Buffalo (pronounced IPA: /ˈbʌfloʊ/ by
many local residents, /ˈbʌfəloʊ/ by most others) is an American city in western New
York. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of
292,648.[1] Buffalo is the state's
second-largest city after New York City and is the county
seat of Erie County.6 It is the economic and cultural center of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area which has an overall population of 1.2
million people.[2] Buffalo is the dominant city of Western
New York which is part of the broader Buffalo Niagara Region. The Buffalo area is
also adjacent to the Golden Horseshoe. This is an urban region in southern
Ontario, Canada.
Buffalo lies at the eastern end of Lake Erie and at the southern head of the
Niagara River. The Niagara River connects Lake Erie
and Lake Ontario via Niagara Falls.
History
Passenger boats at Buffalo 1909
Pan-American Exposition - Ethnology Building at Night
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The City of Buffalo received its name from the creek that flows through it,
and likely dates from the mid-18th century, when the area was first settled by Europeans. The area was originally settled by a
Neutral Nation tribe, the Ongiara. Later, the Senecas of the Iroquois Confederacy won control over this land from the Neutrals. In 1804, Joseph Ellicott, a principal agent
of the Holland Land Company, designed a radial street and grid system that branches
out from downtown like bicycle spokes, and is one of only three radial street patterns in the US.[3] During the War of 1812, on December 30, 1813, the village of Buffalo was burned by British forces. On November 4, 1825 the Erie Canal was
completed with Buffalo being at the western end of the system. The population at the time was about 2,400. The Erie Canal brought
a surge in population and commerce which lead Buffalo to incorporate as a city in 1832 with a population of about 10,000.
The City of Buffalo has been a long time home to the African-American community. An example is the 1828 village directory
which listed 59 "Names of Coloured" heads of families.[4]
In 1845, construction was begun on the Macedonia Baptist Church (commonly called the Michigan Street Baptist Church). This
African-American church was an important meeting place for the abolitionist movement. On February 12,1974 the church was added to
the National Register of Historic Places.
Abolitionist leaders like William Wells Brown also made their home in
Buffalo.[5] Buffalo was also a terminus point of the
Underground Railroad. Many fugitives crossed the Niagara River from Buffalo to Fort Erie, Ontario and
freedom.
During the 1840's, Buffalo continued its growth as a port city. Both passenger and commercial traffic expanded with some
93,000 passengers heading west from the port of Buffalo.[6] Grain and commercial goods shipments led to repeated
expansion of the harbor. The one of the first steam powered grain elevators was
constructed which led to faster unloading of lake freighters.[6]
Abraham Lincoln visited Buffalo on February 16,1861 on his way to accept the presidency of the United States. He stayed at the
American Hotel on Main Street between Eagle Street and Court Street.[7] The Civil War years saw a great
increase in the population of Buffalo it increased from 81,029 to 94,210 in 1865. The Niagara Steam Forge Works manufactured
turret parts for the iron clad ship the USS Monitor.[7]
At the start of the 20th century, immigrants from Europe came in to work in the local mills which used hydroelectric power generated from the river. The city got the nickname City of Light at this
time due to the widespread electric lighting used. In 1881, Buffalo had deployed the first electric street lights in the United
States.
President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on Sept. 6, 1901. He died in the city eight days later and
Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th President of the United States.
The link to Fort Erie, known as the Peace Bridge, was
opened in 1927.
The city's economy declined in the later half of the 20th century, due to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1957, cutting the city off from the normal trade routes. The city, which
boasted over half a million people at its peak in the 1950s, has seen its population decline by almost 50%, as industries shut
down and people left the Rust Belt for the employment opportunities of the South and
West. However, the suburbs adjacent to Buffalo have grown from 300,000 in the 1950s to over 600,000 in 2007.
The end of 2006 saw an upturn in the city's prospects. Economic development in the city was marked at $3.5 billion in 2006
compared to a $50 million average for the previous ten years.[citation needed] New proposals and renovations were numerous, especially in the downtown
area. Buffalo ranked 83rd on the Forbes best cities for jobs list, an increase from the
previous year, and beating out cities like New York City, Cleveland, and Detroit. Buffalo is also scheduled to get a
new tallest building in 2010; the Buffalo City Tower will rise feet
( m).
