User:AndreCarrotflower/Upper West Side

'The Upper West Side is in Buffalo. blah blah blah'

Understand
EDIT AS NECESSARY, incorporating the following


 * [Grant Street is] a bustling business district that has spent the last fifty years constantly reinventing itself: first as Little Italy, then with a Puerto Rican flavor, and finally, over the past ten years, as home to a multicultural rainbow of first-generation immigrant communities — Burmese, Vietnamese, Nepali, African, Arabian, and more — as well as a growing student presence fostered by nearby Buffalo State College.

History
write this out and incorporate the following facts


 * Unbeknownst even to many locals, the West Side is one of the most historic areas of Buffalo: its history began in 1802 when the federal government constructed a 30-mile (48 km) Military Road north from here to Lewiston. In the years after the Revolution, tensions between the United States and Britain remained high — and in case of a British incursion from Canada, the Military Road would enable troops to move as needed between Fort Niagara and Fort Tompkins, which would soon be built near what is today the corner of Niagara and Hampshire Streets. Two years later, Peter Porter, a State Assemblyman from Canandaigua and a former associate of Buffalo's founder, Joseph Ellicott, began laying out a settlement on the large parcel of riverfront land he owned along Military Road about two miles (3.2 km) north of Buffalo; he named the incipient hamlet "Black Rock" after a ledge of dark limestone that jutted into the Niagara River just north of what is today the Peace Bridge. Much larger than the modern-day neighborhood of that name, Porter's Black Rock occupied essentially all of what is today the West Side, and the hub of it was today's Upper West Side - Niagara Street north of Ferry


 * Between Upper and Lower Black Rock was the harbor, located at the mouth of Scajaquada Creek and dominated by a shipyard owned by Porter.



The same year that Black Rock was officially incorporated as a village, the long-feared military confrontation along the Niagara River came to pass. The attempted American invasion of Canada that began the War of 1812 saw U.S. forces under General George McClure sack and loot the frontier villages of York (now Toronto) and Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake); in retaliation, before dawn on December 30, 1813, a British detachment crossed the river and landed in Black Rock, burning it to the ground then heading south to Buffalo to do the same. Though it was rebuilt quickly, Black Rock remained a battleground till the end of the war — Porter's shipyard did a brisk business building warships for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet, and a second British incursion across the river was thwarted at the Battle of Scajaquada Creek Bridge in August 1814. The war ended in 1815, but things hardly quieted down: the always-heated rivalry between Black Rock and Buffalo took on a new urgency around 1816 when planning began for a huge canal linking the Hudson River and Lake Erie. It was understood that the Erie Canal would be a huge economic boon, opening up the West to large-scale settlement, and that it would begin at Albany — but the exact location of its western end had yet to be determined. Porter used his political connections to vigorously argue that Black Rock be selected over its rival. At first, its superior harbor — sheltered by Unity Island from the strong currents of the Niagara River — as well as the fact that two more miles (3 more km) of canal would need to be dug to reach Buffalo, seemed to give Black Rock the advantage. The successful launch from its harbor of the Walk-in-the-Water, the first steamboat on Lake Erie, further aided Black Rock's cause, but after a contingent of Buffalonians finally set about dredging the harbor there to a suitable depth, Buffalo was chosen in 1821 as the canal's terminus. When it opened in 1825, the Erie Canal passed through and beyond Black Rock; as a final insult, Black Rock even lost the rock formation that inspired its name: it lay in the path of the canal and had to be blasted away.


 * Black Rock might have been able to soldier on independently in the shadow of its now-much larger neighbor, but the years after the canal's construction were exceptionally harsh: the Panic of 1837 laid waste to its economy (half its businesses failed) just when Black Rock was getting back on its feet again after a damaging windstorm a few years earlier. Moreover, when relief came to the village, it was at the expense of some of its independent spirit: the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad, the area's first, helped transform Upper Black Rock into an important center for milling and coopering — which, in turn, attracted throngs of German and Irish laborers — but, by the same token, inextricably bound its new economy to Buffalo's... a change to Buffalo's charter enabled it to annex Black Rock along with the remainder of the surrounding unincorporated township in 1853, ending its history as an independent village.

'20c. decline & urban renewal - 190 & city cut off from waterfront'


 * it came about that what saved the West Side was its trademark ethnic diversity — which, along with cheap housing and a low cost of living, began to attract newly landed immigrants to the district. By 2003, when Dr. Myron Glick founded Jericho Road Ministries, an offshoot of his Upper West Side medical practice providing refugees assistance with food, housing, finances, literacy and education, Buffalo had overtaken New York City as the state's leading destination for new immigrants. At the same time, Buffalo State College was instrumental in helping small businesses sprout on Grant Street after student-oriented shops began being priced out of the increasingly tony Elmwood Village. In turn, this investment attracted that of urban pioneers as well as preservationist-minded business owners such as Prish Moran, the 2007 opening of whose coffee shop Sweet_ness 7 is widely seen as the single turning point that cemented Grant Street's arrival as Buffalo's newest hip neighborhood. The boom in property values that resulted from all this is still ongoing, and today the West Side, probably more than any other area of Buffalo, is truly rising from the ashes.

