Buffalo, NY in the 1970's

[@calvingrieff9516]

Just a kid born in 2002 in Buffalo. It’s so cool hearing all you guys’ stories about growing up around here. My grandfather was born in 42 in buff and became a manager at a steel plant. My dad was born here too in 67 and did all kinds of jobs around the city. He used to tell me all kinds of great stories growing up in south Buffalo going to South Park high school. These pictures tell a great story too lol and I couldnt Be happier growing up in Buffalo like the rest of my family.

[@June-tb4vi]

Bethlehem Steel..big business and people were lucky working there 😊 my step dad worked there too

[@calvingrieff9516]

@@June-tb4vi Yup. Gramps was the first one on the block to have the fancy color tv with the big satellite that could get you all the fancy channels in the 70's LOL. Good times.

[@brandondavis9016]

Your grandad was born in 42 my father was born in 41… and I was born In 2002 just like you! Buffalo is very interesting

[@calvingrieff9516]

@@brandondavis9016 That's so cool man. Yup. Not much here but in my opinion a fantastic community

[@BabeRutheless702]

My folks stumbled across this video a couple days ago and were pleasantly surprised to find a set of very familiar faces (their own!) at the 2:20 mark. Thank you so much for putting this together! I'm definitely thinking of tracking down a decent copy of it and getting a framed print made for them.

[@jeffreyg4626]

I grew up in Buffalo on 523 Highgate ave; Bailey-Kensington area. Went to P.S.School 80. Has it been over 40 years already? My father was a steelworker. It was a great neighborhood!! Gritty, but warm and friendly. We knew everybody. I was born in 1965. So many pretty women in Buffalo; black, white, and latino. Thank you for posting. I remember and love my people well.... Love and light to all! N.Tonawanda June 25, 2017

[@tonycap250nuts]

I worked at Jimmy J's On bailey back in the late 80's early 90's. Live in N.T. now.. That neighborhood has really gone downhill since then.. wondering if I know you from back then. reminiscing of the old days.

[@geoffedwards-tb4kp]

Reminds D's me a bit of my home town Manchester UK.Same gritty post industrial feel.

[@briannotafan3368]

i was born in 57 on royal ave dad worked at chevy mom took care of house went to riverside till the blacks mad school a living hell moved to bailey delavan finished at ken then blacks crosed bailey sold out went to cheektowaga now Wyoming county

[@matt.squarebody5427]

@@briannotafan3368 they ruined the entire city. Piece of shit

[@helpmegetto10kwithnovideos81]

@@briannotafan3368”the blacks” is crazy

[@lynnettecheatom2922]

I was born and raised in Buffalo. Back in the day, our Main Street downtown could easily compare to New York City. So many stores to choose from. AM&A'S, Hengerers, Grant's, Kobackers, Gutman's, David's, Hen's & Kelly's, Park Lane Hoisery, Mr. Dee's tots to teens, Woolworth's, Neisners, Sims, Bakers, shoe store. Kleinhans's for men. Just a few of the many department stores that were on Main Street. When I use to tell my girls about all the stores. They looked at me like what happen. We have the best food. And some of the best people. And did I neglect to mention the steel plants that were here. Republic Steel, Bethlehem Steel. Buffalo was a thriving city in the 70's. The good Ole days. If only we had them now.

[@jharmainejharmaine524]

Hey that's me in 0:13 - 0:14 spot with the Bush Charmaine N. Attended Riverside HS

[@zobius9191]

So much history to our town, pretty cool to see the old building in their newer form.

[@jacquelinewatts6187]

I REMEMBER SATTLERS KOBACKERS WOOLWORTH I WISH I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME I WILL NEVER FORGET THE GOOD OLD DAYS

[@Boeing727223]

Love this post! Born to Sicilian American parents in 1969 at Children's Hospital and grew up in the 1970s on the West Side....brings back lots of memories!

[@brutyme3111]

Golden key Pizza.... Nothing like it

[@kathleenriley8357]

Oh how this brings back memories. I remember my parents talking about Chippewa Street and how we shopped at all the local stores that are now gone....