Geography and climate
Buffalo is located on the eastern end of Lake Erie, opposite Fort Erie, Ontario in Canada, and at the beginning of the Niagara
River, which flows northward over Niagara Falls and into Lake Ontario. It is located at 42°54'17" North, 78°50'58" West (42.904657, -78.849405).1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 136.0 km² (52.5 mi²). 105.2 km²
(40.6 mi²) of it is land and 30.8 km² (11.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 22.66% water.
Buffalo has the sunniest and driest summers of any major city in the Northeast, but still has enough rain to keep vegetation
green and lush.[8] Summers are marked by plentiful sunshine
and moderate humidity and temperature. Obscured by the notoriety of Buffalo's snowstorms is the
fact that Buffalo benefits from other lake effects such as the cooling southwest breezes off Lake
Erie in summer that gently temper the warmest days. Rainfall is moderate but typically occurs at night. The stabilizing
effect of Lake Erie continues to inhibit thunderstorms
and enhance sunshine in the immediate Buffalo area through most of July. August usually has more showers and is humid as the
warmer lake loses its temperature-stabilizing influence.
Buffalo has a reputation for snowy winters. The region experiences a fairly humid, continental-type climate, but with a definite maritime
flavor due to strong modification from the Great Lakes. The transitional seasons are very
brief in Buffalo and Western New York.
Winters in Western New York are generally cold and snowy, but are changeable and include
frequent thaws and rain as well. Winters can also be quite long in Western New
York, usually spanning from mid-November to early April. Snow covers the ground more often than not
from late December into early March, but periods of bare ground are not uncommon. Over half of the annual snowfall comes from the
lake effect process and is very localized. Lake effect snow occurs when cold air
crosses the relatively warm lake waters and becomes saturated, creating clouds and
precipitation downwind. Due to the prevailing winds, areas south of Buffalo receive much more lake effect snow than locations to the north. The lake snow
machine starts as early as mid-October, peaks in December, then virtually shuts down after Lake
Erie freezes in mid to late January. The most well-known snow storm in Buffalo's history, the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, resulted from a combination of lake effect snow and high
winds. Snow does not typically impair the city's operation, but can cause significant damage as with the October 2006 storm.
Demographics
City proper
Like most formerly industrial cities of the Great Lakes region--the so-called "rust belt"--Buffalo has suffered through
several decades of population decline brought about by the loss of its industrial base. The city's population peaked in 1950,
when it was the 15th largest city in the United States. Its population has declined in every year since, particularly during the
late 1970s and early 1980s, when the city lost nearly one-third of its population in only five years.
As of the census2 of 2000, the city had a total population of 292,648 (2006 estimate:
276,059).
At that time of the 2000 census there were 292,648 people, 122,720 households, and 67,005
families residing in the city. The population density
is 2,782.4/km² (7,205.8/mi²). There are 145,574 housing units at an average density of 1,384.1/km²
(3,584.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 54.43%
White, 37.23% African
American, 0.77% Native American, 1.40%
Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.68% from other races, and 2.45% from two or more
races. 7.54% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 122,720 households out of which 28.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.6% are
married couples living together, 22.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and
45.4% are non-families. 37.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of
age or older. The average household size is 2.29 and the average family size is 3.07.
In the city the population included 26.3% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64,
and 13.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 88.6 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there are 83.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $24,536, and the median
income for a family is $30,614. Males have a median income of $30,938 versus $23,982 for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,991. 26.6% of the population and 23.0% of families are below the
poverty line. Out of the total population, 38.4% of those under the age of 18 and
14.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Buffalo has very sizable populations of Irish, Italian, Polish, German and African descent. Major ethnic neighborhoods still
exist but they changed significantly in the second half of the twentieth century. Traditionally, Polish-Americans were the predominant occupants of the East Side, while Italian-Americans composed a
close-knit neighborhood in the west side. The East Side is now a
predominantly African American neighborhood, while the West Side has become a melting pot of many ethnicities, with Latino culture being the strongest
influence. Throughout the history of Buffalo, the neighborhoods collectively called the First Ward, as well as much of South
Buffalo, have been comprised almost entirely of people of Irish descent.
