Posted February 10, 201114 yr I visited good ol' Buffalo from January 2-6, 2011 to attend the World Junior Hockey Tournament and to take in the sights and sounds of the city, including the City Hall, Downtown, the Erie County Historical Society, Elmwood Village, Lincoln Parkway and the Albright-Knox Gallery. Here's part one with the WJHC Semi-Final games, City hall and downtown tours. My hotel, Holiday Inn, in Allentown. Nice place, perfect for my needs. The best part is the view you get of downtown Buffalo from here! I call this the "BuffCity" view. My room, not too fancy, the way I like it! The hotel is across the street from the Wilcox Mansion on Delaware Avenue, where Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated. Delaware and North streets. Main Street scenes NFTA Metro Summer-Best station... Buffalo's subway stations are immaculate compared to others I have seen, like Toronto and New York's Took the train downtown... Buffalo's Magnificent City Hall, built in 1932... I find it interesting that a Canadian flag is flying here... Looking up... The U.S. Courthouse, nearing completion... Lobby of the City Hall City Hall interiors First time in the observation deck of city hall... Downtown Buffalo from the 28th floor observation deck of the City Hall Yes, it was snowing pretty good here... Statler Hotel... Liberty Building Electric Tower Seal of the City of Buffalo City Hall front doors Detail inside City Hall... One of City Hall's many impressive doors... Mayor's Office, where Byron Brown gets the job done! Conference Room... The snow passed on, got up to the observation deck again, and got clearer pictures! Buffalo Central Terminal The HSBC Arena Ellicott Square, built in 1896 by Charles Atwood, named after Joseph Ellicott, who founded Buffalo. Ellicott Square Entrance Looking out from inside... Ellicott Square Lobby... Inside Ellicott Square Dinner @ City Grill Restaurant... One M&T Plaza, designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the same architect who designed the World Trade Center centers in New York City, which were lost in 9/11. Main Street Tower, third tallest building in Buffalo. Guaranty Building, designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. It is a steel structure with Terra Cotta on the outside. Built in 1894, one of the first tall buildings built in the city of Buffalo and one of the first overall in the United States. Guaranty Building Entrance... Liberty Building, built in 1925 with two replicas of the Statue of Liberty on top. 23 storeys high, the fourth tallest in Buffalo. Buffalo/Niagara convention center, built in the 1970s. A brutal type building, as was common for many buildings in the 70s. Statler Hotel Statler Hotel was built in 1901 for the Pan-Am Exposition held in Buffalo, but unfortunately it sits empty at the moment. But it's in such good shape! Fortunately many efforts have been put forth to save this great building by Mark Croce, who had already invested in Buffalo. New Era Cap Company's flagship store. New Era is headquartered in Buffalo. Buffalo Savings Bank, built in 1901 by Green & Wicks, former headquarters of the defunct Buffalo Savings Bank, now is an M&T Branch. Inside the Buffalo Savings Bank building... Electric Tower, the focal point on New Year's Eve in downtown Buffalo, built in 1912 and designed by James A. Johnston. Inside the Electric Tower, it has been modernized..., Key Towers, two of downtown's newer buildings... Market Arcade... Market Arcade built in 1892 by E.B. Green & W.S. Wicks and is a similar model to London, England's Burlington Arcade, the front and rear entrances are exactly the same and the Buffalo head on top is very impressive. Shea's Buffalo Theater, built in 1926 and originally a movie house, built by Chicago architects Rapp and Rapp, designed similar to many European theatres and movie houses. Buildings in the Theatre District... Rotary skating rink... Main Street shot of downtown Buffalo... Row houses, I call it Manhattan-style living in Buffalo. Building in Allentown... The Mansion on Delaware Avenue... built in 1869, restored in 2001 as a luxury hotel. Built by George Allison, second empire architecture. Trinity Church, erected 1886 as the second episcopal church in Buffalo. Buffalo Club in the Watson house, built in 1835 by Philander Hodge. Asbury Delaware Church, built in 1876. Looking up at an impressive apartment building... Back on the subway I go, over to the HSBC Arena... Semifinal #1: Sweden vs. Russia warmups... Under way in the first period... Russia scores early to make it 1-0! NHL prospect and Russia captain Vladimir Tarasenko scored the goal. Action in the Russian end of the ice... Second period... Russia is up 2-0... But Sweden, knowing how good they are, breaks the ice to make it a 2-1 game and then eventually tie it at 2. Sweden