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Bill Rapaport's Buffalo Restaurant Guide

Geography and Tourism Information

Last Update: 20 December 2011

Note: NEW or UPDATED material is highlighted


For other useful links, see:

  • "Good Things about Buffalo and Western New York"
  • Dan Tasman's "Guide to Buffalo English"
    • Although a bit outdated, this is an absolutely wonderful guide to Buffalo neighborhoods and dialects!
  • [MEL]'s Auto-Free in Buffalo: A Guide to Buffalo's Neighborhoods and Public Transportation)
  • Buffalo's Web Cam
  • Miserandino, Dominick A. (2003), "Buffalo: More than just Buffalo Chicken Wings"
  • Maps of Buffalo, East Aurora, and Niagara Falls, from the Buffalo Niagara Visitor Center.
  • Map of Buffalo neighborhoods
  • For the best set of outline maps of WNY/Southern Ontario, link to UB's Regional Knowledge Network Reference Maps

  • Erie County.

    (Map of Erie County)         (Bigger Map of Erie County)         (Erie County outline map)

    The UB North (a.k.a. Amherst) Campus is in the Town of Amherst a suburb northeast of the City of Buffalo. Also in Amherst are the communities of Getzville (northeast of campus) and Eggertsville, Snyder, and the Village of Williamsville (south and east of campus).

    The Town of Clarence is a suburb east of Amherst.

    The Town of Lancaster is a suburb south of Clarence and west of Cheektowaga. Part of the Village of Depew is in Lancaster, as is the (entire :-) hamlet of Bowmansville.

    The Town of Tonawanda, separated from Amherst by Niagara Falls Boulevard, is west of campus; the Village of Kenmore is in Tonawanda.

    The Town of Cheektowaga is a suburb south of campus and east of Buffalo; the airport is here. Part of the Village of Depew is in Cheektowaga, southeast of the airport.

    The UB South (a.k.a. Main Street) Campus is in Buffalo proper, at the northeast corner of the city, about 3 miles southwest of the Amherst Campus (hence its name).

    Also in Buffalo is Buff State (i.e., SUNY College at Buffalo, not to be confused with UB), on Elmwood Avenue across from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, west of Delaware Park (one of Olmstead's creations, by the way, and the location of the Buffalo Zoo) and Shakespeare in Delaware Park

    "Allentown" is a historic district of antiques shops, art galleries, mansions, and Victorian houses, about 2 miles south of Buff State and 1 mile north of downtown Buffalo

    The Village of Akron is in the Town of Newstead, just to the east of Clarence. It is the home of Perry's Ice Cream.

    Blasdell, Boston, Derby, East Aurora, Eden, Elma, Evans, Hamburg, Lackawanna, Marilla, North Collins (including the hamlet of Langford), Orchard Park, Springville, and West Seneca are suburbs south of Buffalo.


    Allegany County (west of Erie County, in the Southern Tier):

    Alfred at the eastern end of the county, is the home of Alfred State College and Alfred University.


    Cattaraugus County (south of Erie County, in the Southern Tier)

    Allegany, Gowanda, Yorkshire


    Chautauqua County (southwest of Erie County, in the Southern Tier):

    Fredonia (home of SUNY Fredonia), in the northern part of the county, is about an hour's drive southwest of Buffalo on the Thruway.

    Jamestown, in the southern part (and about a half-hour's drive from the Chautauqua Institution), is about an hour and a half from Buffalo. It is, among many other things, where Lucille Ball, Robert H. Jackson, and Roger Tory Peterson were born, and nearby Celoron is where she grew up and where her childhood home is.

    Other villages and hamlets include Fluvanna, Lakewood and Bemus Point.


    Genesee County (just east of Erie County):

    Batavia
    Corfu
    Stafford.


    Niagara County (just north of Erie County):

    Lewiston (home of Artpark and Niagara Falls, NY (home of Niagara Falls, of course), are about 25 minutes north of the UB Amherst Campus;

    Lockport (site of an Erie Canal lock) is about 15 minutes north of the UB Amherst Campus.

    Middleport is another Erie Canal village.

    NEW Newfane is near Olcott Beach on Lake Ontario.

    Sanborn in the town of Lewiston, is home of Niagara County Community College

    Youngstown (site of Old Fort Niagara is about 15 minutes from Artpark.


    Ontario County (in the Finger Lakes):

    Canandaigua.


    Orleans County (northeast of Erie County):

    Childs is "the heart of Cobblestone Country"


    Wyoming County (east of Erie County):

    Arcade —WARNING: WEBSITE MAKES LOUD TRAIN NOISES!

    Cowlesville

    Strykersville

    Varysburg


    Ontario Canada:

    Beamsville is west of Niagara-on-the-Lake (and east of Grimsby).

    Fonthill was once described as "approximately 15 minutes off the Niagara wine bench, and within easy driving distance from Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, Ontario."

    Fort Erie is across the Peace Bridge, about 10 minutes from downtown Buffalo.

    Jordan is about an hour from Buffalo.

    St. Catharines is about a 45-minute drive from the Peace Bridge.

    Niagara Falls, Ontario (home of Niagara Falls, of course), is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, NY. (For more on this area, see the webpage Tourism Niagara.)

    Niagara-on-the-Lake (home of the Shaw Festival) is about an hour's drive north of Buffalo; the prettiest way to get there (or to Niagara Falls, for that matter) is to cross the Peace Bridge and drive up the Niagara Parkway

    Port Dalhousie is on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, west of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

    Ridgeway is west of Ft. Erie.

    Stratford the home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival is about a 2-hour drive from Buffalo.

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    Copyright © 1988–2011 by William J. Rapaport (rapaport@buffalo.edu)
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