July 21, 2024 Coffee and Stone on Webster Street in North Tonawanda. “It’s a nice alternative to get this vibe, rather than going to downtown Buffalo,” said one frequent visitor. North Tonawanda's best days seemed to be past.
Now it's not only thriving – it's cool A few years ago, Linda Murray wouldn't have dreamed of leaving her Town of Tonawanda home to go to North Tonawanda to grab a cup of coffee with a friend or seeing a show at the Riviera Theatre. "Growing up in Amherst, coming over here was like, 'Nuh-uh,' " she said. "It was dark and dingy and desolate.
" Now, she visits NT regularly to do both. "It's vibrant again," she said, sipping a beverage at Coffee and Stone Cafe on Webster Street. "It's a nice alternative to get this vibe, rather than going to downtown Buffalo.
" If you haven't been to North Tonawanda in a while, you might be surprised to know that anyone would refer to it as having a "vibe." But the city that borders two of the most historic waterways in the world, whose best days seemed linked to bygone industries, is in the midst of a renaissance. On the Niagara River, where Hungarian and Polish workers at Tonawanda Iron & Steel once filled thousands of railroad cars with pig iron, luxury waterfront apartments with their own pickleball courts, dog park and boutique movie theater now rise into the sky.
At the former Wurlitzer factory on Niagara Falls Boulevard, which produced barrel organs, jukeboxes and even aircraft components during World War II, p.