On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
David_C
Hi everyone! I’m back with another mundane group of photos, this time from that famous vacation destination, my home town, Buffalo, NY, the Queen City of New York State. Our own Betty Cracker and hubby Bill are certainly aware of its charms, but, like other Rust Belt cities, it gets a bad rap and has gone through some rough times. This is about the good that is attracting new interest.
We begin at the Buffalo harbor, looking out towards Lake Erie and the Niagara River. This used to be an area of parking lots and washed-up trash, but now is a destination called Canalside. There are hotels, bars, tours, and events, and of course, the waterfront for boating, biking, and strolling.
The Erie Canal terminating at the Buffalo Harbor made Buffalo wealthy and Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were brought in to design a park and parkway system. Some parkways turned into freeways, but much of the park system, including Delaware Park (here, with the AKG art museum in the distance) still exist.
And the parkway near where I grew up, where we working class kids played football when traffic got too heavy on our street.
Have to stop for food: one of Buffalo’s signature dishes – chicken wings. The recipe was invented at the Anchor Bar and copied everywhere else, including Duffs, which is out in the ’burbs and a little less touristy.
HH Richardson designed the buildings of the Buffalo State Asylum, in his Romanesque style, built with Medina sandstone (which you can see it everywhere in WNY).
Last of the Chicago gang is Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the Darwin-Martin House. This one kind of jumps out at you as you walk through the Parkside residential area. Wright was busy in Buffalo – a few blocks from where I grew up was another one of his houses.
Really interesting is the building across the street, the William Sydney Wicks House. Wicks was an architect whose firm designed a lot of buildings in Buffalo (including the AKG), and at my Alma Mater, Cornell.
More food – this pick is for Mr. Cracker. Last time I was visiting I brought back a cooler of Redlinski kielbasa. In Buffalo, everyone soaks up a bit of Buffalo Polonia.
A Lovely Tribute to His Dog Cody, by BretH
Dog Mom
These pictures are great – my mom was an Art teacher and got her teaching degree from Buffalo State – In summers I had to go hang out while she had classes. We had regular trips over to the Albright-Knox Gallery (AKG) – I haven’t been there in years – It was closed for a while for a huge renovation in the recent past. I hope to visit sometime in the next few weeks.
David_C
@Dog Mom: I went back there in 2023 and saw some of the old paintings. We used to go there all the time. The museum has a substantial modern art collection and a slew of representative paintings from the various famous artists of the past. Didn’t post a pic of the mirrored room, which I first saw in the Pop/Op Art exhibit almost 60 years ago.
The architecture is pretty remarkable, too. There’s a whole site dedicated to it. I do miss the Virtual Cheektowaga page, thought. IYKYK
https://buffaloah.com/
E.
Nice! I have been trying to get my wife to relocate from the Bible-Belt shithole we live in and Buffalo is one of the places I always suggest. It isn’t working though.
Suzanne
I ran a race earlier this year in Delaware Park. It was absolutely beautiful.
Theres also a relatively new Rem Koolhaas expansion to the AKG that I still need to go and check out.
David_C
@Suzanne: Delaware Park is a mile from where I grew up, which was West Side then, but is ups ale Elmwood Village now. Being free range kids in the 1960s, we would walk to Delaware Park to go sledding and freeze on the way home. I didn’t include pictures of the ‘hood, but it was a walkable neighborhood with everything – grocery stores, delis, pharmacies, bars, a library – within a half mile.
Ohio Mom
@E.: Would she like someplace a little warmer and less snowy?
Full disclosure: I went to Buffalo State
BretH
My best friend in high school grew up in Buffalo and from his telling stories I too saw it as the Armpit of the World. These photos and narratives help correct the record.
To his credit my friend did grow up there in the 70’s.
David_C
@BretH: The city had its charms in the ’70s, but there was a gritty feel to the place. And lots of snow.
The one thing was that the neighborhood was still more like a neighborhood. Now that’s it’s undergone some gentrification, a lot of the storefronts are more boutique-y. Schools are now apartments, that sort of thing.
And I’m having a Cole kind of day – sewer blockage. Hopefully it’s just a snake-out, but we shall see.
