The once-heavily industrialized district was home to many steel mills, automotive parts manufacturers, petroleum refineries, foundries, and machine shops.

However, due to increasing deindustrialization and rising unemployment, the area has experienced growing problems with poverty and population decline.

Trocaire College is located on Abbott Road and has another campus on Seneca Street in South Buffalo.

Nevertheless, unlike many other American cities with large Irish-American populations, Buffalo's southside Irish came to the United States relatively late.

A large percentage of South Buffalonians can trace their Irish ancestry to the area in and around the town of Kilrush in County Clare.

The neighborhood plays host to the Goin' South Irish Feis every year, an event that is extremely popular.

It features food, fireworks, and live music, including Crikwater and Jackdaw, and a number of local Celtic bands.

Another popular event which takes place is the annual Seneca Street Car Show, which draws many people into South Buffalo.

Former Assemblyman Mark J. F. Schroeder, for instance, was the only Democrat in the Assembly to not support longtime speaker Sheldon Silver, a stance initially mirrored by Kearns.

Current Democratic mayor Christopher Scanlon, a South Buffalo native, is also notably conservative.

In addition, there are numerous fishing spots on the waterfront such as the Small Boat Harbor, Gallagher Beach, and Union Ship Canal on the Lackawanna border.

The South Buffalo area is serviced by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority buses on Seneca St. (No.

Two neighborhood movie houses, the Capitol and Shea's Seneca shows, provided entertainment at very reasonable prices.

This fact was not fully appreciated by the residents until the steel mills shut down and suddenly surfaces remained relatively clean.

The numerous independent small shops which once lined Seneca Street and South Park Avenue suffered most from the economic downturn caused by the many plant closures.

What was once the South Buffalo neighborhood's main retail area became a collection of boarded-up store fronts hard pressed for cash flow.

The Grand Marshals of this less formal event have represented a gamut from some of South Buffalo's best known Irish-American families.

Each year, starting in 2004, the Moe Talty-Franz walk for breast cancer awareness and fund raising[6] is conducted in Cazenovia Park.

Another new festival tradition is the South Buffalo Business Expo and Irish Feish, usually held the first weekend of September in Cazenovia Park.

A day long event featuring local businesses, services, food, dance and music draws residents from all over.

Another favorite is the Labor Day parade, where union members from all over Western New York proudly march from the Irish Center to the Casino in Cazenovia Park.

Famous natives include political activist and property developer Carl Paladino, who moved from the Lovejoy District to South Buffalo during high school; Tim Russert from NBC's Meet the Press;[7] James T. Molloy, the former Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives; Jim Kelley, the internationally known hockey writer; and Dan Neaverth, a longtime Buffalo radio broadcaster from the 1950s to the present who was inducted into Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2000.