This story has been updated from a previous version

Canadian shoppers visiting Buffalo are usually single minded: scoot across the Peace Bridge, blow down the I-90 for 15 kilometres or so to the shopping malls, overnight at a nearby discount hotel, then get out of town and head back.

That sits poorly with those trying to make downtown Buffalo an attraction for visitors.

They know on average, cross-border shoppers go to Buffalo four times a year, but rarely visit downtown. No wonder: from the highway, much of the core appears uninviting, with empty streets and dilapidated buildings. What’s to like?

Visitors who take some time and get off the highway will now sense a buzz in downtown Buffalo.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into revitalization, particularly around the harbor, the river and the historic canal area. Buffalonians are energized by it all, and they’re convinced visitors will like what they see.

“We’ve gone from woe is me, to we can do,” says 22-year-old Alex Jordan, account manager for the Resurgence Brewing Company, a craft beer brew house and beer garden that opened in June, about five minutes from the Peace Bridge. “We’re not Rust City, any more.”

Downtown Buffalo is on the move. This week, public skating opened on a new 3,300-square-metre outdoor ice rink, on the site of the former War Memorial Auditorium that was torn down in 2009.The centre-ice emblem for “the Aud” is embedded in the new ice surface, great for photo opps and for Sabres fans who remember the Sabres’ storied French Connection line.

The outdoor rink is about a block from where the ribbon was cut earlier this year for one of America’s most unique new sports bars, the (716) Food and Sport. It features an amazingly crisp, towering 12-metre high TV screen that owners say is the biggest in the country. Seventy regular-size 70 flat-screen TVs offer non-stop sports at booths and at the rail.

The rink and the sports bar are near Harbor Center, a $170-million development that attracts amateur and youth hockey tournaments from across North America, with two NHL-sized indoor ice rinks. And, in February, a complex called Riverworks will open with outdoor skating rinks, outdoor curling, a roller derby track and a concert hall for 6,000 people.

For accommodations, downtown visitors treat themselves at one of the area’s gorgeous boutique hotels, such as the classy Mansion on Delaware. It offers 24-hour butler service, a gourmet Continental breakfast, and a name-brand honour bar. Catch a chauffeured ride anywhere within a five-kilometre radius in the hotel’s Land Rover . . . perhaps to Harbor Center, for a customized one-hour workout ($60) with a svelte conditioning expert at Impact Sports and Performance, 30 metres above Canalside.

And all these attractions are in sight of the First Niagara Center, where the Buffalo Sabres play home games.

Buffalonians think such activity gives visitors new reasons to go downtown. In fact, Tom Dee, president of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., the New York state agency charged with giving the area new life, says $600 million of the governor’s $1 billion commitment to redevelopment, dubbed the “Buffalo Billion,” is related to tourism assets and features.

“We knew we had to give people something to do once we got them down here,” he says. “We want visitors to have a fantastic waterfront experience.”

The money was pivotal for attracting additional investment. Intangibles are at work here, too. For example, Buffalo Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula, who shelled out $1.4 billion in September to buy the Buffalo Bills and keep them in town, is credited for bringing a winning attitude to the city. So are others who finally tired of waiting for someone else to bring back Buffalo’s glory. In the early 1900s, thanks to manufacturing, Buffalo was one of America’s richest cities.

One of those Buffalo boosters is Leslie Zemsky, whose calls herself “director of fun” for Larkin Square, a downtown hotspot for events such as weeknight concerts, art shows and food tastings. She and her family took a chance on downtown and bought a huge, but worn-out, office building in 2002. They turned it into a fashionable business address. It is now full.

The Zemskys followed by developing eateries and beer gardens in the square nearby, including the Filling Station and the Hydraulic Hearth (run by their son Harry), specializing in oven-baked pizzas and bagels. Zemsky says the area is inspired by Toronto’s Distillery District, a combination of entertainment, culture and eats.

On a recent trip I made to balmy downtown Buffalo, the 150-vehicle Buffalo Transportation Museum turned out to be one of my favourite finds. It features the magnificent Pierce Arrow Museum, and, mostly lately, a full-scale production of the ultra-hip filling station Frank Lloyd Wright designed, but never built, which just opened in the summer. Attendance jumped 500 per cent when the replica filling station opened.

Co-owner Jim Sandoro is about to announce a $10-million expansion, to feature what is considered to be one of the best collections of auto memorabilia anywhere. With Buffalo’s revitalization, he expects many Canadians to visit.