Metropolitan area
As of 2006, Erie and Niagara
Counties had a combined estimated population of 1,154,378.[10] The racial makeup of the area is 82.2% White, 13%
African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.32%
Asian, 3.3% Hispanic, and 1.4% of all other races. In the metropolitan area, 39.68% of people are under the age
of 18 or over the age of 64, and the median age is 38. Of the total population, 82.88% have a high school diploma and 23.2% have obtained a Bachelor's
degree. The median income for a household is $38,400 and the per capita income for the area is just under $29,000.
Approximately 12% of the population is below the poverty line.
Education
Like the rest of New York, Buffalo is subject to the state’s benchmark evaluation system.
The Buffalo Public Schools curriculum is aligned to state standards set by the
Education Department. At the high
school level, students are required to pass Regents Examinations for each
course upon its completion. Currently, there are 78 public schools in the city including a
growing number of charter schools. As of 2006, the total enrollment was 41,089 students
with a student-teacher ratio of 13.5 to 1. The dropout rate is just 5.3%, and 83%
of students who graduate go on to college. More than 27% of teachers have a Master's
degree or higher and the median amount of experience in the field is 15 years. When considering the entire metropolitan
area, there are a total of 292 schools educating 172,854 students.[10] Buffalo is noted [citation needed] for its model magnet school system
attracting students with special interests, which include science, bilingual studies, and Native American studies.
Specialized facilities include the Buffalo Elementary School of Technology; the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Multicultural Institute; the International School; the Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet
School; Build Academy; Leonardo da Vinci
High School; the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts BAVPA; the Riverside Institute of Technology; Lafayette High School/Buffalo Academy of Finance; Hutchinson Central Technical High School; and the Emerson School of Hospitality. The City Honors School was
recently ranked #8 in the nation by Newsweek magazine. Buffalo is currently in the
process of a $1 billion city school rebuilding plan.
The city is home to 47 private schools while the metropolitan region has 150
institutions. Most private schools have a Roman Catholic affiliation including
St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Nardin Academy and Canisius High School. However, there are
schools affiliated with other religions such as Islam and Judaism. There are also many nonsectarian options including
The Park School of Buffalo, The Buffalo Seminary, and The Nichols School.
Complementing its standard function, the Buffalo Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education
Division provides education and services to adults throughout the community.[11] In addition, the Career and Technical Education Department offers
more than 20 academic programs, and is attended by about 6,000 students each year.[12]
Buffalo is home to two State University of New York (SUNY) institutions.
Buffalo State College, a comprehensive college, and the University at Buffalo, the flagship university center of SUNY,
each are the largest institution of its type in the system. Combined, they account for roughly 40,000 students in the area.
Other academic institutions in Buffalo or its suburbs include: Bryant & Stratton
College, Canisius College, D'Youville
College, Daemen College, Empire State
College, Erie Community College, Hilbert
College, Houghton College, Medaille
College, Trocaire College, Villa Maria
College, Niagara County Community College (Niagara Falls, NY and
Sanborn, NY).
Economy
Buffalo and the surrounding area were long involved in railroad commerce, steel
manufacture,automobile production, Great Lakes shipping and grain storage. Most of these
industries have left the city through the years. Major steel production no longer exists in the area, although several smaller
steel mills remain in operation. For example, Gibraltar Industries, a leading manufacturer,
processor, and distributor of steel products for the building, industrial, and vehicular markets is headquartered in Buffalo.
In addition, Ford maintains operation of its Buffalo Stamping Plant south of the
city, and Chevrolet has two plants, a production plant in Tonawanda near the city line, and a tool and die
plant in the city. The windshield wiper was invented in Buffalo, and the
Trico company still operates some facilities there. For many years, Buffalo was the nation's
second largest rail center, with Chicago being the first.
