Buffalo Doors Open

[smuncky]

Having seen the photos posted on here of Buffalo, I decided to check it out for myself.

Took the megabus there and back which was a quick, comfy and cheap ride. It was a bit funny at customs, trying to explain why I was going to Buffalo and what this Doors Open event was as none of the officers on both sides of the border knew what it was.

Overall, the architecture is quite nice for such a small city. I can only imagine what it could've been if the industries and people hadn't moved out.

Other than that, the city is basically a ghost town. Now this might be because it was Saturday and quite chilly but either way, I got the impression that no one stays in the core. I barely found a place to eat because I couldn't even find any fast food places, and wanted something else than Tim Hortons.

Having to go to the train terminal was truely an adventure without a car. Thankfully, I had a friend come with me for the trip so it wasn't that bad, but lets just say that the area I was in makes places in Scarbourough look very nice.

Would I go there again? Definitely not. Do I regret going? No. It definitely made me appreciate where I live a lot more, espeically coming back at night and having our skyline greet me.

Anyway, enjoy the pics.

 

[Mustapha]

Comments.

*Thanks smuncky!!
*That arcade is beautiful.
*The train station vending machine still has two bags of chips left in it.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Smuncky: Good Buffalo Doors Open pics!

Smuncky: Good Buffalo pics from their Doors Open 2008! What did Megabus charge you from TOR-BUF? I will chime in on these pics:
#11-Good skyline pic from Buffalo City Hall looking SE-Marine Midland Center(Now HSBC Center) and HSBC Centre Arena on the right.
#12-Looking SW at the Lake Erie shore #13-West #15-North #16-East
#17-NE toward Buffalo Central Terminal #18-E with Liberty Statues
#19-Downtown all from Buffalo City Hall
#35-Main Street Transit Mall looking S toward HSBC (formerly Marine Midland) building
#36-The Electric Building (now Tower) and interior pics following
#37 and #60-Interesting NYS map that is missing NYC and specifically Long Island in particular.
#46-The Buffalo Savings Bank Building now owned by M&T Bank
#64-Main Street LRRT mall looking N
#68-Market Arcade Visitors Center-nice-reminds me of Cleveland's Old Arcade there and following pics
#80-NFTA LRRT in original 80s color scheme
#81 to #114-Good Buffalo Central Terminal pics-You caught some interesting observations there.
For Buffalo Central Terminal info try-as posted with Flar's Buffalo pics is:
www.buffalocentralterminal.org/
Smuncky: Which NFTA Bus route did you use to get to BCT? Did you go to the nearby Broadway Market which is quite neat? Good effort here!

It surprised me that Customs would give you a hassle over this-in my opinion the USA-Canada Border-which I remember to be one of the World's friendliest-is not so friendly anymore. Long Island Mike

 

[smuncky]

LIM: We had to take the #4 Broadway bus. Got on at Court/Main and got off at Broadway and Sweet Ave.

All along Sweet, the houses are in pretty rough shape. Some are demolished, waiting to be demolished, or in one case, falling apart. There also seem to be a lot of empty lots.

It was $30.50 US round trip. So $15 each way. It could've been a lot cheaper but I decided to wait until the week of because of unpredictable weather at this time of the year. I remember looking a month earlier and it was around $12-$15 round trip.

I actually never heard of the Broadway Market, but probably wouldn't have been able to go because we had to get back to the bus terminal for the ride home.

 

[androiduk]

Thanks smuncky, wonderful pix. As a pro photographer #1 is my favourite. It's scary what's happening to some of these U.S. cities and in Buffalo's case it's going to get worse before it gets better, if it does. How full was the bus? I was going to take the overnight Megabus to New York for a day of shooting. Was the service decent and was the bus clean?

 

[smuncky]

How full was the bus? I was going to take the overnight Megabus to New York for a day of shooting. Was the service decent and was the bus clean?

bus wasn't full at all going both ways. maybe about 12-15 people. there was plenty of room to take up 2 seats if you want to stretch out and sleep. the buses are either coach canada or megabus. definitely comfy and clean, especially for the price.

i'm also thinking of doing a day trip to nyc using megabus. leave toronto in the evening, get there in the morning and spend all day there, and leave nyc in the evening to arrive back to toronto in the morning.

