Buffalo/Allentown and the Delaware District



Allentown and the Delaware District are two neighborhoods in Buffalo that are adjacent to each other and north of downtown. These two areas are among the most desirable neighborhoods in the city today, and, much more than most other areas of Buffalo, were able to retain their charm, affluence, and safety throughout Buffalo's dark days from the 1960s to the turn of the millennium. Today, Allentown boasts a thriving cultural and artistic scene and a large selection of bars, restaurants, and funky shops, while the Delaware District is a quiet upscale residential area of stately homes, many of which are of great architectural distinction.

Understand
Allentown covers some 160 acres (65 ha) north of the Theater District and west of the Medical Corridor. For a long time it was a home for hippies, starving artists, punk rockers, the LGBT community, and other assorted misfits and outcasts, and even today the neighborhood trades on a certain "alternative" identity. But bohemian Allentown is quickly being consigned to history: the Allen Street bar scene of today is miles away from the chilled-out hipster haunts of yesteryear, with an influx of rowdy college kids and twentysomethings bringing a wild and hedonistic vibe north from Chippewa Street after the government-orchestrated mass closure of the nightclubs there, and the remaining shops and art galleries catering to decidedly more bourgeois sensibilities than before. Even on the side streets, the charming old Victorian cottages are nowadays more likely to be home to trendy urban yuppies than to counterculture types.

The Delaware District follows Delaware Avenue and its adjacent streets from the northern border of Allentown to Delaware Park. Though there is little here in the way of entertainment, especially compared to Allentown, the area is of interest to visitors due to the lavish mansions that line its main thoroughfare. Once one of the most prestigious addresses in America, the breathtaking residences along Delaware Avenue are an architecture lover's dream come true: elegant palaces from the Gilded Age that were once home to aristocratic Buffalo families like the Curtisses, the Rumseys, and the Knoxes. The portion of Delaware Avenue between North and Bryant Streets, where the densest concentration of original mansions can be found, is known as Millionaire's Row and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places; however, huge mansions of this type can periodically be found as far north as Gates Circle.

The Delaware District, such as it is defined in this article, includes a number of peripheral areas that purists might argue to be separate neighborhoods. These include Linwood Avenue, a local historic district a block east of Delaware Avenue that is densely lined with ample wood-frame houses only slightly newer and less luxurious than those on Delaware Avenue, Oxford, a more middle-class, mixed-race neighborhood situated southwest of the corner of Main Street and West Delavan Avenue, adjacent to Canisius College, and Midtown, a term developers have begun to use to describe the newly emerging business district along Main Street between approximately Summer and West Ferry Streets, straddling the Delaware District and the East Side.

History
Allentown takes its name from Lewis Falley Allen, a native of Westfield, Massachusetts who arrived in Buffalo in 1827 and established an orchard and cattle farm on a 29-acre (10.5ha) lot that fronted on Williamsville Road, now Main Street. It was only six years later that Allen moved his farm to a much larger parcel he had just purchased on Grand Island, selling his former plot to developers hungry for new land for development for the growing city of Buffalo. Allen's land was soon joined on the market by a massive portion of the land belonging to future Mayor Ebenezer Walden; on what is now the southern fringe of Allentown, Walden's land straddled what was then the border between the newly incorporated City of Buffalo and the Village of Black Rock, which was annexed by Buffalo in 1854.



Meanwhile, the Delaware District is relatively further from downtown than Allentown, began to urbanize slightly later; it remained farmland until 1868, when Buffalo's northern border was extended from North Street to Ferry Street. Fortuitously for the neighborhood, the following decades saw probably the most rapid growth of population and economy in Buffalo's history. The explosive growth of commerce and industry made millionaires out of many of Buffalo's citizens, and among the newly urbanizing outskirts of the city, the Delaware District was the most popular place for these newly minted aristocrats to build their homes: "Millionaire's Row" was well away from the congestion and bustle of downtown, yet directly connected to it via the broad, straight Delaware Avenue. The development by Frederick Law Olmsted of an extensive system of parks and parkways in Buffalo, with Delaware Park as its centerpiece, brought rapid urbanization to the northern part of the Delaware District, with still more lavish residences constructed along Chapin Parkway and on the streets immediately adjacent to Delaware Park beginning in the 1890s.

