A Buffalo hotel and former asylum undergoes extensive restoration

Cities ebb and flow, so the ‘best’ time to visit a particular one might require a time machine, or for the patient Architourist to wait. New York wasn’t great in the 1970s and 80s, but it’s amazing now, and would’ve been in the 1940s and 50s. Paris, many say, was at its best during the Belle Époque, when the Eiffel Tower and the Métro were being built; Toronto would’ve been a blast to witness after New City Hall opened in 1965 and into the 70s, when it awoke from colonial sleepiness and became a dynamic, confident, immigrant city.

Right now, in 2023, and for the past 15 years or so, Buffalo, N.Y., has been having a moment: a massive heritage moment.