[@June-tb4vi]

AM&A's...Sattlers...yes I remember

[@briand4754]

Chippewa was the seedy area with topless bars when I was a kid. My sister used to take the bus to hutch tech. Parents would never let their kids do that these days

[@jamesdellaneve9005]

I left the Western NY area in 1983. I knew that I’d never be back because of the lack of good employment. I’’ve been in Cali for 40 years. It’s been great and still go back to visit my relatives in Buffalo. The city has really recovered.

[@mikeroy9316]

Actually there's more to Buffalo then downtown

[@LaurandaTweed]

❤I grew up in Kenmore, NY near Elmwood Ave. and then Hamburg, NY. My late grandmother taught at Sweet Home Junior High in the 1970’s. Fond memories.

[@RetroGaming-gp2ef]

The city where my father was born. Buffalo sure has changed in over the last 50 years.

[@RetroGaming-gp2ef]

I wish there were some 70s photos of south Seneca street. Since that's where my grandparents lived back in the day.

[@kingclover1395]

That was awesome. It's funny how I recognized a lot of the stores and buildings but couldn't remember exactly where they were. I couldn't remember what street they were on.

[@54GARYBOY]

How they let the Fruit Belt get out of hand I will never understand. Such a beautiful area with some great old strong homes outlasting so many Buffalo winters.

[@blackatheistmillionaire1636]

I left buffalo in 78 and the fruit belt was out of hand then!

[@dpmcooper]

Where did you find these photos? I'd love to frame the one at 3:57, and others

[@Lilydaleswans]

I'm from Buffalo and moved in 1979. But...I had a great time in the 1970s there. I didn't hang out downtown or go all around to try to find abandoned buildings. I lived on the West Side, had great friends, lots of live music going on then. The Stuffed Mushroom and the popular music group Spiro Gyra came out of there. There were many of us who got together often, and we had fun. You make it sound really bad. I only left because I had a job in another state that I really wanted to take. Buffalo is starting to come back again. I'm glad younger people are moving in and seeing it as an opportunity to create what they want instead of seeing it as a dump they are stuck in, which it isn't. I think it's a great city for young people - creatives, now tech people, with industry gone, I think it is a prime location (cheap, good housing, friendly people) for high tech. I lived out in Silicon Valley and there is NOTHING affordable for people who want to start their own companies and have a space. Buffalo is still cheap enough to live your dream.

[@zorroalphonso4354]

During the thirties, the city's population began to level off, and after its 1950 high of 580,000, it began to fall precipitously-down 50,000 people by the end of the decade. Buffalo's worst decade was the 1970s, when it lost 100,000 residents and much of its middle class. The city lost another 857 residents from July 2013 to July 2014, according to census estimates, which peg Buffalo’s current population at 258,703. 580,000 in the 50's to 248,703 in 2014. "Buffalo is back" mantra is for Buffalo buffs!

[@Supertzar999]

Lots of places were run down and bad in the 70's. NYC probably tops the list.

[@jamesogrady6612]

Lilydaleswans Buffalo is better now, to bad we still get all that snow, I remember those concerts at Bills stadium, they really got some big time bands here. The Bills fans are still crazy but even today we sellout almost every game. I don't think people still avoid us cause of our weather. My Brother is good friends with Johnny Reznic from GOO GOO Dolls. Mickey Rats in Angola was sold. I became quite a partier Bills games & Concerts. ST. Pats Parade is still big here. Darien Lake gets big time bands too. Allentown is go to place. The past 2-3 years Catholic Schools are closing because folks cant afford them. They might put new Bills Stadium on the waterfront, fans say no because they wont be able to Tailgate. The Courts are doing some good getting people help instead of jail.

[@jamesogrady6612]

Lilydaleswans I had a good life in Buffalo, 30 years union job, concerts at Bills Stadium in 70s, Bills seasons tickets, living near Buffalo Zoo, same street that Darwin Martin house is. went to Bishop Timon for free because Dad was football coach even if it was all boys high school. Never forget 77 Blizzard. 1 thing sucks Im full grown Adult only 5'6 Tall. Crystal Beach in Canada was cool. Go to ST PATS Parade every year. It also sucks Catholic Schools are closing because people cant afford them. Some High Schools are $14,000 for 1 year. My School Timon is now coed to stay open.