The beginning of the 20th Century saw the Delaware District and Allentown at the height of their fortunes, with Delaware Park playing host to the Pan-American Exposition — what many characterize as Buffalo's shining hour — in 1901. However, the area, along with the rest of Buffalo, eventually began to stagnate and decline: the period of deindustrialization and suburbanization that began after World War II, along with the mass exodus of Americans from the often cold and snowy Northeast to the sunnier climates of the West and South, saw Millionaire's Row abandoned by many of its titular residents for the suburbs or (more likely) other cities. Allentown, never having truly recovered from the Wall Street crash of 1929, for several decades verged on being an outright slum before its rediscovery in the 1950s by an emerging community of artists and bohemians (including what would come to be called "beatniks"), a reawakening that culminated in the founding of the North Street Association in 1960, which was soon renamed the Allentown Association.

However, the decline of Allentown and the Delaware District was not nearly as severe as that of other parts of the city; it was the location of this district on the west side of Main Street, and particularly along the still-elegant Delaware Avenue, that was its deliverance. Remarkably, with the exception of the noisy, intrusive Scajaquada Expressway which was routed through Olmsted's Delaware Park in 1961, the urban renewal that permanently scarred or altered other areas of the city barely touched Allentown and the Delaware District. For example, construction of the West Side Arterial, a proposed highway that would have run through Allentown near Virginia Street connecting the Kensington Expressway with Interstate 190, was opposed relentlessly by a grassroots coalition of community groups and was finally cancelled in 1976. Also, IBM's proposal to demolish three of the most sumptuous mansions on Delaware Avenue — the Forman-Cabana House, the George B. Matthews House, and the Richmond-Lockwood House — to make way for corporate offices was stymied and finally cancelled by the Delaware Avenue Historic District's nomination in 1974, and official addition in 1980, to the National Register of Historic Places.

In the present day, the stately homes on Oakland Place, Linwood Avenue, Chapin Parkway, and other streets in the Delaware District, as well as the charming red-brick Victorians of Allentown, are still largely occupied by residents; these neighborhoods, more than most in the city, have gained a new cachet in the 21st century as urban life has belatedly come back into vogue among citizens of Western New York and elsewhere in the so-called Rust Belt. Also still standing are the mansions of Millionaire's Row, though most of these have been converted to the well-cared-for headquarters of local corporations and not-for-profit groups.

Visitor information
The Allentown Association is the oldest neighborhood organization in Buffalo, with roots that stretch back to 1960; its website boasts a wealth of information for visitors, such as extensive historical information on many of Allentown's homes, buildings, and streets, a business directory, special event listings, and even a small selection of Allentown-related academic essays and literature.

By car
The Scajaquada Expressway (NY 198) is a short highway that closely parallels the northern border of the Delaware District (mostly through Delaware Park), connecting the Kensington Expressway with I-190. Delaware Avenue — the main thoroughfare of the Delaware District and also an important route through Allentown — is the site of one of the Scajaquada's busiest interchanges; those headed for these areas via the Scajaquada should exit via the southbound ramp, proceeding past Delaware Park and Forest Lawn Cemetery toward Gates Circle.

The Kensington Expressway (NY 33) is on the East Side; the Delaware District is easily accessible via its Best Street and Humboldt Parkway exits (the latter providing access to Ferry and Utica Streets, among others). Travelers using these interchanges to access the Delaware District should be prepared to traverse some sketchy neighborhoods while heading westward; this changes almost immediately after crossing Main Street, Buffalo's traditional and enduring dividing line between have and have-not.

Delaware Avenue (NY 384) is the area's main thoroughfare, running north-and-south through the length of both Allentown and the Delaware District. Other main north-south routes through the area include, from west to east: Elmwood Avenue, a small portion of which runs through Allentown, Franklin Street (which becomes Linwood Avenue after crossing North Street into the Delaware District), which runs one-way (south to north) a block east of Delaware Avenue, and Main Street (NY 5), which forms the eastern boundary of the district. Major cross streets include (from south to north) Edward Street, Virginia Street, Allen Street and North Street in Allentown, and Summer Street, West Utica Street, West Ferry Street, Lafayette Avenue, and West Delavan Avenue in the Delaware District.

In Allentown, on-street parking on Allen Street and the side streets adjacent to it, as well as Elmwood Avenue, can be hard to come by — especially on Friday and Saturday nights, when the bars and restaurants are packed. North Street, Delaware Avenue, Virginia Street, and Main Street are better bets. Parking meters charge 50¢ per hour and enforced on weekdays until 5PM. Off-street parking along Allen Street is available in the lot between Nietzsche's and Flavors of Allentown (free), next to Holley Farms convenience store at the corner of College Street ($5 flat rate on Friday and Saturday nights; free other times), and in a small pay lot just west of Elmwood Avenue between Falley Allen and Jim's Steakout (same rate as the parking meters). In the Delaware District, on-street parking is prohibited along Delaware Avenue between North Street and Gates Circle, but is generally free and easily available elsewhere.