“Canadians like driving and like spending time here,” he says. “A lot of vehicles were brought to the museum from Canada . . . and, one day, vehicles might be dinosaurs.”

Right now, the vehicles bring Canadians to Buffalo’s malls to shop. But a swing into town is worth the trip.

Owen Roberts’ trip to Buffalo was sponsored by Visit Buffalo Niagara. Follow him on twitter at @theurbancowboy or on instagram at urbancowboyglobal

Recovery in Rochester

Visit Rochester senior vice-president, Greg Marshall, gazes onto the city’s core from his fourth-floor downtown office window, and he’s encouraged by what he sees.

“Eight years ago, we had 80 buildings partially or fully vacant,” he recalls. “Last month, we had none.”

Rochester, about 100 kilometres from Buffalo, is also using public and private funding to recover from an industrial collapse, that of the film and imaging sector. Industry giants at the top of their class, Kodak and Xerox, in particular, failed to adapt to the digital age and suffered extensive losses. The city was hammered.

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Says Marshall: “We’re in the visitor business now.”

The city positions itself as a family-friendly, less frenetic alternative to a mall-shopping destination. It’s a foodie haven, with many restaurants hidden in renovated buildings.

“We have an excellent 300-seat restaurant that’s always busy, but you wouldn’t know it’s there unless someone told you,” says Marshall.

“Some of our best assets are hard to find.”

If You Go

Go into town!

The city is undergoing a massive revitalization

Just the Facts

<bullet>Even if you prefer other brands, stop at the Tim Horton’s at the Harbor Center. It features a plexiglass display honouring the chain’s founder, as well as the history of Buffalo sports. Pick up a souvenir ceramic mug with the Buffalo Sabres crest embedded in the classic Tim Horton’s logo. It will drive purists mad back home, but they’ll beg you for it eventually.

<bullet>The spirited Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra performs downtown at the Kleinhans Music Hall, which is said to be acoustically perfect, and one of the country’s finest musical performance facilities.

<bullet>At the Filling Station restaurant in Larkinville, try chef Stefan Coker’s fried chicken tacos and Portobello mushroom and truffle oil pizza,from his just-in-time food-ingredient kitchen. Cocker says stocking shelves just prior to food preparation means ingredients never sit long and are fresher.

<bullet>Taste rich chocolate in the sponge candy stout at Resurgence Brewing Company. It’s one of the fledgling company’s signature brews, along with bacon-and-smoke flavoured “Smoky The Beer” and sweet loganberry wit beer. Resurgence is one of four microbreweries that have opened in Buffalo in the past year. There are 10 now.

<bullet>Mark Twain was a newspaper editor in Buffalo in the late 19th century. See the Mark Twain room at the city’s Central Library downtown, which features the original manuscript of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

<bullet>The Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo, New York, touts itself as a jazz club unlike any other in the world. Located downtown, it’s open to non-members “seeking a relaxing time in a friendly place,” according to the club. Aspiring performers can sit in on Sundays; aspiring jazz musicians can take lessons Saturdays.

<bullet>Buffalo is one of only a few sites outside of Washington, D.C., where a U.S. President (Theodore Roosevelt) took the oath of office. You can retrace his first steps as president at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site. Then afterwards, toast his memory at the nearby Founding Fathers Pub, where presidential memorabilia line the walls, and free popcorn and nachos are served.

<bullet>Act fast! There’s still a bit of time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Buffalo-style chicken wing, at the place that created them in 1964: the Anchor Bar. But if you miss out on this milestone, try the spicy dry-rub wings at the (716) Food and Sport bar. The wings are some of the best in town.

<bullet>Tickle the ivories on the same Steinway Frank Lloyd Wright played at Martin House, a $50-million renovation underway in a quiet Buffalo neighbourhood. Constructed between 1903 and 1905, Martin House exemplifies Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Prairie House” ideal and ranks as one of his finest residential buildings.

<bullet>Just 20 minutes from Buffalo, the town of East Aurora deserves a weekend visit. The historic Roycroft Campus there is touted as the birthplace of arts and crafts in the U.S. The town sprung up in the late 1800s in reaction to industrialization. Today, East Aurora features the country’s largest five-and-dime store and a wonderfully restored movie theatre featuring authentic props from Jim Carrey’s version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Stay at the superbly renovated Roycroft Inn, enjoy its renowned Sunday brunch and be sure to try the cardamom squash soup!

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