Let’s face it, New York City is the center of the universe for those of us who live here – and rightfully so. With 5+ years of residence under my belt, why then, am I absolutely obsessed with another city?

I don’t use the term “obsessed” lightly. I talk about this city all the time. I read about it. I research it. For fun. My “101 Greatest Moments” book of this city’s history is my most prized possession. Seriously. If I’m honest with myself, it’s a city with a relatively lousy image, situated in the heart of the Rust Belt, and thought to have long since died with the closing of the Bethlehem Steel plant. If you haven’t been to my house for dinner in the last several weeks to hear me go on and on about my hometown, let me fill you in….I’m talking about Buffalo, New York.

Trust me; I know what you’re thinking. It’s what everyone thinks. You see, other than coming up with the recipe for the chicken wing back in 1964 at The Anchor Bar, there are only a few things that people know about Buffalo. Each “fact” caters to a negative image for the Queen City – we lost four consecutive Super Bowls; 100-plus inches of snow fall on us each year (Buffalo’s infamous Blizzard of 1977 was the first snow-caused federal disaster in US history); OJ Simpson was one of our most famous football players, a fact consistently referred to during his murder trial; we only make the news if someone throws themselves over Niagara Falls. And all this bad luck is of course to be blamed on the ghost of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in Buffalo. I think I covered it, right?

Wrong.

Named one of the top 44 places to visit by The New York Times in 2009, Buffalo has also been awarded USA Today’s “City with a Heart” title and been named an “All-America City” twice by the National Civic Committee.

Everyone knows that the chicken wing was invented in Buffalo but did you know about the following items – the grain elevator; fire hydrant; air conditioner; whipped cream; take out coffee cup; adhesives that seal your creamer cups, jelly packets, etc; the kazoo; bell jars; Trico windshield wiper blades; the synthesizer; the jet pack; non-dairy creamer; Weber’s mustard; Perry ice cream; Keri lotion? The first pacemaker was developed and implanted in Buffalo. In 1881 Buffalo was the first city in the country to have electric street lights. The first telegraph was sent in 1845 from Buffalo; the first ice cream sundae was served in the 1880s; Fisher Price was founded in 1930; General Mills made its first batch of Cheerios in their Buffalo-based factory in 1941. The lighted floor made popular by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever was developed by Litelab in Buffalo.

The short list of names you may recognize from Buffalo include Tim Russert, Wolf Blitzer, Terry Anderson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lucille Ball, Ani DeFranco, and the Goo Goo Dolls. Time spent in Buffalo was the longest period that author Mark Twain lived in one place and where he became co-owner of a newspaper. Buffalo born Millard Fillmore, became the 13th president of the United States on July 9, 1850. In 1885, Grover Cleveland, Buffalo’s “adopted son” – former county sheriff and elected mayor – became the 22nd president of the US and later married a “Buffalo gal”.

I really could on and on (come over for dinner and I will) – Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated in 1901 at the Ansley Wilcox Mansion in Buffalo; “The Natural” starring Robert Redford was filmed in Buffalo during the summer of 1983; DNA samples used in The Human Genome Project were collected from donors in Buffalo. Roswell Park secured funding for a cancer research center in 1898. Today The Roswell Park Memorial Institute located in downtown Buffalo is one of the world’s leading cancer research institutions.

Despite our critics, Buffalo has a rich history and the heart to leverage our spirit into a hopeful future. We tend to listen to our critics without telling the whole story. The city of Buffalo embraced Scott Norwood and the notorious “wide right” after Super Bowl XXV by showing up 20,000 strong with class and compassion in Niagara Square to show their appreciation, chanting “We want Scott”. Despite the 199.4 inches of snow that fell during the winter of ’7 7, neighbors came together to shelter and feed the near frozen and stranded; these acts of kindness allowed the city to survive and would later be hailed as the sheer definition of human decency.

So the next time you meet someone from Buffalo, try not to look at them like they just told you they grew up in Siberia. Don’t make fun of their football team either; they are some of the most passionate fans you will ever meet. And if you’re lucky enough to have drinks with this person, make sure you don’t order Buffalo wings – they’re called chicken wings.

Give Buffalo a chance; it’s a feeling we like to call Buf-a-luv.