 bedroom, 2 bath apartment for under $2,000 in a neighborhood I wanted to live in. But I cannot, so I do not. I would advise you to adopt the same attitude. Continue visiting Buffalo if you please, and whenever it seems to you that everyone is no longer on drugs or dealing drugs, then move here. Until then, stay put. What can I say - all your narcissistic opinions about Buffalo are belong to us. Deal with it. And, if you don't want to live here, don't live here. Whenever that time comes when you feel safe enough to move here, then do it. I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms. This website will probably even do a story about you.
"what looked like drug dealers stood outside multiple shops"
Since you said it, you surely won't mind if I ask - what does a drug dealer look like?
^^
"He was a huge, beastly, bulging man and...he was wearing a blue leisure suit. The plates were from Kansas"
Hehe. Nevermind me - I'm just yakin' on a bone.
JnnTO,
The Peace Bridge neighborhood isn't very appealing to outsiders, that's for sure. It has its jewels- LaSalle Park, Buffalo Yacht Club, and West Side Rowing Club- but those are pretty isolated across the 190. Grant Street further up the West Side is seeing a revival, but that neighborhood will continue to be in limbo as long as the new Peace Bridge plans are in limbo.
Elmwood (and Buffalo) in April is iffy, not quite summer but not quite winter. You've missed the beautiful lights and snow mixture, and you're too early for the festivals. I bet if you took your tour 5 or 10 minutes later you would have seen tons of kids from Nardin, Canisius, and Buff Sem patronizing the shops in the area. I'd say give it another shot in full summer. I do know the crazies have names, and personalities. They are part of elmwood. One of the homeless guys actually runs a jewelry making session at Lafayette Presbyterian Church.
As for some of the commenters, they just don't see the fact people want to come back to Buffalo. Their culture that rejects people from other areas will be the downfall to the region. We could be capitalizing on the Canadian Golden Horseshoe, and tons of cars on our roads are already Canadian. While preserving our architecture, and heritage, Buffalo needs to become more accepting of risk, other races, and change before things will actually... change.
Genesse Gateway is a great example.
Buffalo is currently going through another period of city puberty. Unlike NYC we do not have the crazy amount of people driving up the property needs. So buildings are left empty. People loose hope and move out.
The people who stay? Who want to make things better and do? With support, even in a passing 'good job' they can.
The Peace Bridge area is in an unfortunate state of limbo due to the potential of the 'new' bridge that people started talking about 15 years ago.
The fastest way to fix Buffalo is to move back. To essentially take it over. I f you move into a 'not so good' area and then convince another family to move in there? It's a start. It pushes people to make a decision to get themselves out of their own personal limbo which will help the city as a whole.
Since I live on Summer right off Elmwood (where I raise my kids and own a home) I think you go this reaction because it simply doesn't fit the description! I'm in that Wilson Farms all the time, and haven't had any trouble for a decade. Occasionally, there's a guy outside asking for change. We walk around here at night and go to restaurants. Is there some crime here? Sure. But the place is getting better. In the early 1990s, I lived in NYC and used to play softball on a field north of Houston, right off FDR drive. After the game, we used to take our cleats off and literally jog at speed through the Lower East Side and even Alphabet city (there're no subways down in that area). Now that was a sketchy place. And look at it today, Tompkins Sq is pretty nice, Alph city has great restaurants. I can see Elmwood getting there soon enough.
I don't usually post to these kind of discussions but just had to weigh in here. I moved away from Buffalo in college, and lived in NYC for 10 years and Boston for 12. I just moved back because my mother has Alzheimer's. I've been amazed at how much better the city is than when I left. I went the farmer's market on Bidwell the other day and it felt vibrant and cool. The Elmwood area and Allentown are kind of the same as they ever were, but do seem to have a few more businesses and more community involvement (check out First Fridays in Allentown). I went to the North Park Theater for the first time in 20 years the other day and was amazed at how great Hertel looked. Even Amherst St. is looking better.
I bought a house in South Buffalo because that's where my mother wants to live. SB is looking pretty shabby, except for one part in the center of it which luckily is where I bought -- but even here, I see a ton of potentially great housing stock. Some day it could be a place for artists and musicians who can no longer afford Elmwood Village. Abbott Rd. and Seneca St. could become little Elmwood Villages, with Olmsted's Cazenovia Park in between. It will probably be a long time before this happens, but meantime I'm actively looking for more real estate in the city; something I never thought I'd do here. Real estate prices in town have gone up so much for a reason.
I can't imagine how jnnto, the original poster here, got by in New York or gets by now in Toronto if she feels that way about city living. (Or do you never leave Etobicoke?) It's comments like hers that give Buffalo a reputation it no longer deserves. People won't come and try to change things if they think jnnto is right.
I don't think you're being fare. As horrible as the title of this thread is, and digs made about Buffalo you can't blame the poster for giving Buffalo a bad reputation. The fact of the matter is most people still do judge a book by it's cover and unless you live in Buffalo and know where to to find all that is good it does leave most who visit or pass through it with a very bad first impression. Most places that look a little sketchy to most are even more unnerving to people unfamiliar with the surroundings they find themselves in. That goes for most cities.
I live in Buffalo myself. Born an raised here. Now i live on the East side, right off of lovejoy.. with my 2 kids, and my man. I didn't take this post seriously at all. Downtowns a ghost town? Only obese people? homeless people? drug dealers? wheres all the smart people? Clearly your not looking at all the good. Yeah, we have obese people, an homeless people, and drug dealers.. but you can honestly tell me.. that where you live you dont have any of them? Because thats bullshit. and downtown is not a ghost town.. all the smart people work downtown. maybe you just came at a wrong time. if you believe buffalo to be such a terrible place, then stay where you staying.. because if it didnt work for you then, it isnt going to work for you now. everyone has their own oppoins about buff but i love it here. an its my home.
So you won't move to New York ha?
But seriously, you cannot judge a place from one visit. If you really think of moving here you should visit several times, at different times of day, weeknights and weekends, etc.