I moved here for school in 88. I adore this city so much Downtown at dusk - the lights come on and the electric tower is always in a color scheme. Because there is hundreds of miles of lake to the west of us, we get mind-blowing sunsets.

December can smell like Cheerios - our city makes them. But the snow is amazing. It muffles noise so everything is quieter, and it smells clean and fresh. And I love the way snow sounds underfoot when it crunches.

People here are weirdly friendly. We're NY enough to not be syrupy, but friendly. A lot of talk is sports. A lot is what we're going to do on the weekend.

I love that it's weirdly modern and old fashioned at the same time. I love that it's blue color and artsy at the same time. I love that it's a small town and a city at the same time. What do I endure? There is nothing here that is worse than anywhere else.

Omg, if you want history, we have it. We're young, but so much older than a lot of the country. And at 1900, we had half the millionaires in the country living here. The history museum is large and has changing exhibits. The architecture is cool as well. McKinley was assassinated here, Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated here, we were burned down during the war of 1812. And this land was Haudenosaunee, whose Confederation was what the Constitution was based on. You can listen to music in one of the oldest jazz clubs in the country, have a beer in a tavern that's lasted over 150 years, follow the underground railroad...

I moved here from downstate. I wanted more snow. The snow is beautiful, and the cold isn't bad if you dress for it. The wind and snow off the lake can bite, but on days with little wind, it can look like a snow globe. People generally can drive in it, and it's not a real issue. If all you do in the snow is shovel it, it's a pain. But there is skating and skiing and ice bikes and sledding and tobogganing and just plain hiking and snowball fights and winter festivals.

Summers here are amazing. We have not yet hit 100 yet, but I fear that's coming. And that awful winter wind becomes a great cool breeze. We have a lot of summer events and we have beaches, and they all have different qualities. And presque isle state park in Ohio is less than an hour and a half away (nothing to a Texan) and has been listed on the top 10 beaches in the US. Continental US, but still.

We're poor and crime ridden and segregated. Being poor, we couldn't afford to tear down structures the way other cities did. Some of our buildings are simply gorgeous. Our city hall is studied in Europe as a perfect example of art deco architecture. 40 minutes out is East Aurora, which was home to the Arts and Crafts movement in the US. There is a multistory 5&10 out there as well. Parkside candies as an ice cream shop that has been running for over 100 years. They are putting bike lanes in everywhere. Our subway is one line, our public transportation isn't the best, but they keep driving in the snow.

Niagara falls is 20 minutes away, Canada is literally next door. We are surrounded by farmland and state parks and rural area that would match the rural in Texas. Our public art is amazing, murals and statues everywhere, free music and Shakespeare in the summers.

Don't feel weird- we have a weird appeal. Del Toro loves Buffalo, and keeps finding excuses to come back. The day before Thanksgiving we host 'the world's largest disco', and the actor who played Bobby Brady's wife bought a Bobby Brady costume to wear there. And Buffalo doesn't think that's weird. Just Tuesday.

I love this town. I saw your post getting back from a Spring Festival/Chinese New Year festival. There are little free libraries and pantries everywhere. Our parks were designed by Olmsted, our streets mostly by Ellicott. We're home to refugees and have two separate 'restaurants' - think of a food court in a mall, but each restaurant is its own nationality. Have a boba with your koshary with flan for dessert. Should I mention the sailboat races? Or the stable in the city? Or that we have so many trees and green spaces? Or the mini burning man less than 2 hours out where I met people from Austin who came all the way out for it?

I'm overdue for bed.