[@briannotafan3368]

mc vans was the place to go in the 70s kept my boat at rich

[@UFC_Buffalo]

Love this city, STILL the best and the BEST people

[@MARRANCA2]

Cool to see the Market Arcade. The love of my life works there now.

[@jamesdellaneve9005]

I didn’t know Buffalo had an arcade. They have a very cool one in Cleveland.

[@rivaridge7211]

It's nice to see the Kensington High yearbook - from 1972 (at 1:50). I attended "Ken High" from 1970-74 and have mostly good memories. Thanks for posting!

[@blackatheistmillionaire1636]

I went to Bennett high on main back in 76.

[@briannotafan3368]

i grad Ken in 77 after transferring from riverside left buff in 79

[@patentexperts1675]

The old Buffalo Pub Building on Chippewa Street, so cool to see it's earlier days.

[@jasonrusso9808]

that billboard is still there atop spot coffee delaware n chippewa. S.Bflo here, Cazenovia Park

[@davidsteck413]

Good place in early 1970s on elm wood ave Allentown

[@michaeldragonette208]

Grew up on Trenton across from the projects, best training for life's journey.1963 to 79

[@georgealmeter3562]

Great pictures

[@scottadams4474]

We lived in Amherst (near the Amherst UB campus from 1972 to 1985 and were rarely in the city. I loved growing up in Amherst..

[@peterbelanger4094]

hey former neighbor! I lived in the nw part of Amherst in 1975 & 1976. I was just a little kid, I loved it too! Had a woods behind the house I used to play in all the time, and an old abandoned airport. they removed it for a water treatment plant, and more houses. I was living in Rochester by 1985.

[@scottadams4474]

@peterbelanger4094 We lived in the Maplemere neighborhood Maple Road and Millersport Highway and Sheridan Drive. Went to Sweet Home High

[@judythomas9042]

Fantastic!

[@veronaraven3099]

Buffalo was in bad shape in the 70s...kids w college degrees started leaving en masse..

[@LloydMajor]

Awesome! May i use some of the footage?

[@christinestange4813]

I remember these scenes vividly. 👍

[@mr.blister4856]

Did you live here back then

[@theScrupulousBerserker]

Very cool!

[@jamesdellaneve9005]

The light rail finished off Main Street. That was too bad. You can’t close down for 15 years and not affect the buying patterns.

[@edwintorres4033]

I currently live in Buffalo N.Y. My city is the bomb! Affordable mortgage, Great 🌳, Great schools, Great food!

[@briannotafan3368]

buffalo is a shit hole now as a kid in the 60s i could go out at nite to get a pizza for us and not worry bout getting killed

[@metalmumm86]

Ok I'll give great food,but the cost of living here is crazy high,I'm 47 years old lived on the east side of Buffalo it once was a beautiful place

[@Foreign780]

@@briannotafan3368 I must admit I have heard gunshots out at that time and walked pass crime scenes only a couple but its all targeted to gang members and and criminals

[@Foreign780]

@@briannotafan3368 but its not bad statistically as 1990s or late 1980s

[@josephinacotto]

Buffalo boring I was born there ! You probably don’t live on the east west side or riverside OF Buffalo ! That’s hood ! When the nice weather comes out again people who be at Delaware park or canal side will be getting robbed , shot rapped again ! All true Factsss look it up public information 🚓

[@TimothyForbesXXI]

Many of these photos are clearly from 1978-1979, about the time I first visited the city. Seeing the leisure suit ads make me cringe, and there were some other aspects of the 1970s that weren't so great, but there were also many fine times to be had. What I see is a city with real personality, and a city that deserves much, much better!!!

[@sharptoothtrex4486]

I never saw Buffalo like that before in the 70s.

[@springsummerwinterorfall]

I remember Moe Considine, when she raided the drift boards… nice work my moey

[@empresseve5283]

I visit Buffalo every summer to visit family..just left July 29 2023 AND IT LOOKS THE SAME... JUST IN COLOR 😮

[@SuperGreycloud]

Sure miss the old Buffalo.😢

[@blkcube11]

Whats the name of the intro song?