The traditional reputation of Buffalo as "blue collar" industrial town really no longer applies however, as much of this
industry has left the area. The regional economy can now best be described as a mix of industrial, light manufacturing, high
technology and service-oriented private sector companies. Instead of relying on a single industry or sector for its economic
future, the region has taken a diversified approach that has created opportunities for growth and expansion in the 21st
century.
Overall, employment in Buffalo has shifted as its population has declined and manufacturing has left. Buffalo's 2005
unemployment rate of 6.6% was 32% higher than New York State's 5.0% rate.[13] And from the fourth quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2006, Erie County had no net job
growth, ranking it 271st among the 326 largest counties in the country.[14] Yet the area has recently seen an upswing in job growth as unemployment has dropped to only 4.9% in
July 2007 from 5.2% in 2006 and 6.6% in 2005.[15] The
area's manufacturing jobs have continued to show the largest losses in jobs with over 17,000 fewer than at the start of 2006. Yet
other sectors of the economy have outdistanced manufacturing and are seeing large increases. Educational and health services
added over 30,400 jobs in 2006 and over 20,500 jobs have been added in the professional and business [mostly finance]
arena.[16]
Buffalo has also increasingly become a center for bioinformatics and human genome research, including work by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. This consortium is known as the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. It also includes: Buffalo
Hearing & Speech Center, Buffalo Medical Group Foundation, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Kaleida Health, Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired and Upstate New York
Transplant Services.
Buffalo is the headquarters of M&T Bank, a Fortune
500 company with assets over $60B as of 2007. HSBC Bank USA also has major
operations in Buffalo (The sports arena, which hosts the Buffalo Sabres NHL franchise, is named HSBC Arena). Other banks, such as
Bank of America and KeyBank, have corporate operations
in Buffalo, and Citigroup has recently announced it will soon follow in Amherst, New York Buffalo's largest suburb. Geico also has a regional
office in the inner-ring suburb of Amherst.
Another successful industry in Buffalo is debt collection. There are 6 major firms located in Buffalo and the surrounding
area.New Era Cap Company, the largest sports-licensed headwear company in the United
States, is based in Buffalo. They opened new headquarters in 2007 in the former Federal
Reserve Building in downtown Buffalo.
When it comes to food and beverage industry, Buffalo is home to both Rich Products, one
of the world's largest family-owned food manufacturers, and the American headquarters of InBev,
the world's largest producer of beer. Labatt moved its US headquarters to Buffalo in May 2007.
This is in large part due to Buffalo's location directly in the middle of the Northeastern Trade Corridor. The city is the heart
of the Canadian-American corridor. Over 80% of all U.S.-Canada trade occurs via border crossings in the eastern United States and
with 5 bridges to Canada, the Buffalo area is one of the key eastern border crossing locations.
Government
-
-
At the municipal level, the City of Buffalo has a council made
up of the mayor and nine councilmen. Buffalo also serves as
the seat of Erie County with 27 county representatives.
At the state level, there are three state assemblymen and two state
senators in the Buffalo area. At the federal level, Buffalo is represented by
three members of the House of Representatives.
In a trend common to Northern "Rust Belt" regions, Buffalo politics have been
dominated by The Democratic Party for the last half-century, though its
longest serving mayor of the past half-century, James Griffin, switched political
affiliations several times and most frequently attained electoral victory from socially conservative platforms. In 2005,
Kevin Helfer, the city's first major conservative mayoral candidate in over 40 years, defeated
Byron Brown by a 2-1 margin in the Conservative Party primary. Despite this, voters ultimately chose Brown, making him the
city's first African-American mayor. Union support bolstered Brown's campaign, ultimately
providing a substantial fundraising and volunteer effort.
Cityscape
Buffalo, New York from
I-190 North entering downtown.
Buffalo, New York's skyline
Neighborhoods
Buffalo consists of 32 different neighborhoods: Allentown,
Bailey-Lovejoy, Black Rock, Central Park, Cold Springs, Delaware District,
Downtown, East Side, Elmwood Village, Fillmore-Leroy, First Ward, Fruit Belt, Hamlin Park, Hospital Hill, Humboldt Park,
Kaisertown, Kensington, Kensington Heights, Lower West Side, Masten Park, North Buffalo, North Park, Parkside, Polonia, Riverside, Schiller Park, South
Buffalo, University District, University Heights, Vernon
Triangle, Upper West Side, and Willert Park.
