"I stink." written by Chico on estrip.org

06/13/06 12:44 - 60ºF - ID#21179

I stink.

No, really, I need a shower. Too many hours practically living in and out of (e:chicoschica)'s Subaru during the past two days.

I will say one thing: you can get a lot of apartment in Buffalo for your money. And one other thing: I can see why (e:jenks) likes Spot Coffee for people watching. Wish I had more time to sit and watch the world go by... but I was busy seeing apartments.

Surprisingly, given the WTF? kind of reaction of e-:strippers to Rand Avenue, it's a nice street. Nice in a residential, tree-lined sort of way. Short walking distance to Delaware Park, a Feel-Rite, Bagel Jay's and a couple of other businesses. And a slightly longish walk to Hertel. Apartments there are pretty spacious, and there's one we might end up taking. (Although it has a front porch that we would have to share with the upstairs tenant...ugh). Also a place on Tillinghast that's pretty nice.

North of the park feels almost like suburbs compared with Elmwood area though. We've got four contenders south of Delaware Park:

Gates Circle, above the Curves for Women: great looking 2nd floor apartment, secure garage parking, heat included in rent. Two doors south of Hutch's. But as Nikki from (damn, forgot the restaurant--little diner joint on west side of Elmwood with outdoor seating) said, would you actually walk anywhere from there?

Hodge, a half block W of Delaware, third floor apt mentioned in earlier post... big heating bills and weird parking restrictions that would force us to do some jockeying on a parked-up street near the hospital. Gorgeous apartment except for the kitchen which is still OK.

W. Utica near the corner of Norwood, a very nice and well-maintained fully updated apartment. Security system, exclusive off street parking off a common alleyway, great new appliances. First floor, though, closer to west side, and some road noise from W. Utica including the buses.

St. James Place, a block or so in (one way street) -- the dark horse candidate. Best address of the 4 in my estimation, just a great street. Place needs work though. New homeowners and a scary kitchen, which blows b/c we like to cook. Some rooms painted wacky colors (we could change them if we're willing to paint). Old appliances, on-street parking only. Beautiful front porch.

Knowing what you know about Buffalo, how would you rank these? Any thoughts? Let 'er rip, (e:peeps).

And as always, we are most grateful for your feedback.

P.S. Drove by 444 Linwood before I left town. Looks like a nice house but never did make any arrangements to see the inside...

UPDATE: Many thanks to everyone who provided feedback...we're still deciding (Gates Circle, W Utica, Rand, or wait) and I'll post again soon with a complete report for all of you (e:peeps) who just can't get enough of the strange NJ-Buffalo saga that is unfolding...

carolinian writes at 07:34:31 06/13/06 - Comment #8886: Definately W. Utica. It's a nice area. Plus, I like the fact that I can have a few beers at the bars just up the street and not worry about having to drive home.

matthew writes at 06:46:20 06/13/06 - Comment #8884: i'm not talking about the east side, i mean the street "main". There are a lot of good stores and services on main street. I think a lot of potential buisness is scared away beacuse they have a main street adress. and i think that's stupid. so why feed into it?

mike writes at 06:37:39 06/13/06 - Comment #8882: I don't see how (e:libertad) said anything about white people avoiding the other side of Main Street altogether. The other side of Main Street is obviously very different for more reasons than race as we have all mentioned, it is definetley socioeconomically different. Anyway, I generally don't recommend to others to try something I wouldn't do myself, so whose gonna make that first move and instead of living on W. Ferry, W. Delevan, W. Utica move on over to the east sides.

matthew writes at 05:47:57 06/13/06 - Comment #8878: (e:libertad) , are you suggesting that white people avoid main street all together?

chico writes at 04:12:39 06/13/06 - Comment #8876: Sorry, botched the code so here's the URL: :::link:::

chico writes at 04:10:59 06/13/06 - Comment #8875: (e:matthew) 's comment and (e:libertad) 's follow up got me thinking about a map I had seen on the City of Buffalo's Strategic Planning site:
<a href="http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/files/1_2_1/MapDesc/AfAmBuffalo.pdf"></a>

I'm new in town so I claim no expertise, but it's striking how justified the word "segregated" is in describing the areas on either side of Main. (Well, some integrated areas in the central corridor and west side, but the numbers on the east side of Main are astonishing.) Map based on 2000 Census data.

