Going back to 1961, the City Of Buffalo has entered into Sister/Twinned City relationships with 9 cities around the world. The City of Siena, Italy was the first followed by Kanazawa, Japan in 1962. It is true you don’t hear anything about what having a Sister/Twinned City to the City of Buffalo. The partners are not in the news. The Buffalo Sister/Twinned City on-line brochure has not been updated for over 2 years. It does not even include Yildrim-Bursa, Turkey (2010) or Yeongcheong, Rep. Korea (2011). A safe bet would be to assume that 98% of the local population, including government and media members could name 3 of the Sister/Twinned cities.
Even with this unhappy situation, it is made worse. The Buffalo-Niagara Falls border crossing with Canada is among the busiest in the world. Approximately 5 million passenger vehicles cross the Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo and Fort Erie. Annual spending by 3.1 million Canadian visitors (9.2% of population) adds $900 million to the local economy. Our Buffalo Sabres’ biggest professional hockey rivals are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians.
And yet, after 198 years of friendship following a nasty episode of tit-for-tat village burning during the War of 1812, there is no formal relationship between here and there. It would be sad to think this is because in reality no Canadian city wants Buffalo and/or Buffalo wants none of them. I suggest that this be given a hard look. Hands across the border is good for everyone particularly when it becomes possible to run community activities together to celebrate of differences and our neighborliness. Looking at the chart below you will find that the cities of Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Winnipeg do not have U.S. Sister/Twinned Cities arrangements. One of those for would be a good place to start relationship building.
| Sister/Twinned Cities | ||
|---|---|---|
| BUFFALO, New York | MONTREAL, Quebec | TORONTO, Ontario |
| Siena, Italy | Algiers, Algeria | Chongqing, China |
| Kanazawa, Japan | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Chicago, Illinois |
| Dortmund, Germany | Beersheba, Israel | Frankfurt, Germany |
| Rzeszow, Japan | Brussels, Belgium | Milan, Italy |
| Lille, France | Bucharest, Romania | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |
| Tver, Russia | Busan, Rep. Korea | Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Saint Ann, Jamaica | Casablanca, Morocco | Quito, Ecuador |
| Yeongcheong, Rep. Korea | Hanoi, Vietnam | Sagamihara, Japan |
| Yilidrim-Bursa, Turkey | Hiroshima, Japan | Warsaw, Poland |
| Nashik, India | ||
| CALGARY, Alberta, Canada | Lyon, France | VANCOUVER, British Columbia |
| Quebec City, Quebec, Canada | Managua, Nicaragua | Odesssa, Ukraine |
| Jaipur, India | Manila, Philippines | Yokohama, Japan |
| Naulcalpan State, Mexico | Milan, Italy | Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Daqing, China | Moca, Dominican Republic | Guangzhou, China |
| Daejeon, Rep. Korea | Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Los Angeles, California |
| Phoenix, Arizona, USA | Rome, Italy | Seoul, Rep. Korea |
| San Salvador, El Salvador | ||
| EDMONTON, Alberta | Shanghai, China | WINNIPEG, Manitoba |
| Gatineau, Quebec, Canada | Setagaya, Japan | |
| Harbin, China | OTTAWA, Ontario | Reykjavik, Iceland |
| Nashville, Tennessee, USA | Beijing, China | Lviv, Ukraine |
| Wonju, Rep. Korea | Cairo, Egypt | Manila, Philippines |
| Taichung, Taiwan | ||
| HAMILTON, Ontario Canada | QUEBEC CITY, Quebec, Canada | Kuopio, Finland |
| Flint, Michigan, USA | Beirut, Lebanon | Beersheba, Israel |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA | Bordeaux, France | Gan Yavne, Israel |
| Fukuyama, Japan | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Chengdu, China |
| Ma’anshan, China | Namur, Belgium | Jinju, Rep. Korea |
| Monterrey,Mexico | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | San Nicolas da las Garza, Mexico |
| Racalmuto, Italy | Xi’an, China | |
| Sarasota, Florida, USA | St. Petersburg, Russia | |
| Shawinigan, Quebec | Paris, France | |
| Valle Peligna, Italy | Pekanbaru, Indonesia |