Car sharing
Members of Zipcar have access to a Honda Fit parked at Antiques Allentown on Elmwood Avenue in Allentown. The vehicle is available for a price of $9/hour or $74/day M-Th; $10/hour or $80/day F-Su. This price includes fuel, insurance, and 180 free miles (about 290 free kilometers) per day.

By public transportation
Public transit in Buffalo and the surrounding area is provided by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA). The NFTA Metro system encompasses a single-line light-rail rapid transit (LRRT) system and an extensive network of buses. The fare for a single trip on a bus or train is $2 regardless of length. No transfers are provided between buses or trains; travelers who will need to make multiple trips per day on public transit should consider purchasing an all-day pass for $5.

By bus
Allentown and the Delaware District are traversed by a number of NFTA Metro bus routes:

To and from downtown
NFTA Metro Bus #7 — Baynes-Richmond. Beginning at the Richardson-Olmsted Complex on Forest Avenue in the Elmwood Village, Bus #7 enters Allentown via Symphony Circle and passes eastward along North Street, turning south at Main Street with service to the Allen-Medical Campus Metro Rail Station. From there, inbound trips continue down Main and Pearl Streets on their way downtown, while outbound trips take Franklin Street north to Virginia Street, then continue eastward to Main. Bus #7 does not run Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

NFTA Metro Bus #8 — Main. Beginning at the University Metro Rail Station, Bus #8 proceeds down Main Street through both the Delaware District and Allentown (with service to all Metro Rail stations in the district) and ends downtown.

NFTA Metro Bus #11 — Colvin. Beginning in Tonawanda, Bus #11 proceeds down Delaware Avenue through both the Delaware District and Allentown and ends downtown.

NFTA Metro Bus #20 — Elmwood. Beginning in Tonawanda, Bus #20 proceeds down Elmwood Avenue through Allentown and ends downtown.

NFTA Metro Bus #25 — Delaware. Beginning in Tonawanda, Bus #25 proceeds down Delaware Avenue through both the Delaware District and Allentown and ends downtown.

Crosstown routes
NFTA Metro Bus #12 — Utica. Beginning on the West Side, Bus #12 proceeds along West Utica Street through the Delaware District, with service to the Utica Metro Rail Station, and ends at the University Metro Rail Station.

NFTA Metro Bus #13 — Kensington. Beginning at the Utica Metro Rail Station, Bus #13 proceeds along Main Street through the Delaware District as far as Ferry Street, where it turns eastward and enters the East Side. It ends at the University Metro Rail Station.

NFTA Metro Bus #22 — Porter-Best. Beginning on the West Side, Bus #22 proceeds along Summer Street through the Delaware District, with service to the Summer-Best Metro Rail Station, and ends at the Thruway Mall Transit Center in Cheektowaga.

NFTA Metro Bus #26 — Delavan. Beginning on the West Side, Bus #26 proceeds along West Delavan Avenue through the Delaware District, with service to the Delavan-Canisius College Metro Rail Station, and ends at the Thruway Mall Transit Center in Cheektowaga.

NFTA Metro Bus #29 — Wohlers. Eastbound trips begin on the West Side and proceed through Allentown via Cottage, Virginia, and Main Streets (with service to the Allen-Medical Campus Metro Rail Station), proceeding thenceforward through the East Side before turning westward again via East Delavan Avenue, ending at the Delavan-Canisius College Metro Rail Station in the Delaware District. Westbound trips traverse Allentown via Virginia, College, and Maryland Streets. Bus #29 does not run Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.



By Metro Rail
The Metro Rail is an LRRT line that extends along Main Street from the University at Buffalo's South Campus in North Buffalo southward to downtown, along the eastern border of Allentown and the Delaware District. The Metro Rail serves as the backbone of Buffalo's public transit system, accessed directly by many bus routes. Like the buses, the fare for the Metro Rail is $2 ($4 round-trip); the $5 all-day passes available on Metro buses are also valid for the Metro Rail.

There are three Metro Rail stations in the Delaware District, and one in Allentown. From north to south, they are:


 * — Main Street at West Delavan Avenue (Delaware District).
 * — Main Street at West Utica Street (Delaware District).
 * — Main Street at Summer Street (Delaware District).
 * — Main Street at Allen Street (Allentown).

