BUFFALO, N.Y. — As the City of Buffalo continues to develop and attract people back into the city, one of the up and coming areas - The Hydraulics - is looking to connect downtown Buffalo with Larkinville.
2 On Your Side visited with business owners Tuesday night to see the area's progress.
"We are brewing beers non-stop. As soon as a tank goes empty, we refill it. We have our Not-Lanta IPA on, we have our Cross Cut Stout, and these are all railroad terms," says head brewer Erik Greiner.
Belt Line Brewing Company embraces Buffalo's railroad past. The new spot on Swan Street recently held its soft-opening in an area of Buffalo that's seen a lot of growth.
"It's great. I was part of the Niagara Street kind of revitalization when I worked at Resurgence, so like to see this up and coming is really awesome," says Greiner.
With all of the beer brewed in-house, Greiner is happy to be part of Buffalo's resurgence.
"I do feel a lot of pride bringing this area back," he says. "I mean, you got the Elmwood area now, you have the Niagara Street area, and for us to be part of the Larkin and the Old First Ward is really nice."
There are also several businesses thriving on Seneca Street near downtown.
"We got brand new sidewalks on the street. A lot of new businesses opening up. 500 Seneca. Dobutsu. Shout out to James. Also owns Toutant. I saw Belt Line opened up. Buffalo Brewing," said Paul Laurie.
Laurie owns District Barber Shop near Chef's. He was one of our first City Shapers in 2017, and since then, he's had a lot of businesses join him in the neighborhood.
"I think we more or less joined a community that was ready to be built. You know, Chef's has been here forever. DiTondo's was here for the longest of time. RIP DiTondo's. To part of like a growing neighborhood of businesses, slash, like the community is great, too, we get a lot of support from the community,” says Laurie.
Laurie is excited to see what happens next.
"It's really awesome to see the growth and to be a part of it, of course," says Laurie.