There go two miscreants
I love the Prairie Style, but the Wicks house is certainly better suited for someplace that gets a lot of snow!
Betty
Nice tour of a city most of us know little about.
zhena gogolia
Now do the Guaranty Building!
David_C
@zhena gogolia: Shoot. Thought I had included that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudential_(Guaranty)_Building
Central Planning
FLW designed a boathouse for one of the crew clubs in Buffalo (or maybe one of the clubs just operate it. I think I remember being told it’s too small).
If you go a little north from Canalside (by the Peace Bridge) you can see the boathouse sometimes see a regatta (when you can usually go in it)
Deekaa6
Thanks for this. I attended Buff State in the early 80s and fell in love with the city. I see Buffalo as a most likely location for climate refugees and predict a resurgence in the near future. As I prepare to retire I am seriously considering purchasing a farm near the Niagara escarpment where the wife and I can plant some fruit trees and the kiddies can join us in time when life downstate becomes too wet and too expensive. Anyone else thinking this way?
Central Planning
@Deekaa6: My first summer job was working on an herb farm (legit, not pot) and I hated every second of it. That made me realize I would never be a farmer.
You could have all kinds of farms here in upstate – apple, grape (winery), maple, etc. I’m not sure Buffalo is less wet than where you are, but maybe a different kind of cold, frozen wet. One year Buffalo got like 7’ of snow over the course of a week and we got NOTHING in Rochester (an hour away)
ETA: First or worst jobs might make for a fun Medium Cool topic
Dog Mom
I may have crossed paths with some of you at Buff State! @David_C I remember the mirrored room and the ‘big baby’!
frosty
@zhena gogolia: Seconded! I did a rendering of the Guaranty Building for an architecture history class. It’s one of Sullivan’s most beautiful skyscrapers.
@David_C: I need to take a trip to Buffalo!
Denali5
Our granddaughter is starting out at UB this fall, so I expect we will be visiting Buffalo a lot more. It really does have a great waterfront, notable architecture, a really great art museum- and interesting winters. Easy access to Canada is also a plus. Actually upstate New York has a lot going for it- beautiful falls, amazing waterfalls, many lakes, -I sound like a tour guide and I was born in East Tennessee.
deekaa6
@Central Planning: Worst Job: Washing the walls of the mid-town tunnel from the back of a flatbed truck at 2AM. Paid well but we were soaked and it was the middle of winter.
Betty Cracker
Nice intro to a seriously underrated city! Thanks, David!
Before I met Bill, who grew up there, my sole impression of Buffalo was from a cold medicine ad that highlighted the harsh winters. When we first visited Bill’s family up there (in the summer), I was blown away by the beauty of the city and the entire area.
The food is amazing too. Best summer produce I’ve ever had.
pluky
@David_C: “My Alma Mater, Cornell.” Go Big Red! (Arts ’81)
David_C
@Central Planning: Oh man. First official job was a “sabbatical” I took during college. It was a 24 hour cafe in a hotel across the street from the airport and it happened to be the year of the infamous Blizzard of ’77. Was stuck at work for 5 days. I have pics – maybe Part 2? That winter was the snowiest in history and it was cold. I ended up going back to school and graduated, and eventually got a PhD in toxicology/immunology. I have thoughts about public health, too.
David_C
@Betty Cracker: Thanks, Betty! Now if the Bills can only win the Super Bowl.
David_C
@pluky: Since I took a “sabbatical” busing tables and earning money, we overlapped (Arts ’78, graduated ’79). Main activity was the Big Red Band.
David_C
@Dog Mom: I did hit a few of the Elmwood bars in my day.
Trivia Man
@Deekaa6: I think about habitability when climate change really takes off. My belief is that water (but not too much!) is the key. I was very happy to live on thevshorebif Lake Michigan briefly but had to relocate for better access to complicated medical care for family. Any place near the Great Lakes or in the PNW are my top choices.
Torrey
@frosty:
I need to take a trip to Buffalo!
This sudden urge to visit Buffalo is surprising fact I have just this minute discovered about my very own self, too. Where David C. gets off calling these pictures “mundane,” I don’t know.