libertad writes at 03:22:03 06/13/06 - Comment #8873: after years of living and working on main street I would have to say that the stigma is justified. I took the "subway" constantly from south campus to the auditorium (the subway's full length) and utica and main was always the point where the most problems seemed to occur. My doctors office was at main and utica and it was dangerous. Matthew you are right about main street being the dividing line. This is very unfortunate, but I would not live on the east side of main street just for the sake of mixing races. Since Utica is a major bus line you are going to have more people coming and going than you would on linwood.

matthew writes at 02:10:18 06/13/06 - Comment #8871: I live a block from Main street and west Ferry. So does (e:paul) and (e:terry). We've never had problems with crime or "sketchy-ness". Don't get me wrong, bad things can and do happen on main street, but as long as you use your city common sense you'll be fine. I probably wouldn't go for a stroll at 2am on main. But i'd walk it during the day and evening for sure. The problem with main street is that it's dead (business wise). There are a lot of empty buildings, so it does give off an impression of being run down and sketchy. Buffalonians are scarred of main street, i think it's time we worked towards ending that stigma. It would also do a great deal for the city's problem of segregation. Main street is used as an invisible line separating white and black communities.

jenks writes at 12:50:06 06/13/06 - Comment #8869: first- if i'm not mistaken, norwood is like a block off ashland. So utica/norwood is not anywhere near main. (but i agree, main is sketch-city) And as I told chico- i wouldn't worry about being in a lower, and an alarm is peace of mind too. I'm maybe too little of a scaredy cat and too trusting, but I think in this area if you use some common sense you'll be fine.

chicoschica writes at 11:47:45 06/13/06 - Comment #8866: hi everyone - i've escaped from my page to come over here and post on this topic - I figure since I also have a vested interest in it...ha!

Lee - a fanTAStic appraisal of the situation. Just this morning before I left for work, I was leaning toward WUtica, too. It's a lower, which isn't my first preference (*sigh* I'm a scaredy cat, admittedly). But compared to the other places, the living space is, in some cases, LEAPS and bounds better. And you're right - we'll spend a LOT of time in there come winter!!

Plus, I can see in Lee's post that some of the (e:peeps) live in that area, so it must be much more conducive to socializing!! =)

Thanks to everyone for helping out - it's kind of like being a fish out of water, since we're not from the area - but it's so tres cool to have friendly, down to earth (!) people to give you the straight story about stuff....

=)
chico's chica

libertad writes at 11:47:39 06/13/06 - Comment #8865: I really dislike 1st floor apartments. I just find them very scary. 444 Linwood is first floor and that seems pretty safe. Utica can have its problems, I think its one of the worst parts of main street which isn't too far of. Are you checking both Artvoice and Buffalo News classifieds? Craigslist? It seems like you have some time to really get what you want. If you see anything on Ashland it is a great street to live on, very quiet, but close to all the action.

jenks writes at 11:24:44 06/13/06 - Comment #8863: well put lee. I totally agree. You sold me!

leetee writes at 10:26:46 06/13/06 - Comment #8859: Well, i'm willing to give my 2 cents worth... but, as i have mentioned to others, it's Canadian, so it isn't worth quite as much. :O)

Gates Circle. Sounds like it's a nice pad. However, if you are looking for a place that is right in the Elmwood 'hood, that isn't it. Not that it would be a hangout, but i think i read or heard somewhere that the Park Lane Restaurant on the other side of Gates Cirle is closing. But i digress. There is good walking around there. If you like cemetaries, Forest Lawn is a short distance and a very peaceful place to walk.

Hodge. I'm with (e:Kara) , parking this time of year doesn't seem like too big a deal this time of year, but it would be akward just after a winter snow dump. Have to shovel out your car just to move it to the other side of the street. Talk about a pain. And Children's will never have a not so busy time of day that will make it easier to park...

W. Utica. Yes, nearer the west side, but still in a decent hood. Still east of Richmond. A few short blocks from where (e:Ladycroft) , (e:Decoyisryan) and (e:Nejifer) live. And it sounds like the place itself is very nice.