[@cmdrflake]

Arlene Wozniak where are you?

[@aidancanoli]

0:37 Delaware and Chippewa currently spot coffee?

[@payless1981]

Sure is!

[@aidancanoli]

@@payless1981 so cool! do you know where 0:13 is? and if its there anymore? looks so familiar but i can't place it.

[@payless1981]

@@aidancanoli that was the Genesee Building now known as the Hyatt Recency.

[@aidancanoli]

​@@payless1981 crazy what a couple additional buildings can do to the feel of a city. i barely recognized it because of the way it just peeks out now looking north. i was getting strong delaware vibes that confused me before haha. thank you

[@payless1981]

@@aidancanoli hey no prob. It definitely looked like a different city back then.

[@ExpressedEnt]

Hi! This is amazing. I was wondering how I could get your permission to use some of this footage for a project that I am doing? Thanks. Many Blessings! - JA

[@payless1981]

Feel free to use what ever you'd like!

[@ExpressedEnt]

@@payless1981 Thank you so much! If you provide an email, I will keep you up to date with the project's developments.

[@ExpressedEnt]

Also how would you like your credit to appear?

[@franklaforte7873]

Wow ..I forgot how depressing the area could be ..Sad part is that it's still depressing every time I visit. I've been away to long to even consider going back ..

[@brutyme3111]

Tommy Franciaforte. ??

[@Deezy_Ankh]

Gio, I didn't know you made youtube vids?! Hey look market arcade!!

[@payless1981]

Aye! Was testing it out lol how you been

[@Deezy_Ankh]

@@payless1981 chilling bro. Jus got another necklace made next door to you like a week ago. Saw those pics my brother did for you too. Pretty good

[@JD-kg3mx]

I remember it all. I was born when the progression stopped and the decline started, insidiously slow at first then it gained momentum like a train wreck in slow motion. Buffalo City proper went from half a million souls to less than half that in about thirty years. Some argue give or take five years but it declined none the less. By the 70's it was still hustle-bustle, just less so but strained and injured, stumbling and almost aimless and known as the city where ideas come to die. The factories closed and relocated due to taxes corporations couldn't tolerate. First down south then to Asia, Mexico and places that made our clothes ill-fitting, car parts that didn't last and mills making products with child labor. The Eighties rolled in and so did the train to nowhere, a subway that traveled down main street leaving behind bankrupt businesses in its wake - the heavy cost of growth and development, unrealized, and La Cosa Nostra union $tacked cronyisms and a related mob hit unsolved to this day. The nineties rolled in because numerically it has to and Bette Midler came to town and remarked how wonderful it was what Buffalo did to its waterfront - so thick with cynicism the area politicians soiled their pants. Crys went out for investigations, impeachments and editorial cartoonists should have been awarded Pulitzers lambasting civic movers and shakers for the fiasco of negative growth. A mouse standing on its toes could see better ideas over a curb than what held political office in Western New York from the top of city hall. Then we moved into the two-thousands and "preservationists" want to save grain elevators for posterity. I can't wait to go on that tour. But hey, from the area that jailed Tim McGraw for the "infamous Horse Incident" what do you expect for this mindset? Grain elevator tour or country western concert? Yep. But to round things off Buffalo and surroundings are really on an upswing. Our football team is a top contender, hockey isn't far behind, jobs doing better than national stats, housing is ok and the weather shift is actually pretty good here in the 'ol Beau Fleu. The City never died because the people wouldn't let it.

[@RichardSault-tc2gv]

Green Lightning 🎉

[@raymondhoelscher9307]

WHEN YOU SEE THAT BUICK ON CHIIPPIWA STREET JUST SHOWING THE FRONT GRILL, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME IN MY DAD'S BUICK ELECTRA 225 CONVERTIBLE, BLACK TOP LIGHT MINT GREEN COLOR......

[@54GARYBOY]

Groovy funky music but how could you have missed Jefferson & Best Street?

[@kilakr13]

Sick funk track! Who dis?

[@raymondhoelscher9307]

WHAT MEMORIES THEN!!

