Western New York is well-known as the home of Buffalo-style chicken wings, beef on weck and sponge candy. Other local specialties include Frank's Hot Sauce and Weber's mustard. Additionally, the region is also notable for high-quality restaurants serving food with international flavor, from Italian to Indian. Salvatore's Italian Gardens has been recognized with AAA's Three Diamond Award, and Rue Franklin's French cuisine has been lauded by the New York Times.
Over 30 colleges and universities are located in Western New York, including New York's largest public university, the University at Buffalo. The region also hosts the University of Rochester, ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 50 national universities and renowned for its programs in business and engineering.
Western New York is home to two major league teams, the Buffalo Bills of the NFL and Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. Founded in 1960, the Bills boast nine Hall of Famers in their history as well as four straight AFC Championships in the early 1990s. The Buffalo Sabres reached the playoffs 28 times from 1970 to 2010. Other sports teams in Western New York include the Rochester Nighthawks of the National Lacrosse League and the Western New York Flash of Women's Professional Soccer.
A name says it all: Buffalo is known as the "City of Good Neighbors." Rochester, on the other hand, was ranked No. 3 on Forbes.com's list of Best Places to Raise a Family. On the whole, low crime rates, available jobs, low housing costs and high-quality schools make Western New York an excellent place to raise a family. The region also boasts attractions such as Niagara Falls, around 80 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places and even several buildings designed by the seminal architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Additionally, although snow might blanket the region in the winter, Western New Yorkers enjoy pleasantly warm and dry summers.