St James Place. Great address. Near everything. But you still have to live inside it... and might spend a lot more time in it during the winter. Of course, if you guys like decorating and painting and being D.I.Y. types and the landlord is cool with it, you may have a fun time making it your own place. Being a rental, though, would mean leaving that all behind if you ever move.

Out of those 4 choices, if it were me, i would pick W. Utica. It's near Elmwood, within walking distance to so many places (even though that one block of Elmwood between Hodge and Utica seems to be undergoing a change). It has the good kitchen with the new appliances (i'm envious by the way.. i love our house, but i hate its kitchen.. ah, some day, the reno fairly will visit us), security and off street parking. And if the bedroom is at the back of the house, the noise won't be as bad... then again, once i fall asleep, i can sleep through most anything....

imk2 writes at 09:26:27 06/13/06 - Comment #8858: i used to live on st. james pl. i can tell you it is a great street, walking distance to everything, elmwood, delaware park, hutch's (which is right around the corner). it is a very family oriented street with block club meetings and such.

kara writes at 08:19:36 06/13/06 - Comment #8857: Just a note on the "jockeying on parking." I know thousands of people do it, but there is no substitute for your own driveway or parking area. It's not so bad for 3/4 of the year, but the city parking nazis are very vigilant about writing tickets, and it's $35 a pop with no real means of appeal. I've seen them write tickets on my street (which has Sun-Wed parking on one side, Wed-Sat parking on the other) less than 15 minutes past the switchover time.
Also, it's generally easier to shovel yourself out of your own driveway than it is to dig yourself out of the street when there's heavy snow. That's just my opinion, and I've been shoveling snow a long time. :)
I'd go w/ gates or w utica.

mrmike writes at 07:15:23 06/13/06 - Comment #8856: I'd take the Gates Circle one -- all the goodies of Elmwood are walkable

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06/10/06 04:29 - 62ºF - ID#21178

Anyone familiar with Hodge Ave? Help!

Well, I'm still deliberating the trip to B-lo this weekend. A phone call in response to an ad for a 2 bedroom led to an interesting twist.
The 2 bdrm is gone, but a 3 bdrm apt on Hodge Ave near the Children's Hospital is coming available and it would be perfect timing for our August move-in date.

The location is on Hodge about a block west of Delaware. The apt is a huge (2200 sq ft) 3 bdrm on the 3rd floor and has 2 full baths, 2 working fireplaces, functional kitchen (important for us!), in-unit washer and dryer, off-street parking, and apparently is in "immaculate" condition. Allegedly, the balanced billing for heat runs $110-$120 and electric around $40.

The current tenants have apparently lived there 6 years and are leaving to move to NYC.

The neighbors on the first and second floors are single professionals, the one on the first floor has a well behaved dog (a lab) and the one on the 2nd floor apparently travels a lot.

It's pricey (near the top of our range, but manageable) but we have been assured it is a quiet unit on a nice street.

Any comments from the local experts on the Elmwood area?

Is it definitely worth looking at, maybe to grab it before it hits the market (plannng to list it in AV this week)? Or let it ride...? And what should I make of Hodge Ave just west of Delaware? How long a walk to good stuff on Elmwood, etc.?

Also, any thoughts on Rand Avenue in N. Buffalo? Cheaper options with garages up that way, and near Delaware Park.

--Chico

chico writes at 10:29:01 06/10/06 - Comment #8772: thanks (e:terry), (e:kookcity2000), (e:paul) and (e:jenks) for the helpful advice! definitely will check out the Hodge apt tomorrow. full report to come... chico

jenks writes at 09:05:51 06/10/06 - Comment #8771: yeah i'll chime in too. I would take the hodge place. I have a friend that lives at 77 hodge, and another friend lives right next door I think. actually i can ask them if they know anything about this place. Good area, close enough to everything... Tons of restaurants near children's, plus Faherty's. I would definitely take it over Rand (which I've never heard of.) If you go north of the park, all you have is.... the park. If you stay south, you can still get to the park, but also have all the restaurants, etc.

Correction- I would SEE the hodge place before taking it. SOUNDS great, but sometimes landlords exaggerate...

paul writes at 08:48:50 06/10/06 - Comment #8770: Hodge is a great street. I would definitely jump on that, if it's in your range.

