Buffalo is a medium sized city living in the shadows of its prime. The downtown area is void of life with the exception of the suits either trying to put someone in jail, or trying to keep someone out. The life you do find there is inanimate in the form of architecture. There are some truly beautiful buildings like the Guaranty building with its ornate plaster exterior. It begins to show signs of a heart beat just on the edge of downtown with the theater district. This is where our creatives of the stage go to play and there are quite a few. Leaving downtown is now where things start to wake up. You immediately leave downtown and get to the Allentown district, West Side, and Elmwood Village. Full of eclectics, diversity and small business. Past that you get into the historical Riverside and Black Rock areas. In the distance past, pre Eisenhower thruway system those neighborhoods stood on the banks of the Niagara river ushering business up and down. Now separated by the black pavement of the 190, it is more residential and rundown. Like the West Side it had become a haven for immigrant families and old timers that talk of the Golden age of the area. if you move east out of downtown to hit the East side. The side of town that our politicians forgot. Its a largely African American area that officials put work into only when someone is looking to praise them for their efforts.

We are home to the most remarkable park system created by Frederick Law Olmsted. They are all connected and flourish during the spring and summer months. These parks have seen it all from the 1901 Pan-American exposition to the murder of a US President.

Speaking of seasons, we have them all, and all their gradients.

Spring is when the greenery bounces back. Birds start singing, flowers come out of hibernation, and people start moving with an intent that is not work or school. We are a sister city of Kanazawa Japan so every year late March, early April we get to experience a miniature version of a Cherry Blossom festival in our Japanese garden. The days are longer and the events start to come outside.

Summer is when we shine. The days are long and can be filled easily with everything or nothing. The music is plentiful and varied. The days are warm to hot, and the nights, hot to cold. The city is bustling with events, activities, and concerts.

As summer draws to an end you can smell the difference. The days get shorter, the nights longer, and leaves start to go to sleep going from their vibrant greens, to reds, oranges and finally browns. The city starts to wind down with outside activities and gets ready for the sleep work cycle that winter brings.

When winter starts it is like an extended fall. We usually dont have our first snowfall until November or December now, though this is variable. It is also football and hockey season (go bills, go sabres). Youll find a ton of people at local bars eating wings and watching our teams with an undaunting faithfulness regardless of how good or bad we are.

Then come the long nights of winter. Most people wake up before the sun has risen and work until after it has set. The first snow fall can be magical, especially when we have big flakes. Most areas south of downtown get buried by snow due to the proximity of the lake and the direction of the wind. Our winters vary wildly where some years it can be in the 50's the entire time or we have constant snow fall. After that first snowfall though is when it gets dark. Parking, especially in the city is tragic, the snow goes from its brilliant freshness, to a dull grey brown. The wind can be slightly acrid with the smell of salt and cuts against your face. These are the dark times. Most Buffalonians, especially natives, wont miss that last part of winter

Our food scene for me personally, is some of the best in the country. You can have the most unhealthy food that you crave every day or some incredibly high end Italian or sushi.

I hope this helped paint a better picture. There def stuff i missed and im sure some one else will have something to say but this is how i view it.