Great cities get jazzed by each generation living there. The hip vibe
in Buffalo, also known by one of its
nicknames, City of Light, is luring
newcomers, from Manhattan artists
drawn by the affordability and appreciative audience to a blossoming high-tech sector. The city, long known for
education, has cleared the way for life
science researchers at the sprawling,
state-of-the-art Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. It’s that balance of brains
and beauty that led Forbes magazine
to include Buffalo on its 2010 list of 10
best places to raise a family.
Second-largest in the state, after the
Big Apple, this four-season city on the
shores of Lake Erie is a 25-minute drive
from Niagara Falls in one direction
and some of the best skiing east of the
Rockies in nearby Ellicottville. The arts
scene is stoked by 22 professional theater groups, world-class architecture,
two major art museums, dozens of galleries, and music venues pulsing to the
beat of the good life.
Powering Up
Architecture is a big deal in Buffalo. Millionaire punk folk singer and local girl
Ani DiFranco rescued a monumental
Gothic revival church from demolition
and converted it into the headquarters
for her recording company, Righteous
Babe Records. The building, also a popular performance venue and arts center
with exhibition space, is a testament to
the can-do spirit that has lovingly preserved the city.
Many boldface names of American
architecture are represented here by
awesome buildings that boost Buffalo’s
beauty skyward. However, it’s Frank
Lloyd Wright, with his six residential
buildings drawing visitors from around
the world, who achieved rock star status.
The elegantly restored Darwin D.
Martin House Complex, now open to
the public, is a stellar example of Wright
at the top of his game. And a newly constructed Wright-designed boathouse on
the Niagara River, Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Fontana Boathouse, was made possible
by screenwriter and hometown boy
Tom Fontana (St. Elsewhere, Oz), who
contributed to the building costs.
Inside View
People rubberneck when they drive by
the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, a Greek
revival temple-style structure that is
as important as it looks. The museum,
which also includes a sleek, interna-tional-style building, has one of the
nation’s best collections of modern art.
Amid the Picassos and Warhols at this
child-friendly museum is the playful
Mirrored Room by Samaras.
The nearby Burchfield Penney Art
Center on Elmwood Avenue is a new,
modernist building with airy, sculp-tural interiors as appealing as the western New York art on display. The stellar
collection ranges from retro watercolor
landscapes of small-town life to Cindy
Sherman’s edgy photography.
Live music venues are white hot
here, too. There is the pitch-perfect
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra,
class acts at Town Ballroom, blues at
Sportsman’s Tavern and bands from
punk to pop at the intimate Mohawk
Place. Shea’s Performing Arts Center,
a historic theater featuring hits on the
Broadway musical touring circuit, adds
to the full-throttle thrill.
Top to bottom: Ani DiFranco’s
rescued Gothic revival church,
which now houses her recording
company, Righteous Babe Records;
the Albright-Knox Art Gallery; and a
courtyard view of Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Darwin D. Martin House Complex.