Talk
Spanish and immigrant languages

By car
'I-190: passes along the length of the West Side riverfront but no exits in the UWS itself (you may notice driving down the highway that there is no Exit 10 - that was supposed to be W Ferry St, but never built). However, just on the other side of Scajaquada Creek in Black Rock, the 190 connects to the...'

Scajaquada Expressway (NY 198) is a short highway that begins in Black Rock at Exit 11 of I-190, passing eastward through the West Side and North Buffalo and ending on the East Side at the Kensington Expressway. The Scajaquada's Grant Street exit makes for a convenient route to the Upper West Side's main business district. There's also a Niagara Street exit accessible to westbound traffic only.

Niagara and Grant Streets - main north-south thoroughfares.

Richmond Ave @ east end of district as Olmsted park system's UWS presence

East-west thoroughfares: West Ferry Street, Lafayette Avenue, West Delavan Avenue, Forest Avenue

The Grant Street business district is the only place on the West Side where on-street parking is ever hard to find. Parking meters are in place on Grant between West Delavan Avenue and West Ferry Street, as well as on West Ferry for half a block in either direction from Grant. They're in effect till 5PM every day except Sunday, at a rate of 50¢ per hour to a maximum of 2 hours. Additionally, though parking is free north of West Delavan, the 2-hour maximum rule on Grant extends as far as Potomac Avenue, except Sundays.

Car sharing
Members of Zipcar have access to their choice of three vehicles parked at Buffalo State College ' s Parking Lot G-22, opposite the Grant Street entrance to campus: a Honda Civic and a Ford Focus sedan are each available for a price of $7.50/hour or $69/day M-Th; $8.50/hour or $77/day F-Su, while a Ford Escape SUV goes for $8.50/hour or $77/day M-Th; $9.50/hour or $83/day F-Su. These rates all include 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 $2.00 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 $5.00.

By bus
The Upper West Side is traversed by a number of NFTA Metro bus routes:

To and from downtown
NFTA Metro Bus #3 — Grant. Beginning at the city line at the corner of Tonawanda and Vulcan Streets, Bus #3 serves the Upper West Side via Grant Street, with service to Buffalo State College. Turning right on Hampshire Street, buses then pass into the Lower West Side to downtown.

NFTA Metro Bus #5 — Niagara-Kenmore. Beginning at the University Metro Rail Station, then via Niagara to downtown

NFTA Metro Bus #7 — Baynes-Richmond. Beginning at the Richardson-Olmsted Complex in the Elmwood Village, Bus #7 proceeds southward on Baynes Street through the Upper West Side, then turns on West Ferry Street and continues southward downtown via Richmond Avenue. Bus #7 does not run Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

NFTA Metro Bus #40 — Buffalo-Niagara Falls. Beginning at the Portage Road Transit Center in Niagara Falls, Bus #40 proceeds through the West Side via Niagara Street same route as 5 but does not serve passengers whose trips are entirely south of Hertel Ave, ok if same verbiage as LWS article

Crosstown routes
NFTA Metro Bus #12 — Utica. Beginning at the corner of Niagara Street and Busti Avenue, eastbound buses on Route #12 head northward along Niagara Street, proceeding eastward through the Upper West Side via West Ferry Street. then turns south onto Richmond, ends @ University Metro Rail Station.

NFTA Metro Bus #26 — Delavan. Beginning at the corner of Niagara Street and West Delavan Avenue, eastbound buses on Route #26 proceed along West Delavan Avenue through the Upper West Side, ending at the Thruway Mall Transit Center in Cheektowaga. Westbound buses turn left from West Delavan to Herkimer Street, then proceed westward again via Lafayette Avenue and return to West Delavan via Niagara Street.

By Metro Rail
The Metro Rail runs along Main Street, far east of here. However, the Upper West Side is fairly easily accessible from the Delavan-Canisius College Metro Rail Station by way of NFTA Metro Bus #26. Those traveling to the West Side by both bus and subway are strongly advised to purchase a day pass for $5.00.

By bike
standard section lede; UWS is merely okay in terms of bikeability

replace the following verbiage Buffalo's oldest, largest, and best-known bike path is the Shoreline Trail, a multi-use trail that connects the Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna to Gratwick Park in North Tonawanda via the West Side waterfront, for a total distance of 22.6 miles (36.4 km). The Shoreline Trail passes into the Upper West Side at Niagara and Hampshire --> Broderick Park and Unity Island, well away from surface streets on this stretch, making for a pleasant two-wheeled getaway also the 0.4-mile (700 m) stretch along Busti Avenue and Niagara Street between Hampshire and West Ferry Streets is on-street, but the roadway boasts wide shoulders and sidewalks that provide a modicum of safety for cyclists. and 'asphalt paved. 15 mph/24 kph speed limit.'

