Elmwood Village is the twenty-block stretch of Elmwood Avenue between Allen Street and Forest Avenue — the most consistently lively and walkable part of Buffalo. The strip has independent restaurants, record shops, bookstores, coffee houses, and bars packed close enough together that you can spend an afternoon wandering without a plan.
The side streets off Elmwood — Bidwell, Summer, Bryant — are lined with elaborate Victorian wooden houses from the 1890s, well-maintained and densely packed. The Allentown neighbourhood to the south, just below Allen Street, is one of the first historic districts designated in New York State, with the best concentration of late-Victorian architecture in the city. The neighbourhood is also the heart of Buffalo's arts community, with galleries and studios tucked between the shops.