By bike
Buffalo has made great strides in accommodating bicycling as a mode of transportation, with recognition from the League of American Bicyclists as a Bronze-Level "Bicycle-Friendly Community" to show for its efforts. Allentown and the Delaware District are among the most common places in the city to see residents commuting by bike or just enjoying a leisurely ride on a warm day.

In the Delaware District, Linwood Avenue boasts a bike lane on either side of the street for its entire length, as do the "S-curves" of Delaware Avenue between Nottingham Terrace and Forest Avenue. The Delaware Avenue bike lanes reappear further south in Allentown, starting at North Street and extending southward into downtown as far as Niagara Square. Also in Allentown, "sharrows" (pavement markings on roads too narrow to accommodate dedicated bike lanes, indicating that drivers should be aware of bicyclists on the road) are present along North Street from Symphony Circle to Main Street, along Wadsworth and Allen Streets between Symphony Circle and Delaware Avenue, and along Elmwood Avenue south from the Elmwood Village as far as Allen Street, thence continuing further south to Virginia Street as a pair of dedicated bike lanes. Word is that bicycle infrastructure of one form or another will eventually be added to all of Elmwood Avenue, southward into downtown.

Away from the city streets, the 1.1-mile (1.8-km) multi-use trail that circumnavigates Delaware Park's Hoyt Lake is especially popular among cyclists.

Bike sharing
You'll find three Reddy Bikeshare racks in Allentown:


 * at the corner of Allen and Wadsworth Streets, at the east end of Days Park
 * on the north side of Allen Street between Elmwood Avenue and Park Street, in front of Allen Burger Venture
 * on the west side of Franklin Street at the corner of Allen Street, on the side of Café 59

Additionally, all of Allen Street is a free parking zone for Reddy bikes, as is the stretch of Elmwood Avenue north of Allen. Here you can return your Reddy bike when you're done to any public bike rack without incurring the $2 fee for parking outside of a hub.

On foot
Allentown is a safe, pleasant, and compact neighborhood that lends itself particularly well to pedestrians — in fact, with its dense concentration of homes and businesses and relative lack of parking spaces, walking is arguably the most common method of transportation Allentown residents employ for traveling within the neighborhood. Contrarily, the more spread-out nature of the Delaware District makes it relatively less amenable to pedestrians.

History






Architecture
More and more, Buffalo's exquisite and well-preserved architecture has grabbed the attention of locals and tourists alike. As of March 2020, there are 12 historic neighborhoods in Buffalo listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as 11 additional ones that have been granted landmark status by the Buffalo Preservation Board. Of those districts, there are three in Allentown and the Delaware District that will be of especial interest to architecture buffs:


 * The
 * The




 * The

Forest Lawn Cemetery is also the site of a mausoleum designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright:



Art
Allentown boasts perhaps the largest and most longstanding community of artists in Buffalo, with an abundance of galleries for every taste. A good time to experience the art scene there is during First Fridays — a free gallery walk that takes place on the first Friday of each month (hence the name), when the galleries of Allentown and the lower Elmwood Village stay open late and often hold openings and other events, and folks can take in live music and performances or enjoy special deals at nearby shops and restaurants.

The fashionable Delaware District has its share of galleries as well, which tend to be more highbrow than their scruffy, bohemian (and, arguably, more interesting) counterparts in Allentown.

In addition to the places listed here, the Buy section includes a listing of galleries that offer works for sale, rather than display only.

If it's a sunny day and you'd rather enjoy some al fresco art than be cloistered inside a gallery, head to the north edge of Allentown, where you'll find...



Parks





 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.
 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.
 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.
 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.
 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.
 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.
 * Delaware Park is far from the only Frederick Law Olmsted park in the city — on the contrary, all of Buffalo is crisscrossed by Olmsted's park and parkway system, designed by him in stages beginning in 1868, and part of which is found in the Delaware District. Olmsted's "parkways" are wide, verdant avenues modeled after the grand boulevards of Paris, and lined with multiple rows of large shade trees. They serve as approaches to the parks, or extend from one park to another, and were intended to enable visitors to travel between parks without ever leaving a green and natural environment (for a long time, automobile traffic was prohibited on the parkways). Running south from the entrance to Delaware Park are three parkways, one of which, Chapin Parkway, is located in the Delaware District. Chapin Parkway's southeastern terminus, ), was also originally laid out by Olmsted, but was later redesigned in the Beaux-Arts style by eminent local architect E. B. Green. Early on, the Olmsted parkways became popular places for Buffalo's moneyed aristocracy to build their homes; much like Millionaire's Row and Linwood Avenue, the parkways near Delaware Park are the site of some of Buffalo's most palatial mansions.