Trivia Man
@pluky: It’s pronounced ker-nel and its the highest rank in the army
Trivia Man
In my last job search I specifically looked for a job in Rochester, Buffalo, and that general region. Very attractive to me. Also looked at Minneapolis, Sacramento, and Portland.
David_C
@Torrey: Other OtR contributors are skilled photographers. I take snapshots. I do notice things, though.
zhena gogolia
@Torrey: It’s a cool city.
oldster
Even within Buffalo there are huge anomalies in snowfall. One half of the city can get three inches while another suburb gets 3 feet. Something to ask the realtors about before you buy….
Hello to all Cornellians! I am not one — I could never have gotten in — but I am tight with a few now that I live in broader Upstate, and they seem like good folks. Beautiful campus, too, if you don’t visit in January, February, or March.
or April, to be on the safe side. But May through December, it’s beautiful!
pluky
@David_C: Big Red Band as well. Second clarinet ranks ’77 to ’79 (bailed in senior year to become a cheerleader).
Jager
My wife is from Batavia. For family visits, we fly LAX-Chi-Buf. We always schedule enough time for Beef on Weck in Buffalo. Grandson #2 will get his MS from RIT in 26.
My wife is pissed every Sunday since we seldom get the BIlls out here.
MelissaM
I’ve only ever been to the outskirts of Buffalo, but it’s on my list of places to visit. And if you need a vet there, I know a good one! (niece)
David_C
@pluky: Small world! Played 2nd clarinet and was a rank leader in ’78. Rick G. and Dan M. were roomies of mine and we’re still in touch. I tended to be hung over on Saturday mornings and going to Sour Hour didn’t help with pre-game show precision. LOL
Nancy
@E.:
My daughter and daughter-in-law are Buffaloians or Buffalos. I enjoy the area when I visit. If the snow freaks your wife out, there are some alternatives slightly to the east that may be out of the snow belt.
dilbert dogbert
One of my aunts was from Buff. I remember being shipped off to live with her and my uncle. At their place was a book of Buff photos of a great snow bomb. That was sometime in the 1950’s. I like California where we go visit the snow and the snow doesn’t come to visit us.
David_C
@Jager: I do have a beef-on-weck picture. (no emoji)
stinger
I’ve never been to Buffalo. Thanks for the scenic tour! Maybe some day…
WaterGirl
@David_C: I love the posts from everyone! You can see by the comments on your post that photography skills aren’t everything. :-) though I do love posts from our amazing photographers, too!
bluefoot
@David_C: I’ve also spent quite a few years in Buffalo back in the day and went to Cornell. So thanks for this post!
I haven’t been back in a while but Buffalo really is a great town. It’s been changing along with the rest of the country, but it does live up to its name as The City of Good Neighbors.
@Deekaa6: I know a few people in Western NY who grow quite a bit of fruit in their backyards. I’ve been tempted to move back as well.
bluefoot
@David_C: I was just reminiscing w a friend about the old Pink Flamingo…
Bupalos
Visited the Darwin-Martin house and was blown away. Even more shocking than how good it is now that it’s restored is that this utter gem was basically an abandoned flop-house through the 70’s with druggies squatting in it and a ton on the art-glass tree-of-life windows disappearing.
Buffalo is awesome.
Soapdish
I grew up in the Southtowns (Eden! Home of the kazoo factory and of the Eden corn festival!) And played in a band in Buffalo in the 90s after I graduated from Fredonia. I like to say, Buffalo is a great place to live, but you wouldn’t wanna visit there. That said the area surrounding Buffalo can be pretty MAGA.
KatInBuffalo
@David_C: When I saw Toni Morrison at Kleinhans she remarked on our spectacular homes in Buffalo. Architecture students from all over come to visit. Also, why get chicken wings when you can get some of the best Burmese and South Sudanese cuisine around, thanks to our vibrant refugee community? I live two blocks from Darwin Martin House and Delaware Park. I am blessed, but Buffalo needs to take better care of all its people. Segregation and poverty still endemic. We can do better.
bluefoot
@KatInBuffalo: oh god, I miss the Burmese food in Buffalo. And real wings. And ice cream. I could go on.
KenK
David, as Williamsville residents, my wife and I enjoyed the Buffalo tour. Thank you.
Tehanu
Never been there but it looks nice in your pix. Thanks.