i live on grand island, ny which is inbetween the buffalo/niagara falls area..im 5 min in either direction from shopping,malls, grocery stores, etc but for all pratcial purposes i live in the country...the schools are also excellent and im 20 min from kbuf ....one word of caution though, like everyone else has said id stay clear of the city of buffalo since there seems to be a lot of corruption going on here and i do expect taxes to go up....where i live you can get a nice house from around 150-250k (luxury houses start around 300k and up)...pm me if you have any questions and good luck in the house hunting!