scores again to take a 3-2 lead... ... NOT SO FAST, Russia came through again late in the third period to tie the game at 3. Heading to OOOOOOOOvertime! Overtime solved nothing, going to a shootout... That Russian goaltender Dmitri Shikin, played on his head this game... makes a brilliant save in the shootout.. Russia breaks the goose eggs in the shootout thanks to Denis Golubev Then Shikin stopped the last Swede player, RUSSIA WINS!!! Advances to the Gold medal game to face either Canada or USA Team Russia celebrating... These Swedish fans left very disappointed... Post-Game Ceremonies... Russia and playing of their anthem and flag rising... Outside the HSBC Arena after a walk around the block in anticipation of the MOST hyped game in the tournament, Canada vs. USA... Canadian fans eagerly waiting to get in... Yes, once again, packed going into the arena... The Canadian fans SEVERELY outnumbered the U.S. fans in their own arena! LOL! Start of practice... Team USA... Team CANADA!!! This is a rare occasion where you'll see me in the HSBC Arena actually cheering for the team with the Maple Leaf. Sea of Red and White... We severely outnumbered the USA fans, I think it was like 80-85% Canadian fans and only 15-20% USA. Skaters carrying the US and Canadian flags! Team Canada and USA skating on to the ice, ready for action! Players gathering at Center Ice before the puck drop... Action starts after the puck drop!!! CANADA scores! It was deafening in the HSBC Arena when that first Canadian goal was scored! Canada's Curtis Hamilton made it 1-0! Look at all the Canadian fans, just AMAZING! First period action... SCORE!!! Quinton Howden makes it 2-0 Canada! First period over, Canada leads 2-0 Jack Campbell still playing his butt off this game, making some great saves for team USA. So is Mark Visentin for Canada. SCORES!!! Ryan Johansen gives Canada a 3-0 lead! We're all over these guys, Jack Campbell still trying to keep his team in it. All the Canadian fans standing and cheering! Start of the THIRD! Sabres prospect Zack Kassian scored on a break to make it 4-0! Third period action... But Chris Brown scored for Team USA on the power play to end the shutout bid for Visentin to make it 4-1 Canada. Game Over! Team Canada gets its REVENGE on Team USA and wins 4-1, and will play Russia in the GOLD medal game! Canadian fans cheering and applauding... Sabres GM Darcy Regier presents Jack Campbell with the Player of the Game award for Team USA... then Mark Visentin with the Player of the Game award for Team Canada... Canadian national anthem playing and the flag being raised to the rafters... Team Canada raising their sticks up... Team Canada and Team USA shaking hands, these games between these two great countries are always classic! This one was no different! Celebration in the main concourse of the arena... Celebration outside the arena... Hope you all enjoyed it! Part 2 coming soon!
February 10, 201114 yr Well done! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 10, 201114 yr There's some great architecture, but overall I'm just not a fan of the aesthetics of Great Lakes cities (excluding Chicago). The streets all seem wide, and there doesn't seem to be the same level of charm you get from East Coast cities or river cities.
February 10, 201114 yr Looks very similar to Cleveland in my opinion...Not that it's a problem. Great Photos!
February 10, 201114 yr Buffalo is a strange one. I happened to be there New Year's Eve also on my way to Niagara Falls. More impressive buildings in the downtown area and in the Elmwood area than cities that are similar or larger (our 3 c's included) but seems much emptier (Elmwood Village excluded). Worth a visit just to gawk at the architecture.
February 11, 201114 yr Thanks, Jaybird. I appreciate a Buffalo post by someone who is really familiar with the place.
February 11, 201114 yr Excellent tour. I especially appreciate that you include the beautifully-detailed interiors of some of the outsanding vintage buildings. City Hall looks even more splendid on the inside than on the outside.
February 11, 201114 yr Buffalo is a hidden gem. I especially like the fact that most of their "Millionare's Row" on Delaware Ave was saved. Most of the mansions are now headquarters for non profits, law offices, etc. A beautiful couple miles of city scenery!
February 11, 201114 yr Thank you for posting these - like Robert mentioned, I've been familiar with the exteriors of City Hall and Buffalo Savings Bank, but it's a real treat to see the equally gorgeous interiors. clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
February 12, 201114 yr great thread, very well done. i always appreciate annotation of the buildings and stuff. never been inside of city hall. if only i'd known it had an observation deck. and thank you for including all the hockey fun!
