Shoshone Park

Shoeshine Park is the #1 destination in Buffalo to get your shoes shined. I think. I may have heard it wrong. Okay, never mind.
I was here with someone very special, sometime last year. We sat and we talked while the kids played baseball. It was a lovely afternoon, basking in sunlight and sitting on the bleachers, Taylor Swift style.
It’s a very multi-​cultural park, with kids from all backgrounds and income levels mingling together and kicking each others’ asses, and college students from nearby UB South as well. It’s a wonderful part of Hertel Ave.
It’s not the cleanest park, nor the largest, so I’ll give it a very solid 4. Speaking of solid… you should feel my…
Shoes. They were just shined here at Shoeshine Park, didn’t you know.

My time in Shoshone Park (pronounced show-​shown, for those of you who are not native, like me,) has mostly been early in the mornings and sometimes the evenings, so YMMV.
It’s a decent neighborhood park, with a lot of stuff packed into a somewhat small space. Tehre are at least 2 – 3 baseball fields, a basketball court, and a swimming pool. There’s a large playground as well. There is a nice walking path through the park, with a cut-​through to the Metro parking lot and access to Main Street. There are also charcoal grills available as well as some picnic tables.
It’s a good place to integrate into a walking route, although there are spots that are less well-​lit than I’d like at night. It could also use a bit more maintenance by the city, it’s not completely shabby but often there is trash that needs to be picked up.
I’m guessing on nice weekends this is a great place for a picnic. It’s also a good place to walk a dog, although there’s no off-​leash area.

The one time I took my son to this park, we were on the swings for awhile. My son and I were discussing cops, and I was trying to make my son understand that cops like kids and they are his friends. This is going to sound made-​up, but I swear that not even five minutes later the Buffalo Cops (At least 4 cars) came driving over the grass and surrounded the basketball area where tons of teenaged boys were playing basketball. The cops jumped out of their cars (Some with shotguns) with guns and ordered the boys to lay on the ground. Needless to say, my son was traumatized and we parents scattered with our children. I found out later that some of the boys playing basketball were seen with guns. I lived in the neighborhood at that time on Shoshone. We moved to Kenmore days after that. I did not want to be that close to a park where these things occur. I do understand that the cops did what they had to do, but I simply do not want to take my child to a park where armed teenagers are hanging out.

This is a park in the Buffalo System. It has a large pool that opens in the summer. There are also tons of baseball diamonds and many games here of all ages.
There are some basketball courts as well.
The playground is large and looks safe.
It’s a neighborhood park and can be accessed from a number of places.
Right down the street from Vasilis Express and Main Street.
Large parking lot if you need to drive here.