From Niagara to Buffalo (EAST)

I left Toronto on the GoTrain Sunday. $20
Four hours later I was in Niagara Falls.
From there I attempted to ride my bicycle to Buffalo. The googlemaps directions told me that I should go though Grand Isle in order to get from Niagara to Buffalo. And it was supposed to only be 15miles.

I arrived at the bridge to find the pedestrian/bike path closed. I could not take the bridge because it was on interstate 190. So I stopped at a gas station to try to find a different way. At this point it was 9pm, because customs coming into the US gave me a hard time and I got lost and had to turn around, bla bla.  I did not intend to ride at night. I dont like to when I have never been to a place before. Also, my lights needed new batteries.
The guy at the gas station with the white beard and the turban had a hard time communicating to me the best way to get to Buffalo, but after he drew the map, I felt a bit better about where I was headed. He told me it was over 30miles. BUMMER

Megan, the girl who I am doing the work exchange program with ended up picking me up apx. 7mi. outside of the city. Mainly because, after stopping at a pizza place along the way to see if I was going the correct way, a guy warned me not to go the East Side of Buffalo. And that of course was where I was going. So he made me worry, since I had never been there before. The guy said he would never send his family there because there were gangs!

But it turns out that there are just more black people here than in other parts of the city.
And the East side happens to be the largest part of the city.
But the rest of the city still looks a bit run down as if you were in an under developed or low income area.
But I expected that. This is the Rust Belt. & after traveling in other parts of New York, you realize that NYC sucks the life, money & white collar jobs out of every other could-have-been city in New York.
But it does not suck the culture out!

The very best part about Buffalo, especially east Buffalo, is that  housing is very cheap. In fact, if you had a couple thousand saved, you could buy one.

There are two ways you can buy a cheap house:

1. There is a foreclosure  Auction every October. and you need to pay 20% upfront and the rest by January.

    So just ride around. Look for boarded up and un-mowed places. Than refer to the list. of over 3,000      properties.Oh, and you can buy land too.

2. You could homestead a house. You pay $1 for a house!! yes, one dollar! but you must have 5,000 in your bank and be willing to do repairs on it. You cannot just let the house sit there uninhabited.

A lot of houses are too large for one person. At least 15,000 sq. ft., two story, and need major repairs. Plumbing, Electric, Roof, etc. But there are a lot of older people here, so some are from the diseased and ready to live in. 

From what I understand, the same thing is happening in Detroit and Cleveland.