What are the main differences between Buffalo and Rochester, NY?

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by chris08876

I never realized how big Buffalo was. Google Earth has the whole city in 3D. Was checking it out and even with the low rise nature of it, its very large and dense. Many midrises too. Nice collection of prewars. Maybe another a difference between the two is that Buffalo has more prewars!

In fact, I was checking out other cities and am really surprised with the density in upstate NY. 2D aerials can be deceiving, but 3D allows for the city to really come alive, aside from actually being there.

Last Fall I drove through upstate NY and made a stop at Niagara Falls and drive through DT Buffalo. I was impressed with Buffalo and the lakefront, but experienced the hood of Niagara Falls when looking for (an open) gas station.

Wow, haven't seen blight like that in decades.

[kgbnsf]

Originally Posted by relnahe

Mike Toronto again gets it wrong. Yes Buffalo has a bit more blight than Rochester. But in virtually every other facet Buffalo is far superior city. Buffalo has less crime, better schools, less poverty, better history, better culture/museums, better waterfront, better architecture, better neighborhoods, better downtown, better Summers, more energy, more real, and way better people. Before anyone says anything, I'm a born and raised Rochesterian.

The only advantage ROC has is the George Eastman house.

Also Rochester has become very bombed out. The western part of the city has many parts that look no different than east Buffalo.

Wow, a little extreme don't you think? Rochester has just one advantage? Buffalo is a "far superior" city, lol okay. I'll maybe give you superior in some aspects but in almost every published measurement/rating, they rank close. Hardly "far superior". New York City, Boston, for most people, would be considered "far superior" to Rochester. Buffalo, not so much.

How do you quantify "better history", "better culture/museums", "better architecture", "better neighborhoods" (have you even spent any substantial time in multiple Rochester neighborhoods in the last decade?), "better downtown", "better summers" (they are 60 miles apart, how much better can it be?), more energy (I'll assume you are not referring to gas & electric), "more real" (?what does that even mean?) and what makes Buffalonians 'way better' people?

Sweeping generalizations and unsubstantiated claims, subjective at best, undermine your Buffalo boosterism claims. The two cities are mid sized rust belt cities that have seen better days. They are 60 miles apart and very similar in many ways. And, far from one being an emerald jewel and the other downtrodden, as you would have it, they both experience the same challenges and have more in common than not.

I have spent considerable time in Rochester, less in Buffalo- and while I personally find Rochester to be nicer (for what matters to me), I openly admit I haven't explored every corner of Buffalo and I don't discount it.

[Wigs]

The main difference between Buffalo and Rochester:

Buffalo is a red-hot Sahlen's town



Rochester is a white-hot Zweigle's town

[Wheelingman04]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Ive always wondered about the nuances of these cities as well. Interesting stuff.

I agree.

[Dr Nevergold]

Originally Posted by Wigs

The main difference between Buffalo and Rochester:

Buffalo is a red-hot Sahlen's town



Rochester is a white-hot Zweigle's town

So you are saying both towns are a bunch of wieners?

[songstress76]

Originally Posted by Wizened Variations

Buffalo and Rochester have a major difference: Buffalo is far closer to a huge world class city- Toronto- than Rochester is to any major metropolitan area.

whereas the trip from Rochester to NYC takes approximately 5:45 drive time This basically means that Toronto, from Buffalo, can be a one day affair, whereas traveling from Rochester to NYC would require an overnight stay.

So, I haven't lived in Western NY in 12 years. I live in Washington, DC. However, I'm confused by this statement. Rochester is about 45-60 mins from Buffalo. Therefore, it's about an hour more to get to Toronto from Rochester than it is from Buffalo. Therefore, it can be a day trip from Rochester to Toronto as well. I guess I don't get the point nor why NYC was even brought up. Seemed like a stretch.

BOTH are mid size cities and NEITHER have anywhere remotely close to a large city feel. They both have rough areas. Neither will make you feel like you're in some big metropolitan city. Neither has a crime rate that should make you run for the hills. They are both nice places to raise kids. YES, Rochester is more economically sound and the growth rate is higher. BOTH have declining populations but Buffalo's is declining at a much faster pace. Right now they are very similar in population. However, the declining population will likely have Rochester passing Buffalo in population in the near future.

That's my synopsis as someone born and raised in western NY. I've spent tons of time in both places.

[Docere]

Interesting question.

Buffalo is perceived as the more blue collar city and Rochester the more white collar city. City proper demographics are quite similar in terms of Black population and share of college grads. But Rochester suburbs/metro more white collar over all. Trump did better in Erie County than Monroe County.

Buffalo has a sort of mini-Cleveland thing going on, has the feel of a big city that has seen better days, good cultural amenities, white ethnic population evenly split between Italian and Eastern European etc.

Rochester is more "Northeastern." Italian Americans are the most visible white ethnic group, in line with Upstate NY generally.

[Docere]

Buffalo's downtown is arguably in better shape though:

https://buffalonews.com/2018/06/28/b...two-downtowns/

[Antares41]

Buffalo is likely undergoing its biggest construction boom in decades, mostly due to 1) UB downtown Medical Campus,2) Canalside, 3) Conversion of formerly abandon warehouse into residences, 4) increase in hotel construction, and 5) airport expansion (Buffalo handles a lot of Canadian travelers). There even renew talk of expanding the Metro up to UB north and/or to the airport (a better choice in my opinion). Even Buffalo tallest bldg. ( formerly the HSBC bldg.) will be occupied once again by M&T bank. Still a lot of work needed to be done to spread development out to the inner city neighborhoods east of downtown. Not sure what's happening in Rochester (which is in a more beautiful part of the NY state than Buffalo), but, Buffalo is slowly improving.

