Safety...well, it depends on where you're talking about. North campus is relatively safe, although last semester there were a couple incidents at night of robberies (the inner-city folk coming up north to prey on the students, someone was robbed at gunpoint I believe.) You don't really want to be at south campus alone at night, since it's pretty much in the city. University Heights is the area around south campus, and a lot of students live there because it's cheap. But robberies are a part of living there, with 150 reported last year in the heights alone. I think everyone knows someone who has had something robbed from their apartment in the heights. Seeing as how the pharmacy program will be moving there next year or the year after, I don't think I'm necessarily enthralled with that idea. I live in an apartment with my wife in tonawanda, about 5 mins from north campus in a very safe residential area.
It goes without saying you don't want to leave anything lying around unattended on campus in public places. I always check the police blotter every week in the student newspaper and see a couple laptops stolen while they were unattended, or while the student was sleeping. It's a big school, and I'm sure some shady people must come around looking to take advantage of students. I've never feared for my safety on north campus though, I'm a relatively big guy, and there is a dedicated UB police squad always on campus.
I'm not trying to scare you too much, I'm just letting you know my take on the issue here. No one lives in fear of being robbed or anything that I've met. Cities just have a way of attracting low-income and crime, and you can't avoid it. Buffalo is the biggest city in NY next to NYC, so you'll hear about bad stuff occasionally.