February 13, 201114 yr I am so glad you all appreciate these pics of Buffalo! On SSC, they're not as appreciative. I thought I would take the time to tour the inside of Buffalo's gems and see what it looks like on the inside and was I glad I did! I don't know why people trash the city so much, yes it has its ghetto areas (what cities don't?) but this city has wonderful architecture, neighborhoods, good food, sports, cultural heritage... and don't forget the friendly people!
February 13, 201114 yr ^Buffalo is no more ghetto than Toledo, Detroit, or Cleveland. People who trash Buffalo probably aren't too familiar with the other Lake Erie cities (or the worse parts of upstate New York). Those who have seen worse know that Buffalo is a gold mine.
February 13, 201114 yr I can actually vouch for Buffalo--due to its size I think in some ways it's a LOT better off than Cleveland or Detroit.
May 29, 201114 yr I can actually vouch for Buffalo--due to its size I think in some ways it's a LOT better off than Cleveland or Detroit. Thank you! At least one person agrees with. I tried to convince an ex-UrbanOhio forumer that (who shall remain nameless), and how great Buffalo really is, and he started acting like an arrogant ass. Even though he apparently has been to Buffalo, he doesn't know the city well.
May 30, 201114 yr I love Buffalo, such an awesome city. Although were I in charge of USA Hockey and ever had the decision on which of our cities were to host these types of events, I'd go with someplace like San Diego or El Paso. In other words, as far away from the hockey rabid fans of America's Hat as possible. ;)
May 31, 201114 yr Good news, the Statler hotel is now in the process of being renovated! http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/buffalo/Visible-progress-at-the-Statler-Towers
June 1, 201114 yr The Statler was HUGE. I recall that thing when I was in Buffalo last spring. I tried to convince an ex-UrbanOhio forumer that (who shall remain nameless), and how great Buffalo really is, and he started acting like an arrogant ass. Even though he apparently has been to Buffalo, he doesn't know the city well. The lakefront urban renwal stuff is a fail. Yeah, its nice they have those new condos and apartments down there but the place looks like a suburban multifamily development, and its cut off from downtown by that freeway. ... and don't forget the friendly people! This is one of the things I noticed. The people there are very outgoing! I had some good times during my brief stay. Buffalo is no more ghetto than Toledo, Detroit, or Cleveland. ..and its LESS ghetto than Dayton! There are neighborhoods in Buffalo that could be in Dayton (Black Rock) but are in much better shape than comparable Dayton areas (Twin Towers, Old North Dayton). And they still have an outlying neighborhood market hall (near that old terminal building).
June 1, 201114 yr ..and its LESS ghetto than Dayton! There are neighborhoods in Buffalo that could be in Dayton (Black Rock) but are in much better shape than comparable Dayton areas (Twin Towers, Old North Dayton). And they still have an outlying neighborhood market hall (near that old terminal building). Buffalo has comparable "rundown/ghetto" areas to OND and Twin Towers (Willert Park and First Ward come to mind immediately which both are far worse). Though Twin Towers/OND aren't "ghetto," they are just rundown. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 2, 201114 yr Hah, the thread parent stayed in the same hotel I did! I was planning on staying closer to dowtown, in the 'Chip Strip' but got this instead. Lucky that I did because it was a good location! That great Rust Belt Books place was just a few blocks away. Great little neighborhood!
June 2, 201114 yr Buffalo has comparable "rundown/ghetto" areas to OND and Twin Towers (Willert Park and First Ward come to mind immediately which both are far worse). Though Twin Towers/OND aren't "ghetto," they are just rundown. That's sort of a pet peeve of mine. It seems that a lot of people (just speaking in general) like to use those two words interchangeably, when they are not the same. MA and CT have a lot of areas that are rundown but not ghetto. Just like you can go down south and find some relatively nice areas that are "ghetto." Anyway, to get back on topic, Buffalo is certainly a city that is off the radar and underrated. I remembered seeing those new condos that Jeffrey mentioned; the reason I remember is because they notably looked out of place IMO, and looked rather sterile. However, Buffalo is still a great city, and probably my favorite city in the Rust Belt. Additionally, the Anchor Bar is a place everyone should visit.
June 27, 201113 yr Your pictures of City Hall, alone, were worth the price of admission to this fine post! Like others have already mentioned, Buffalo has many architectural gems built in the grand style and your interior shots of them were most appreciated!
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