[dc_denizen]

Nice to hear about hsbc building being occupied again.

[PhillyRising]

I was in both this past winter and I was in Rochester last summer as well. Rochester feels more like a corporate city and Buffalo felt more working class. They both came off as nice places to live, but I was also there in the dead of winter and sitting in the Buffalo airport for 7 hours waiting for American Airlines to get me back to Philadelphia as it was snowing was not a plus.

[Docere]

In 2016, Trump did better in Erie County than in Monroe County. That's a reversal of the traditional pattern where Monroe voted to the right of Erie.

[edale]

I know almost nothing about either city, but assumed Buffalo was much larger. I'm surprised to see Buffalo's urban area is under a million, and I'm surprised that Rochester's is as big as it is.

After poking around Google Streetview, I'm pretty blown away by Park Ave. in Rochester. Such beautiful homes, mature trees, great commercial buildings between the residential neighborhoods. I know Buffalo has some cool neighborhoods, too, but Elmwood Village doesn't seem as impressive as what I saw along Park Ave. I'd like to eventually visit these cities, but they are pretty out of the way from other things. Maybe whenever I get to Toronto I can include a day trip to check out Buffalo and Rochester.

[dc_denizen]

Buffalo is on the upswing

[Razor]

It's been awhile, but the impression for both cities was pretty much what thers have echoed.They both seen better days..I love the bones of Buffalo though..You can tell that it had more prominence before..Great stock of pre war buildings. It definitely has more of a legacy status then Rochester IMO.
I'm also impressed that Buffalo has two of the big 4 sports teams..Not bad for a relatively small metro. Rochester has the Great House of Guitars though (:

[Maldive]

At risk of leaking my age, I grew up in Niagara (followed by 3 decades in T.O) and have always had a "what if a steel giant hadn't left Buffalo" soft spot for the city. Made many friends there (underage drinking border crossings) and consumed many wings and Porterhouse steaks. My family used to go to the only bigger snow bumps than Collingwood (Holiday Valley/Ellicotville) every month to ski.

The drive past the massive rusting steel-production skyline left behind by Bethlehem always amazed/concerned.

Is it gone now?

Buffalo used to be bigger (and perhaps more fun) than Toronto a long time ago. But times have changed... perhaps the early fate of "one industry" American rustbelt towns?

Corny but the city has good bones (and some spectacular waterfront neighbourhoods 15 minutes from downtown... a party or two there).

My fave bit: Albright Knox Art Gallery .. one of the best.

[dc_denizen]

These days Buffalo has a lot more going for it than 'good bones'. I mean check this out-

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8908...7i13312!8i6656

https://www.buffalorising.com/author/buffalorising/

and you don't have to cross the border, to see one-industry towns with dubious economic prospects.

[benp]

Originally Posted by edale

I know almost nothing about either city, but assumed Buffalo was much larger. I'm surprised to see Buffalo's urban area is under a million, and I'm surprised that Rochester's is as big as it is.

After poking around Google Streetview, I'm pretty blown away by Park Ave. in Rochester. Such beautiful homes, mature trees, great commercial buildings between the residential neighborhoods. I know Buffalo has some cool neighborhoods, too, but Elmwood Village doesn't seem as impressive as what I saw along Park Ave. I'd like to eventually visit these cities, but they are pretty out of the way from other things. Maybe whenever I get to Toronto I can include a day trip to check out Buffalo and Rochester.

I have been taking and posting photos of several Buffalo neighborhoods in the last year or 2. I still have a long way to go, and some areas continue to change (like Main Street and Waterfront areas) so that I may have to do an update. Maybe I will expand to Rochester soon.

Elmwood Village: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=239035
Delaware District: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=233875
Allentown: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=233812
University Heights: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=236332
Hertel North-Park: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=233804
Lower West Side: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=236420
Black Rock: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=233807
Grant Street-West Side: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=233813
Inner Harbor and Buffalo River: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=233674
Hydraulics/Larkinville: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=238547
Medical Campus Area: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=238546
Main Street/Fillmore-Leroy: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=238548

[benp]

Originally Posted by Maldive

At risk of leaking my age, I grew up in Niagara (followed by 3 decades in T.O) and have always had a "what if a steel giant hadn't left Buffalo" soft spot for the city. Made many friends there (underage drinking border crossings) and consumed many wings and Porterhouse steaks. My family used to go to the only bigger snow bumps than Collingwood (Holiday Valley/Ellicotville) every month to ski.

The drive past the massive rusting steel-production skyline left behind by Bethlehem always amazed/concerned.

Is it gone now?

Buffalo used to be bigger (and perhaps more fun) than Toronto a long time ago. But times have changed... perhaps the early fate of "one industry" American rustbelt towns?

Corny but the city has good bones (and some spectacular waterfront neighbourhoods 15 minutes from downtown... a party or two there).

My fave bit: Albright Knox Art Gallery .. one of the best.

The old structures of Bethlehem Steel are mostly gone now, and much of the old site is now vacant or dedicated to smaller manufacturing operations, wind farms and solar farms. Most of the heavy industry in the city has been cleaned up or replaced with less dirty manufacturing, and more significantly a waterfront parks system stretching from downtown to Lackawanna. A trip south on the Skyway is unrecognizable from 20 or 30 years ago.

[montréaliste]

What a great place name Lackawanna is. Sounds like what a young chief would say to a nice maiden on the way back from a long hunt.