|
Buffalo, New
York serves
as the seat for Erie
County in Northern New York State. Known as
the “Queen City” by area residents, one
local tradition says Native American Indians
named it for those who lived in a place known as
Buffalo
Creek. Another suggests that the French term
“beau fleuve” or “beautiful river”, the
Niagara River, inspired the name.
Noted
for its hearty winters, Buffalo lies between the
Great
Lakes of Ontario
and Erie.
In December of 2001, a six-day
storm dropped a record seven feet of snow on
Buffalo. It shares its climate with the
bordering Canadian
neighbor, Ontario.
The 41 square
miles that comprise the city of Buffalo contain
a housing density of 7205 people per square mile.
Buffalo, New York is found at latitude
42.886N, longitude -78.878W in the northwest
corner of New
York State.
Buffalo,
NY has produced two US Presidents, Millard
Fillmore and Grover
Cleveland . When President
William McKinley visited the infamous Pan-American
Exposition here in 1901, he was shot. He
died eight days later. Theodore
Roosevelt subsequently became the 26th
president, with the ceremony conducted in a
house on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo.
Always
an industrial town, Buffalo’s boom period
began with the completion of the Erie
Canal in 1825. In
recent decades however, the area suffered major
economic setbacks with the closing of steel
plants. That in turn helped fuel restructuring
and downsizing of the auto
industry in the area, and the closing of
several airplane manufacturers and severe
outsourcing by others.
The
estimated
population, in 2003, was 285,018. This
proved a loss of almost 10,000 residents since
2000, following a greater than 10% decrease
during the decade from 1990 to 2000. The white
population just peaks over the half way mark at
54% over the mixture of non-white residents in
this culturally and economically homogenized
city. A strong number of high school graduates,
74.5%, create a solid labor pool for the mostly
manufacturing and service industry jobs in the
Buffalo area. Median household income for 1999
was $24,536 with a per capita money income of
$14,991. In that same year, over one quarter of
the city’s population (26.6%) fell below the
poverty line.
Buffalo,
NY contains an effective but aging Metro
Bus and Rail system that carries about
94,000 passengers daily in the Buffalo/Niagara
Area.
Buffalo,
New York has served as the backdrop for a number
of Hollywood movies,
including "Bruce Almighty",
"Canadian Bacon", "Hide in Plain
Sight" and ”The Natural". Buffalo is
the birthplace of the original “Buffalo
Wing” and the lesser-known delicacy of the
“Wreck”, a roast beef sandwich on a salted
roll. The internationally recognized Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra calls Buffalo home,
as does the Pop Rock group “The Go-Go Dolls”.
There are a number of cultural venues within or
slightly outside the city. Within ten miles of
downtown Buffalo, NY are the Albright-Knox
Art Gallery, Buffalo
and Erie County Historical Society, The
Buffalo Museum of Science, Burchfield-Penney
Art Center, and on the lighter side, The
Pedaling History Bicycle Museum.
The
thought of Buffalo, New York goes hand in hand
with its popular neighbor and well-known
destination of Niagara
Falls, which lies just a few miles to the
north. The many parks
and wildlife areas that populate the more
rural sections of Erie and Niagara Counties
provide a starkly different experience from the
urban environment of the city of Buffalo.
Buffalo is a proud and struggling working class
town with a hi-tech industrial presence,
surrounded by a balanced mix of classic culture
and old world charm. |
