Overall sentiment: The Tradition – Buffalo Speedway receives predominantly positive reviews for its physical environment, amenities, food, programming, and many aspects of staff performance. Across dozens of summaries, reviewers repeatedly describe a brand-new, beautifully maintained building with resort-like decor, plentiful daylight, and thoughtfully designed common and memory-care outdoor spaces. Many families and residents praise the facility as calm, reassuring, and home-like, and most note strong cleanliness and maintenance standards.
Staff and care quality: A major strength consistently emphasized is the staff: numerous reviewers call staff kind, compassionate, attentive, and willing to go above and beyond. Several reports highlight proactive, honest communication from leadership and Directors of Nursing who are responsive about care needs. There are many specific anecdotes of staff stepping in during emergencies, helping with moves, delivering meals during crises, and providing emotional support to families. On-site clinical resources — such as nursing oversight, on-site physical therapy, and good medical support — are also cited positively. These elements contribute to an overall sense of safety and peace of mind for many families.
Facilities and amenities: The Tradition is repeatedly described as having comprehensive, high-end amenities: multiple dining venues (formal dining, café), a heated indoor pool, fitness areas, salon and massage services, theater and meeting rooms, library and game rooms, and secure underground parking. Memory care features include large outdoor and semi-outdoor areas and technological safety measures such as motion detectors and wristband call buttons. The community runs an active social calendar (group exercise, meditation, trips, happy hours, movies) and uses tools like Lifeloop for announcements and maintenance requests. Several reviewers explicitly say the environment prevents isolation and fosters social engagement.
Dining and programming: Dining quality is frequently singled out as outstanding, with mentions of high-quality meals, optional menus, and rotating weekly menus. Programming is described as extensive and varied, including both on-site classes and off-site outings. Reviewers note strong engagement among residents and a neighborly atmosphere that helps new residents integrate.
Safety, emergencies, and operations: Multiple reviewers cite strong safety practices and emergency preparedness — for example, motion-detector systems, 24-hour concierge service, whole-house generators during storms, and solid COVID-19 protocols with no cases reported in several accounts. Families appreciate proactive communication in many instances and constructive intake processes, including in-home evaluations prior to move-in.
Patterns of concern: Despite dominant praise, a noteworthy minority of reviews raise significant red flags. These include reports of inconsistent staff quality — some caregivers described as lazy or inattentive — and isolated but serious allegations of bullying, intimidation, and unprofessional conduct. Several reviewers recounted highly negative interactions with specific staff (receptionists or named employees) and described feeling threatened, bullied, or blindsided by management decisions, including a few mentions of threats to involve Adult Protective Services. Billing and fee transparency arise as recurring concerns: multiple reviews point to extra charges for medications, sitter services, toileting assistance, dining help, and 24-hour RN coverage. These upcharges left some families feeling surprised or dissatisfied with value. Additional operational complaints include occasional maintenance problems (TVs, furniture delivery delays, slow hot water), builders still finishing work, limited apartment storage, and perceived segregation/differences in service levels between assisted living and other levels of care.
Management and consistency: Many reviewers praise the leasing and marketing staff for being helpful and personal; however, other comments point to inconsistent management practices, tough interactions during acute situations, and employee relations issues (reports of wrongful termination and poor working environment). This points to variability in experience that seems to depend heavily on which staff or managers a family encounters.
What this means for prospective residents/families: The Tradition – Buffalo Speedway offers an upscale, amenity-rich environment with many concrete advantages: strong programming, excellent dining, extensive amenities, responsive safety systems, and many compassionate staff members who provide individualized care. However, prospective residents should not ignore the minority of serious complaints. Before committing, families should confirm in writing what services are included versus billed separately (medication administration, sitter/toileting aid, 24-hour RN coverage, dining assistance), ask for references or speak with current residents/families about staff consistency, and clarify how the community handles complaints, staff training, and escalation of concerns. An in-person visit and conversations with nursing leadership and the business office about fees and care-level transitions will help assess fit.
Bottom line: The dominant impression from reviews is highly favorable — a clean, attractive, well-appointed community with many caring employees and robust activities that collectively provide a strong quality-of-life uplift for many residents. Yet a meaningful subset of reviews describe serious interpersonal and billing concerns that warrant careful vetting. If you prioritize amenities, food, social programming, safety features, and a resort-like environment, Tradition can be an excellent choice, but do detailed due diligence on staffing consistency, fee transparency, and management responsiveness before moving forward.
