An Unguided Architectural Tour of Buffalo, NY
Last month, we had occasion to take a day trip to Buffalo. Despite having spent our entire lives in New York City we’d never been to the next most-populous city in the state. The purpose of the trip isn’t important (okay, we were picking up a Siberian cat for the Brownstoner household–Mrs. B is allergic…
Last month, we had occasion to take a day trip to Buffalo. Despite having spent our entire lives in New York City we’d never been to the next most-populous city in the state. The purpose of the trip isn’t important (okay, we were picking up a Siberian cat for the Brownstoner household–Mrs. B is allergic to regular cats) but we found ourselves with a couple of hours to kill in between flights and decided to take a somewhat haphazard walking tour of the formerly great commercial center. With the decline of heavy industry in the area and shipping traffic, the city began a slow but steady decline that resulted in abandoned buildings, widespread unemployment and overall economic malaise. From what we saw, there are encouraging signs of rejuvenation and gentrification (no one’s complaining up there) happening north of the Downtown area. And they’ve certainly got the raw material to work with: The architecture–from the office buildings of Downtown, to family houses to Allentown to the mansions of Millionaire’s Row–was stunning. Herewith follows a random smattering of buildings that grabbed our attention for one reason or another. Apologies for the less-than-stellar photos. All we had with us was an iPhone and it was still pretty early in the morning on a winter day.
If Cuomo ever approves gas drilling Buffalo will be a boom town again.
I lived in Binghamton after college in a fabulous Victorian mansion. It had belonged to the man who invented the oyster cracker for clam chowder- who knew you could make so much money with a little flour, water and yeast? But the architecture was also magnificent in parts of the city. Sadly the hurricane last year did so much damage. It’ll take awhile to come back. ut so many of the smaller cities are treasure troves of great architecture. I’m thinking MM should do a BOOK.
I lived in Binghamton after college in a fabulous Victorian mansion. It had belonged to the man who invented the oyster cracker for clam chowder- who knew you could make so much money with a little flour, water and yeast? But the architecture was also magnificent in parts of the city. Sadly the hurricane last year did so much damage. It’ll take awhile to come back. ut so many of the smaller cities are treasure troves of great architecture. I’m thinking MM should do a BOOK.
Oh- and good luck with then new kitty! Why do people with allergies not have trouble with siberians?
Oh- and good luck with then new kitty! Why do people with allergies not have trouble with siberians?
A few years ago, we got ridiculously little snow; a few years before that, the kind of storm they call out the National Guard for. http://goldensnowball.com/
Mais non, mon ami. McKinley was shot on the grounds of the PanAm Exhibition, http://www.buffalopresidentialcenter.org/McKinley%20Marker.html. He died at the Milburn House, roughly where Canisius High School is.
All the old trees died of Dutch Elm disease. At least that’s what my Mom told me growing up there. There was also a really horrible ice storm a few years back that struck in early October before the leaves fell.