Although, when are you moving exactly? We live in a fantastic (ask anyone on the site) apartment at 444 linwood. It is around $1000 but includes utilities. We are moving around August.

terry writes at 04:56:13 06/10/06 - Comment #8768: Hodge is a pretty nice st. Pretty near everything...you've actually got 3 or 5 good restaurants within 5 mins. walk, then a couple more mins to get to the Spot area on Elmwood. Only concern I might have is parking and hospital traffic, but if it has off-street you should be okay. What exactly is expensive? We have the front half of a mansion, not sure square footage, with two beds/2 full baths and a fireplace, though its non-functioning. We pay $1100 but is includes everything (a great plus here).

My opionion on Rand is that it's a bit too far. While it's possible to get to Elmwood it's a pretty long jaunt, though you can go through the park... I'm not sure about the exact street, if I remember I'll check it out next time I get around there. For me the ideal square is like Richmond-Linwood (E-W) and Forest-Bryant (N-S) if you want real "Elmwood-living" and extend down to Allen if you don't mind living in Allentown, which has it's own charm.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck.

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06/09/06 03:29 - 64ºF - ID#21177

Fountainhead

OK, so what's the deal with (MAP TO: RAND%20AVENUE)? Why do I have three appointments to see apartments on this little street between Delaware, Amherst, and Hertel?

Is it a depressing little street that people can't wait to leave?
Is it noisy? (there are train tracks 2 blocks away...do freight trains run through there all night long?)

Anyway I can hardly help but to be suspicious.... Hmm.

Other places I'm considering north of Delaware Park: a 3 br on Tillinghast Pl, and a 2 br on North Dr.(north of Hertel, off Parkside).

Nearer to Elmwood I'm looking at something on W. Delevan near Chapin Pkwy, on W. Utica near Norwood, and an expensive apt overlooking Gates Circle.

Comments welcomed...

P.S. thanks to (e:Jenks), (e:Leetee), (e:Kara) et al for the latest encouraging emails :-)

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06/09/06 10:08 - 62ºF - ID#21176

damn, you people are nice...

...what planet are you from? Being a newcomer I figured I wouldn't get much of a response to my post but instead I'm happily inundated with notes from (e:zobar), (e:joshua), (e:kara), (e:carolinian), (e:libertad), (e:hodown), and (e:dragonlady7)...many thanks to all!

I really appreciate the help with the apartment search...the gf and I were looking all over town a couple of weekends ago and decided that we're most interested in the areas relatively close to Delaware Park...gf is jazzed about the Bidwell Parkway area (in part b/c it's close to Caffe Aroma); I'm still strongly considering other parts of Elmwood Village, but we're also thinking about areas north of Delaware Park too... we're trying to find a quiet street, gf gets up early and likes to get her beauty rest. ;-)

Was thinking about bombing on up to B-lo this weekend to look for apts and to check out the Allentown art festival... but I'm getting the sense that I'm a little early for my target move-in date of August 1... most of the folks advertising in AV are looking for 7/1... any thoughts? Would I be wasting time/gas money by making the trip this weekend?

Thanks again, Chico

kara writes at 04:41:16 06/09/06 - Comment #8728: leetee- i think it's the north park theater. It's right across the street from the Stock Exchange, an awesome furniture store that chico and the woman (sorry, couldn't resist) should check out to outfit their new digs.

leetee writes at 01:44:19 06/09/06 - Comment #8720: Early welcome, (e:Chico) and (e:Chico)'s girlfriend! :O)

My husband and i, (e:Uncutsaniflush) are farily new to Buffalo as well. Been about a year and a half now.

The Hertel Street area, between Elmwood and Colvin and maybe even through to Starin, has a lot of rentals down the side streets, i think. Might want to check out that area if you're looking to be above Delaware Park. Most are doubles, as they call them 'round here, or as other places say, duplexes. Our realtor owns a house and rents out the top half.. and the people that used to live in the house my husband and i bought moved to that area. There's a cool movie theatre up there... oh, i think it's called North something. Man, i am bad with names. Sorry. Coupla good places to eat 'round there, too. I recommend Taste Of Thai if you like Thai food.

OK, now that was a ramble. More than i intended it to be.

