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University Heights, Buffalo — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Hayes Hall's bell tower rises over Main Street in University Heights, a Buffalo district built beside the University at Buffalo South Campus.
About University Heights
Where to stay in University Heights
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
University Heights rents by the semester, not by the night. The restaurants, bars, and shops along Main Street cater to the University at Buffalo, and rooms for travellers sit outside the district, in Amherst across Kenmore Avenue or downtown. University station at 3383 Main Street is the northern end of the Metro Rail, which runs down Main Street to Canalside.
One ride covers it. Take the downtown room if your business is with the South Campus.
About University Heights
What are the main landmarks in University Heights?
Main Street carries the district's set pieces. Parkside Candy Shoppe and Factory stands at 3208 Main Street, a brick and stone parlour of 1925 to 1927 with an attached daylight factory, designed by G. Morton Wolfe and listed on the National Register in 2015. Hayes Hall fronts the campus at 3435 Main Street, a Georgian Revival block of 1874 with an attached bell tower, and it holds the university's School of Architecture and Planning.
Off Main Street, the Edward A. Diebolt House at 62 Niagara Falls Boulevard is a frame Colonial Revival house of 1922-1923.
What is the history of University Heights?
University Heights grew from an almshouse tract. Erie County ran its almshouse on the ground along Main Street, and the block raised there in 1874 became a county hospital in 1893. The University of Buffalo acquired the ground in 1909.
Subdivision followed the campus. University Park filled from 1913 with Foursquare, Craftsman, Bungalow, and Colonial Revival houses behind its entry gates, and the National Register took in the University Park Historic District in 2011. Edmund B. Hayes left the bequest that paid to convert the old almshouse block, dedicated on February 22, 1928.
The Metro Rail arrived last, on November 10, 1986.
Where is University Heights?
Kenmore Avenue closes University Heights against Amherst on the north, with Main Street through the middle and the old Erie-Lackawanna right-of-way west and south.
More areas in Buffalo
Updated September 2026