There are some good areas still in the city that some people have pointed out BUT…they won’t be nice forever. At my job (UPS) we pretty much aren’t allowed to leave anything outside (no signature) for fear of it getting stolen at a lot of the areas inside of Buffalo. One thing you haven’t considered is the distance from the thruway. You don’t want to be smack dab in the middle of any city where it takes you 15 minutes just to get to any sort of thruway. IMO, I would look in Amherst (Millersport Hwy area), Tonawanda (Near NFB). Lots of relatively cheap apts/houses, close to the 290, safe area, etc…