According to the American Planning Association the Elmwood Village
neighborhood in Buffalo is ranked the third best neighborhood in America [17] The Elmwood Village is a mixed use neighborhood with hundreds of small, home grown stores and
restaurants.
Parks
-
One of Buffalo's many monikers is the City of Trees, which describes the abundance of green in the city. In fact,
Buffalo has more than 20 parks with multiple ones being accessible from any part of the city.
The Olmsted Park and Parkway System is the hallmark of
Buffalo’s many green spaces. Three-fourths of city park land is part of the system, which comprises 6 major parks, 8 connecting
parkways, 9 circles and 7 smaller spaces. Begun in 1868 by Frederick Law Olmsted
and his partner Calvert Vaux, the system was integrated into the city and marks the first
attempt in America to lay out a coordinated system of public parks and parkways. The Olmsted designed portions of the Buffalo
park system are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and are maintained by the Buffalo Olmsted
Parks Conservancy.
Waterfront
Aerial view of the waterfront at Buffalo, New York. The city is to the north.
Situated at the confluence of Lake Erie and the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers, Buffalo is a
waterfront city. The city’s rise to economic power came through its waterways in the
form of transshipment, manufacturing, and an
endless source of energy. Buffalo’s waterfront is still a hub of commerce, trade, and industry that is essential to its economic
prosperity[citation needed].
Buffalo's waterfront is being transformed from its industrial past into a focal point for social and recreational activity. A
literal focal point, viewed from above, is a marina taking the shape of a buffalo (located near the junction of the
Buffalo Skyway NY 5 and the
New York State Thruway I-190.
Standard of Living
The loss of traditional jobs in manufacturing, rapid suburbanization and high costs of labor have led to economic decline,
making Buffalo one of the poorest amongst U. S. cities with populations of more than 250,000 people. An estimated 30% of Buffalo
residents live below the poverty line, second only to Detroit. Buffalo's median
household income of $27,850 is third-lowest among large cities, behind only Miami and Cleveland; however the median household
income for the metropolitan area is $57,000.[18]
The Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area has the most
affordable housing market in the U. S. today. The quarterly NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) noted that nearly
90% of the new and existing homes sold in the metropolitan area during the second quarter were affordable to families making the
area's median income of $57,000. The area median price of homes was $75,000.[citation needed] This high affordability within the housing market combined with the
metropolitan area's short commute time and cultural offerings such as the Albright Knox Art Gallery or professional sports teams
such as the Sabres or Bills offer area residents a good quality of life.
Buffalo faces issues with vacant and abandoned houses, as the city ranks second only to St. Louis on the list of American cities with the most vacant properties per capita. Since 2000, the
city has torn down 2,000 vacant homes but as many as 10,000 still remain. Mayor Byron W. Brown recently unveiled a $100 million,
five-year plan to rip down 5,000 more houses.[19] However
an overwhelming majority of these houses are in Buffalo's east side, a predominately African American community. The city's move
away from hard industry and toward a service and bioinformatics industry has led to an improving environment which has allowed
area residents to further enjoy the area's natural offerings that include two Great Lakes, the Niagara River, and Alleghany
Mountains. In July 2005, Reader's Digest ranked Buffalo as the third cleanest
large city in the nation.[20]
Culture
Nicknames
The most common of its monikers The Queen City first appeared in print in
the 1840s, referring to the city being the second largest city in New York State behind New York City. The Queen City has also been used to describe Buffalo as the second largest American city on the
Great Lakes after Chicago. Buffalo has
also been called The Nickel City due to the appearance of a bison on the back of Indian Head nickel in the early part of the 20th century. The City of Good Neighbors
refers to the helpful, friendly spirit of its inhabitants. Buffalo is also known, especially among its residents, as The City
of No Illusions.[21][22] The city was also called the City of Light because of the widespread use
of electric streetlights in the 1880's.
People
Buffalo was first settled by New Englanders and a small but
influential number of African Americans. The first wave of European immigrants was a
large influx of