On-street bike infrastructure


 * Richmond Avenue: "sharrows" (pavement markings on roads too narrow to accommodate dedicated bike lanes, indicating that drivers should be aware of bicyclists on the road) between Forest Avenue and Colonial Circle, then a dedicated bike lane on each side of the street from Colonial Circle south.


 * Niagara Street - separated bike lanes coming soon


 * Grant Street - sharrows from Forest Avenue south to Hampshire Street


 * Forest Avenue - sharrows from Niagara Street to Richmond Avenue (from which point cyclists can continue eastward into the Elmwood Village via an off-street pathway)


 * Hampshire Street - sharrows from Grant Street to the Shoreline Trail

Bike sharing
The Upper West Side has one Reddy Bikeshare rack, on the east side of Grant Street at the corner of Lafayette Avenue, in front of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church and across the street diagonally from Sweet_ness 7.

On foot
'Aside from the bike paths and waterfront trails listed above, paramount among pedestrian-friendly West Side areas are the bustling Grant-Ferry commercial strip with its vibrant multiethnic street culture. Visitors should be on guard after dark, though — for all its recent flourishing, the West Side remains one of the highest-crime areas of Buffalo, and when the sun goes down these streets take on a noticeably sketchy character. See the Stay safe section for more information.'

Art
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Breweries
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Parks
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listingify

has occupied the north end of its namesake since 2004; it's popular for fishing and boasts an ample lawn perfect for picnickers.

Architecture
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Festivals and events
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Live music
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Buy
Every shopping neighborhood in Buffalo seems to have its own specialty. On Elmwood it's the latest in trendy urban fashions, Allentown has art galleries galore, and Hertel Avenue is the place for antiques and home decor. As for Grant Street — well, if you're in the market for ethnic handicrafts or exotic foods and you can't find what you're looking for here, you're probably out of luck.







Clothing and accessories
When it comes to cute, hip clothing boutiques, Grant Street is still a long way behind more established retail areas in Buffalo such as the Elmwood Village and Hertel Avenue. However, those in search of authentic, vibrantly-colored ethnic clothing and urban streetwear should be pleased with the offerings in the area.



Eat
With the notable exception of the West Side Bazaar's International Kitchen, Grant Street's restaurant scene lags somewhat behind that of other West Side areas like Five Points and Riverside — oddly enough given that this is ground zero for the district's ethnic grocery stores. As a counterpoint, further west on Niagara Street you have Marco's, Santasiero's, and other holdovers from the West Side's days as Buffalo's Little Italy.

Pizza
The following pizzerias are located in the Upper West Side. 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.



Drink
section header - this is a rapidly growing bar scene

Sleep
not here - where?

Connect
The is at 465 Grant St. on the Upper West Side.

'nearest library? WiFi access?'

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. The question of whether crime is more prevalent on the West Side or the East Side is very much an open one, but despite the official numbers which are roughly neck-and-neck, the latter is probably a bit more dangerous. On the one hand, the suspicion and mistrust of police that's pervasive on the East Side likely means that many crimes committed there go unreported; on the other hand, the fact that the West Side is being colonized by upwardly mobile young people eager to reclaim a formerly marginal neighborhood means that crimes are probably reported more consistently there than elsewhere.

Still, there's no denying that crime remains a serious problem on the West Side — especially on and around Grant Street between roughly Hampshire Street and Auburn Avenue.'How serious the threat is depends very much on what time it is - if you're visiting Buffalo, by all means enjoy the sights and sounds of these vibrant districts, but a bit of common sense goes a long way. Make absolutely sure to keep your car locked and valuables out of sight, and keep a low profile in situations that don't feel right. Also, try to make yourself scarce after dark, especially if you're on foot — areas that seem friendly and vibrant by day can take on a more sinister character after the sun goes down. At the very least, stick to well-lit thoroughfares and keep your wits about you.'

'Niagara Street? elsewhere in the district?'

Panhandling isn't nearly as big a problem around here as in other areas of Buffalo. You'll occasionally see a few of them making nuisances of themselves at the West Side Bazaar, but for now, this is the exception rather than the rule. 'As elsewhere in Buffalo, aggressive panhandling is almost unknown; if you don't want to give, a firm "no" almost always does the trick. - adapt so not identical verbiage to LWS'

Hospitals
nearest?

Places of worship
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Hispanic Protestant
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Muslim
With a steady stream of incoming immigrants from the Horn of Africa (among other places), the West Side is a growing center of Muslim culture in Western New York.



Go next
Fort Erie, LWS, Black Rock, Elmwood Village