[@hankthompson3753]

2 words Irv Wienstien

[@charlescampanella1205]

Its eleven o'clock do you know where your children are ? Lol

[@briand4754]

Irv Weinstein he's really a pro. He's got all the news that we want to know. He tells it like it is and even throws us a curve. Nobody says it like Irv. Eyewitness news

[@bblegacy]

One thing I don't miss one bit about the 1970s was all the horrible music like this back then when I was a teenager.

[@gjerrildkro]

What no snow

[@budpearce8869]

City of no illusions

[@springsummerwinterorfall]

If they say boost buffalo, it’s good for you

[@bblegacy]

The handwriting was on the wall. Industry was deserting the entire rust belt around the great lakes from Chicago and Duluth to Detroit to Cleveland to Buffalo to Niagara Falls to Rochester to Syracuse as fast as they could get out by 1970, and it only accelerated more once Nixon opened the gateway to trade with China in 1974. Nobody now talks about the rampant crime infestation that was everywhere downtown like W. Chippewa St. either, back when hookers and winos were walking the streets and throwing up everywhere as porn shops took over store fronts and old dilapidated movie theaters became porn houses, that made it completely unsafe to even want to go anywhere near what was the then-brand new Main Place mall. And it only got worse from then on for at least 25 if not the next 30 years.

[@kingclover1395]

Ah yes, the infamous Chippewa Street. It rivaled New York's Times Square for 70s sleaziness.

[@glen6945]

ooohhhhyes

[@springsummerwinterorfall]

I worked at the suicide prevention, crisis services over grants

[@killadelphiaHC]

doot doot doot doot doot ruff buff

[@brianjones7660]

huh?

[@gjerrildkro]

That century theater was operated by a young and now notorious wienstein follow.who later built Mira max films.

[@jamesogrady6612]

danny brown Wienstein also put those 70s concerts at Bills Stadium, I remember seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd at Century Theater

[@kingclover1395]

Yes. Harvey and Corky productions seemed to have sponsored every concert in Buffalo in the 70s. I saw a lot of concerts at the Century theater.

[@raydai9541]

Buffalo used to be so much better!

[@cstar1931]

Well being born and raised and not from the 70 era but from the looks of it not much has changed still is a dump full of crime and a minority mayor with the longest run ever when will he leave and give someone a chance to stop with the political nepotism taking care of south buffalo and those with money they fill his war chest with. The police and fire city hall have south buffalo family friends employed all through those departments. Buffalo will always be nothing because of politics and the churches don't mean anything either. People need to be real. Get on these comments and tell it like it is.✊🏾

[@June-tb4vi]

Things change but stay the same really

[@MrClarke2uHun]

Didn't Griffin affect south b-lo ? just asking .....

[@DrewSlides]

oh so buffalo always sucked... alright cool

[@m64h]

Apparently, you've always sucked, too. Thanks for the confirmation.

[@coyote520]

Fallen Skool Yes, it has always been a vile city. I don't miss that ugly place at all.

[@atombomb31458]

hehe....I grew up in the suburbs----it was ok but yeah it pretty much sucked. loserville. but it has improved greatly!! finally.

[@seanstanton8176]

Chef Edits get the fuck out of the comment section you fucking wacko

[@metalmumm86]

No Buffalo didn't always suck people stopped caring

[@mossesfootball8962]

Buffalo is the Midwest it is not new York state

[@cjchristopher5857]

Mosses Football89 What are you talking about? Clearly, this video is specifically about the Buffalo that is located in NY State.

[@mossesfootball8962]

+CJ Christopher you a dumb ass Buffalo in 1812 use to be the Midwest and Buffalo is part of the great lake's not the eastcoast dumb ass

[@cjchristopher5857]

Considering Buffalo part of the Mid West is irrelevant! CURRENTLY it is part of New York State. What does 1812 have to do with anything? I'm talking specifically about THIS video. I live in Buffalo NY and I've been to every street in this video. Also, you keep calling me a dumb ass but you don't seem to understand the simple concept that Buffalo exists in NY. And I'm going to have to assume that English isn't your native language by your spelling and grammar so do you even live in the US to have a word in this?

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

Go back to school and learn your geography! Buffalo is part of New York state!

[@charleshamilton1488]

Moses most buffalonians are proud not to be considered part of the welfare state