 * There are also a number of smaller parks and green spaces scattered around the district. Notable among these are the two residential parks in Allentown. is a two-acre (0.9 ha) green space on the site of a former cow pasture at the west end of Allen Street, which its owner, Thomas Day, donated to the city in 1854. Some time later, Days Park was redesigned by Frederick Law Olmsted, whose plan to eventually integrate it into his park and parkway system never materialized.  is a smaller residential park a short distance northeast of Days Park, which is most famous as the place Frank Lloyd Wright lived while designing the Darwin D. Martin House in North Buffalo. Both of these beautifully landscaped swaths of greenery still boast beautiful and fashionable Victorian cottages around their perimeters, in Italianate, Second Empire, Gothic Revival, and other styles popular in the late 19th century. They are lovely places for a picnic or leisurely walk on a warm day.

Festivals and events
Delaware Park serves as one of the busiest venues for Buffalo's huge and growing slate of annual festivals, with a wide range of activities taking place there year-round. Additionally, Delaware Avenue and Allen Street in Allentown is the site of the Allentown Art Festival, where Buffalonians kick off the summer each June at the longest-running and best-known annual event in the city.

Live music
Allentown's bars are some of the best places in Buffalo to see local singer-songwriters and rock bands play. The scene here is brimming with talent, and very tight-knit: the bands all know each other socially and from sharing bills, and tend to gig around all the venues in the neighborhood, musical chairs-style. The places listed below are all fairly interchangeable — laid-back, intimate venues populated by typical Allentowners. In addition, a few other venues present a more eclectic range of performances.

And, if you'd like to take in some local music but don't fancy shelling out for a cover charge or dealing with cheek-to-jowl barroom crowds, Allentown is also the center of Buffalo's small but growing busking scene. On Friday and Saturday nights anytime other than the dead of winter, you'll find artists and groups performing for passersby at various locations along Allen Street. However, the one place where you'll invariably encounter a busker is the sidewalk in front of the Holley Farms parking lot, at the corner of College Street directly across from the Allen Street Poutine Company.



Budget




Local chains
The following local chains have locations in Allentown. Descriptions of these restaurants can be found on the main Buffalo page.



Pizza
The following pizzerias are located in Allentown. Those who are interested in pizza delivery (as opposed to pickup) might want to also check listings in adjacent districts; local pizzerias will often deliver to several different neighborhoods of the city.



Allentown
Allentown's bar scene has two faces. Show up on Allen Street on a Friday or Saturday night, when the obnoxious party crowd descends on the strip in droves from their homes in the 'burbs, and it quickly becomes clear what locals are talking about when they say enough is enough and it's time to put the brakes on the increasingly out-of-control hijinks. Typically, midnight is when "lively" tips over into "rowdy", and by 2AM vomiting in the streets, the occasional drunken brawl, and a general anarchic hedonism characterize the scene. But on weeknights things are completely different, and you'll actually experience a serviceable approximation of what it was like in the good old days — the strip is quiet and uncrowded, the ambience in the bars is decidedly more chilled out, and the clientele is mostly people from the surrounding neighborhood (or rather, the specific type of colorful neighborhood characters who tend to go out drinking in the middle of the week).



Further east, you'll find the remnants of the old gayborhood, another facet of Allentown's identity that's fast disappearing into history. The two blocks between Franklin and Main Streets feature a cluster of LGBT bars catering to a tight-knit community that's held fast in the face of the changes that swept over the area in the 2010s.



Off the beaten path of Allen Street, things are a lot more calm and chilled-out.



Coffee shops
Allentown's long-lackluster coffeeshop scene got a major shot in the arm in 2015, when not one but two new cafés opened their doors to accompany longtime neighborhood stalwart Intersection Cafe.

Delaware District
The Delaware District is quiet and residential, and does not have nearly the level of nightlife that Allentown has.



Allentown
Allentown boasts a modest selection of accommodations, including a pair of grand old historic hotels that have soldiered on to the present day, catering to travellers in search of a more distinctive experience.

Delaware District
Historic Linwood Avenue has a superlative B&B where the themes of local history and culture come out in full force.



Connect
The nearest post offices are located downtown at 229 W. Genesee St. and 701 Washington St.

