Buffalo is the state of New York's second-largest city after New York City and is the county seat of Erie County. It lies at the eastern end of Lake Erie and the southern head of the Niagara River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 292,648. Buffalo is the economic and cultural center of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, an area with a population of 1.2 million people.

The city's economy declined in the later half of the 20th century, due to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1957, cutting the city off from the normal trade routes. The city, which boasted over half a million people at its peak in the 1950s, has seen its population decline by almost 50%, as industries shut down and people left the Rust Belt for the employment opportunities of the South and West. However, the suburbs adjacent to Buffalo have grown from 300,000 in the 1950s to over 600,000 in 2007.

The end of 2006 saw an upturn in the city's prospects. Economic development in the city was marked at $4 billion in 2007 compared to a $50 million average for the previous ten years. New proposals and renovations were numerous, especially in the downtown area. Buffalo ranked 83rd on the Forbes best cities for jobs list, an increase from the previous year, and beating out cities like New York City, Cleveland, and Detroit. Buffalo is also scheduled to get a new tallest building in 2010; the Buffalo City Tower will rise 600 feet (180 m).

The traditional reputation of Buffalo as "blue collar" industrial town really no longer applies however, as much of this industry has left the area. The regional economy can now best be described as a mix of industrial, light manufacturing, high technology and service-oriented private sector companies. Instead of relying on a single industry or sector for its economic future, the region has taken a diversified approach that has created opportunities for growth and expansion in the 21st century.

Buffalo has also increasingly become a center for bioinformatics and human genome research, including work by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. This consortium is known as the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. It also includes: Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, Buffalo Medical Group Foundation, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Kaleida Health, Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired, and Upstate New York Transplant Services.

Entrepreneurial resources and life science business consultants accelerate the growth and development of emerging companies found within the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and Upstate New York Region. For example, Buffalo BioSciences is a technology commercialization partner to the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences and contributed to the launch and early success of Empire Genomics –- a firm based on research conducted at Roswell Park Cancer Institute by Dr. Norma Nowak enabling the delivery of personalized medicine.

Situated at the confluence of Lake Erie and the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers, Buffalo is a waterfront city. The city's rise to economic power came through its waterways in the form of transshipment, manufacturing, and an endless source of energy. Buffalo's waterfront is still a hub of commerce, trade, and industry that is essential to its economic prosperity.

Buffalo's waterfront is being transformed from its industrial past into a focal point for social and recreational activity. A literal focal point, viewed from above, is a marina taking the shape of a buffalo (located near the junction of the Buffalo Skyway NY 5 and the New York State Thruway I-190.

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