Buffalo is an American city in western New York State. With a population of 282,864 as of the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimate[1], it is the state's second-largest city, after New York City, and is the county seat of Erie County.GR6 The Buffalo-Niagara metropolitan area has a diverse population of 1.1 million. Buffalo's thriving arts, cultural, and nightlife scenes is considered the hub of the greater bi-national region in New York and Ontario.

Buffalo lies at the eastern end of Lake Erie near the mouth of the Niagara River, which connects to Lake Ontario. European-Americans first settled there in the late-18th century. Growth was slow until the city became the western terminus of the Erie Canal some forty years later. By the turn of the next century, Buffalo was one of the country's leading cities, and by far its largest inland port. The huge grain elevators and industrial plants that the canal spawned began to disappear in the mid-20th century as the Saint Lawrence Seaway enabled water traffic to bypass the city.

Distancing itself from its industrial past, Buffalo is redefining itself as a cultural, educational, and medical center. The city was named by Reader's Digest as the third cleanest city in America in 2005. [2] In 2001 USA Today named Buffalo the winner of its "City with a Heart" contest, proclaiming it the nation's "friendliest city." Also, in 1996 and 2002, Buffalo won the All-America City Award.