Oh, but before i forget. Coffee places. I'm not one for hanging out at coffee places in general, but a lot of the (e:peeps) 'round here hang at Spot, which is a block or two south of Aroma. Oddly enough, Armoma was a place my husband and i went to when we were visitors before we moved here...

kara writes at 12:52:01 06/09/06 - Comment #8716: Lots of quiet streets to the north of 198 and east of Parkside - not sure about the rental availability there, though.
:::link:::

jenks writes at 10:14:57 06/09/06 - Comment #8711: Yeah, we're a nice bunch... welcome. :)
Bidwell is beautiful (I drove up and down over and over when I was looking for a place, hoping a "for rent" sign would miraculously appear). But there are lots of nice places. I think the guidelines I were given are good- I'd recommend the area bounded by Forest to the North, Allen to the South, Richmond to the West, and Delaware to the East. Or Linwood.

All of that is pretty near Aroma. (though personally I prefer Spot (further down elmwood)).

You might be a little early to find a place for 8/1, but at the same time it might be a good idea to get a feel for the area in advance, so when you ARE seeing places your head is clear on what's where, etc.

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06/08/06 06:03 - 73ºF - ID#21175

reversing the tide

hey e-peeps... okay so i'm a poser... i live in new jersey and haven't moved to buffalo yet but i'm on my way this summer. just landed a job in b-lo (this seems to surprise people...what, are there no jobs in b-lo or something?) ;-) i laugh to myself that i'm trying to singlehandedly reverse the population outflow from buffalo... ha!

anyway my gf and i are moving up around august and i'll be scouring elmwood and allentown looking for you e- types. beware! in the meantime maybe i'll write some journal posts about my search for a nice apartment near the park. suggestions welcomed...

chico

codypomeray writes at 02:45:11 06/10/06 - Comment #8766: hey chico welcome to estrip. i actually grew up in b-lo but moved to long island. my sister moved to new jersey. she lived in brick and teaches in lakewood. where you from? well i hope everything goes well with your move to buffalo. good luck.

dragonlady7 writes at 08:58:02 06/09/06 - Comment #8710: Welcome to Buffalo!

Am I an idiot for wanting to know which park? I really don't know which park. There are kind of a lot.

I'm not originally from Buffalo either but I sort of moved here before getting a job, so, yknow, like, I wouldn't know what backwards even was.

hodown writes at 08:51:57 06/09/06 - Comment #8709: Ha funny. I did just the opposite moved from Buffalo to Jersey!

libertad writes at 02:07:55 06/09/06 - Comment #8704: bienvenido chico,

I'll ask around for an apartment near the park. I know someone who lives there and has a rental property, but I doubt that it is available. She may know of someone though. Buffalo is a great place to live. I think you should really like the people here.

carolinian writes at 12:23:41 06/09/06 - Comment #8699: I've moved up here from NC in the last several months and I'm glad I did. Buffalo is a pretty cool place and you can get pretty good deals, at least compared to where I was living before (and even better deals if you can stomach living in Lackawanna).

I'm currently living on Richmond Ave, and I definitely recommend it. Driving down the street when everything's in bloom on a mild summer day is alone with living here.

Plus, stuff is within walking distance, and I find I'm using my car less and less.

kara writes at 09:32:21 06/08/06 - Comment #8692: welcome to the 'hood - the (e:strip)hood, that is.

You should have your girlfriend (chica?) join, too. We're a friendly bunch.

subboard.com is a good resource for apartments. Buffalo is a big college town, so the market for rentals will dry up once school starts.

joshua writes at 07:28:46 06/08/06 - Comment #8687: Welcome friend.

The best way to find an apartment on or around Elmwood is to check out Artvoice - they have a website and must have the classifieds up there. Otherwise, alot of people simply drive around the 'hood and go sign shopping.

Anyway, you'll love Elmwood.

zobar writes at 07:00:40 06/08/06 - Comment #8686: Almost-welcome to Buffalo. B'lo is famous for having fewer jobs than people, but I'm beginning to think that's turning around. I hired someone from North Carolina by way of Rochester, and just recently (e:carolinian) moved here directly from North Carolina as well.

I work for the local alternative newsweekly, and I recommend looking at our classifieds :::link::: if you want to live inside the city. If you'd prefer to live in the suburbs [ick] the real paper :::link::: has better listings.

- Z

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