The service area of BuffaloConnect, Buffalo's free municipal WiFi network, extends north from downtown into the east edge of Allentown, along Main Street as far as North Street. Signal strength drops off pretty rapidly the further you get from Main, though; don't expect anything past North Pearl Street. WiFi is also available in Allentown at Café 59 on Allen Street and Tim Hortons/Cold Stone Creamery on Delaware Avenue, and in the Delaware District at Delta Sonic, McDonald's, and Burger King on Main Street.

Stay safe
Despite the fact that Buffalo's crime rate has fallen steadily since the 1990s, it is still higher than the national average for cities its size. By Buffalo standards, Allentown has a moderate-to-high crime rate. The general rule for Allentown is that the closer you are to Delaware or Elmwood Avenues, the safer you are. Despite (or perhaps because of) the rapid gentrification that is taking place there, a particularly troubled area is the blocks west of Wadsworth Street, straddling Allentown and the Lower West Side. Reports of assaults and robberies in Days Park occur with some frequency. That being the case, visitors should by no means allow these occasional incidents to put them off from experiencing this part of Allentown — the lush greenery of the park and the splendid Victorian cottages surrounding it are simply magnificent, police patrols have increased sharply, and perhaps more than any other area of Buffalo, residents of the Days Park area are working diligently to "take back their streets". Those who exercise common sense — locking car doors, keeping valuables out of sight — will be fine. The Main Street corridor is another problem area.

The Delaware District boasts an extremely low crime rate. Visitors should not experience problems of any kind there.

The Allentown bar district's devolution from a chilled-out hipster scene to obnoxious frat-bro hijinks has been a headache for the increasingly (and incongruously) well-heeled, settled-down population of neighborhood residents, to the point where comparisons to the bad old days of Chippewa Street (from which many current Allentown bar patrons have indeed decamped) are apropos. Bars in Buffalo close at 4AM, and the rule of thumb is the later you stick around, the more things degenerate. If you arrive early in the evening and finish up by midnight, you'll be gone before most of the craziness begins. Alternatively, those who want to take their chances later into the night should be aware that assault, pickpocketing, vandalism, and similar phenomena are routine occurrences on Friday and Saturday nights. That being said, the Buffalo Police have stepped up their weekend presence on Allen Street, so if trouble finds you, help is never far away.

As in downtown and the Elmwood Village, panhandlers are present in Allentown. The homeless tend to congregate around the west end of Allen Street where it veers right and becomes Wadsworth Street, near which there is a soup kitchen. As elsewhere in Buffalo, aggressive panhandling in Allentown is unheard of; a firm "no" will usually do the trick. Panhandlers are almost completely absent from the Delaware District.

Newspapers
The Allentown Association publishes a quarterly newspaper, the Allentown Neighbor, that covers neighborhood news such as business openings and closings, urban development and historic preservation, Buffalo Common Council proceedings, community events, and other issues.

Hospitals
The nearest hospitals are Buffalo General Hospital, at 100 High St. in the Medical Corridor, Erie County Medical Center at 462 Grider St. on the East Side, and Sisters of Charity Hospital at 2157 Main St.

Places of worship
This is one of the few remaining areas of Buffalo where white, mainline Protestant churches still predominate.

Protestant






Go next
If you like the nightlife in Allentown, you'll want to make the Elmwood Village your next stop. The range of bars, restaurants and shops that line Elmwood Avenue is even greater than Allen Street, and their vibe is influenced by the student life at nearby Buffalo State College in much the same way that Allentown is flavored by its artists and bohemians. Aficionados of art and history are in luck, too, with a vibrant Museum District at the north end of the strip.

Check out the West Side to see Buffalo's next Allentown in the earliest stages of its revival. Instead of hipsters and well-heeled young urbanites congregating in a relatively "safe" gentrified area, the West Side has a creative community that is far closer to "starving artists" than anything in Allentown, urban pioneers snapping up beautiful but dilapidated Victorian houses and restoring them to their former glory, a vibrant Latino community centered on Niagara Street, and a veritable United Nations of immigrants gathered around Grant Street, each adding their bit to an ambience that is wonderfully gritty and chaotically fascinating.

On the far side of Delaware Park, North Buffalo is a part of the city where the pleasures are subtler. The shops and restaurants on Hertel Avenue are pleasant without the pretension of the hipster hangouts on Allen Street, the mansions of Park Meadow and Central Park are elegant without the in-your-face ostentation of Millionaire's Row, and the college dives in University Heights are lively without the crowds and chaos of the ones on the Elmwood Strip.