About 25 miles from Niagara Falls, Buffalo gets teased for its snow, and the teasing is fair. Lake-effect storms and hard cold run from November through March, so anyone thinking of moving should be ready to drive on ice. In exchange you get a Great Lakes city of about 275,000 people, in a metro over a million, with a lot of good architecture, including several Frank Lloyd Wright buildings like the Darwin Martin House.
Elmwood Village and Allentown are the walkable, cafe-and-gallery parts of town, Canalside is the waterfront, and Larkinville is where old industrial buildings found new uses. Visitors do the wing tour starting at Anchor Bar, catch a Bills game in season, and make the short drive to Niagara Falls. Toronto is roughly 100 miles off. Rent and homes are moderate compared with much of the country, though prices are climbing and houses go fast. Violent crime runs above the national average, concentrated in some East Side areas, while the main visitor districts are busy and fine.