 

[casaguy]

Excellent pics. Thanks for sharing.

^Why am I thinking that I've seen these exact two towers in Toronto?

 

[androiduk]

^ I was thinking the same thing. Are you talking about Bay & QQ?

 

[casaguy]

Yes, I think you're right. That is what I'm thinking. I'll have to search for a comparison photo...

 

[gbelan]

they look like metro hall to me.

 

[flar]

You're right, not a lot of action or things to do downtown, but the old architecture is stunning. You should go to buffalo again, but go to Elmwood Village instead of downtown.

Great shots, you found some really nice angles.

 

[Brandon716]

Fantastic photos!

Buffalo is a city where the doors are technically always open, just that few people show up. This is a classic Buffalo pic:

 

[interchange42]

I'll echo what everyone else has said: great set of shots Smuncky! I'll comment on some favourites in your Flickr stream.

In regards to Buffalo, yeah, quite the place. There is a lot of impressive architecture there (and downtown you missed in particular Sullivan & Adler's Guaranty (now Prudential) Building which is a stunner) for what is now a small city. In 1950 Buffalo had 580,000 people living in the city proper. Today it is less than half of that, around 260,000, as the city has been losing around 3,000 people per year for years now. The metro area now has less than 1.2 million people, where at one point it had over 1.4 million. Metro has been losing 6,000 a year - so it's not just a problem with the central city here.

That said, I have a real soft spot for the city, and I hope that someday they will find the right economic pill that magically turns their fortunes around. I suppose it's partly a rooting for the underdog thing for me, partly a morbid fascination thing (you missed some even scarier areas somewhat north of the railroad station) and partly an admiration for the good things that Buffalo does have. Flar mentioned that next time you go back (which you said you wouldn't do) that you should head to Elmwood Village. He's right - and you should keep heading north from there. Buffalo has a great art gallery - the Albright-Knox - and an Olmsted designed park - Delaware - and their version of Rosedale - Parkside - all to the north of dowtown. Parkside includes Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House which is currently nearing the end of a $25 million dollar + restoration, and when it's done it will be the most amazing place...

And there are lots of other things to see beyond those, so you really should go back sometime. Don't write Buffalo off quite yet...

42

 

[Long Island Mike]

Buffalo Doors Open 2008 pics...

Smuncky: Megabus charged you $15 US each way TOR-BUF-not bad!

I figured the most likely bus route to get there would be the #4-Broadway NFTA bus.
I remember when NFTA ran route 17-Central Terminal that began its run there.
That route was ended by NFTA in the early 80s and they have not used the #17 to number any bus route since I believe.

The Broadway Market is located at 999 Broadway-just E of Fillmore Avenue on the N side of Broadway between Gibson and Mills Streets-just four short blocks from where you exited the bus to walk S on Sweet to Paderewski Drive and the BCT. Try this link-their main web page is under construction here:
www.broadwaymarket.com/docs/vendors.pdf The BM hours are: Monday thru Saturday 8am to 5pm-on Monday some vendors are open 9am-4pm.
The Save-A-Lot there is also open Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Back when this East Buffalo neighborhood was predominately Polish-American the BM thrived.
I recall going up to the Niagara Frontier 10 years ago and stopping at BCT and I noticed that the neighborhood had become predominately Black-I recall the
so-called "dividing line" was Fillmore Avenue back in the late 70s-early 80s era.

I agree with what many have said about Buffalo: That such a decent city could suffer the way that it had since its population peak in the 50s intrigues me.
Brandon: That Main Street LRRT pic looking S shows the potential that Buffalo does indeed have...
Comments and observations from LI MIKE

 

[Brandon716]

In regards to Buffalo, yeah, quite the place. There is a lot of impressive architecture there (and downtown you missed in particular Sullivan & Adler's Guaranty (now Prudential) Building which is a stunner) for what is now a small city.

Agreed 100%. Even though my earlier post was part humor, its true that they always have open doors. Buffalo is an inviting town that loves to have people come and look because they are forgotten a lot. And there's so many good buildings from its former boom days and a character that isn't totally lost.