Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - With the return of hockey in Western New York, Downtown Buffalo right around KeyBank Center is set to get busier over the next several months.
As the Buffalo Sabres' home schedule officially kicked off Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, fans and others from near-and-far were eager to not only get back to a familiar environment for hockey season, but also take advantage of all that downtown has to offer around the arena.
"Absolutely love the environment. Easy to navigate by car, we walk. It's tremendous. Feel very safe, people are welcoming, and excellent all the way around," said Grant from Newmarket, Ontario.
"It's beautiful. It's right on the water," said Connor from Buffalo. "I just checked out the new train station [DL&W Terminal] with all the new stuff over there, and you can really see the water. It's nice. It feels so much more alive than it used to in prior years. It would be so dark and not much going on until you got right in the vicinity of the arena. And now there's people out on the outskirts, everyone's excited."
Mike from Grand Island is liking the transformation of the DL&W Terminal, and the efforts to bring new life to the Cobblestone District downtown.
"I love downtown. I love the City of Buffalo. I can't be more excited about downtown," said Mike with WBEN. "I'm excited about the [DL&W] down here opening up. We spend a lot of time down here, we love the downtown vibe. We really enjoy coming down here."
"It seems like they're building it up a lot, which is great to see," added Justin from North Carolina, originally from Amherst. "And the weather is great today, so it's great environment, especially for hockey and football this weekend."
While the work is being put in to help revitalize the Cobblestone District and the surrounding area, fans and other admit there are still some things to be desired near KeyBank Center.
"We really need to utilize our river more, I think. It's started, but they really need to utilize the waterfront, like other cities do," said Kenny from Niagara Falls.
"My No. 1 is definitely the burnt buildings [at the corner of South Park Avenue and Illinois Street], and they haven't touched them," Connor added. "Other than that, it's been a pretty good job. It's a beautiful area around the KeyBank Center, it's one of the only beautiful areas, but it's really nice."
What is it that some believe might go good around the arena downtown?
"Definitely a Top Golf, I don't know. A couple more bars and restaurants would be really nice," said Noah from Lancaster. "I mean, you've got two bars right here, but anything else like down further would make it a lot easier to bar hop."
"Maybe like a Buffalo Sabres themed bar or something?" Connor added.
