Great Canadian Skyline Thread II - Page 32

MolsonExport · #**621** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 4:57 PM**

Niagara Falls, NY:

nytimes

Looks pretty horrible to me:

usaniagara

Rico Rommheim · #**622** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 5:31 PM**

^What a mess.

Martin Mtl · #**623** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 5:45 PM**

There's no word to express how depressing that is.

niwell · #**624** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 5:49 PM**

I actually went to the Seneca casino briefly once just to check it out. My lasting memory is of going to use the washroom and at the urinal next to me there was a middle aged man with an oxygen tank / tubes going into his nose and a lit cigarette dangling out of his mouth. It's very grim.

J.OT13 · #**625** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 6:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I wish there were no Habs logo on it. Cheapens it for me. Likewise I would never want to see a Flames logo on the Calgary skyline.

How else are you suppose to find the Bell Centre with all the new development around it? It's like a beacon leading people to it. Gare Central would need the same.

matt602 · #**626** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 6:31 PM**

downtown Niagara Falls Ontario was also as bad before Queen Street recently started re-inventing itself. The area around the bus terminal and train station is still sketchy as hell.

O-tacular · #**627** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 7:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Aside from a few of the later hotel additions the architecture new and old is much more interesting on the Canadian side. If you ever go and cross the border you will want to get back across almost right away.

Funny enough I have no desire to visit either of them ever. I have a feeling the overwhelmingly ugly urban landscape would completely nullify the beauty of the falls.

O-tacular · #**628** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 7:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Niagara Falls, NY:

nytimes

Looks pretty horrible to me:

Okay that does look grim. As grim as the Canadian side but more small town feeling. Based on these photos of both sides of the border I think I will start referring to Niagara Falls as the transborder toilet bowl.

esquire · #**629** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 7:47 PM**

^ How is it that Niagara Falls ON is relatively nice and prosperous while Niagara Falls NY looks like a grim, down at the heels rust-belt town despite having all those tourists trotting through every day?

J.OT13 · #**630** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 7:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

^ How is it that Niagara Falls ON is relatively nice and prosperous while Niagara Falls NY looks like a grim, down at the heels rust-belt town despite having all those tourists trotting through every day?

It's just like Detroit and Windsor. Canada is just better than the US in every possible way.

rousseau · #**631** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 7:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

^ How is it that Niagara Falls ON is relatively nice and prosperous while Niagara Falls NY looks like a grim, down at the heels rust-belt town despite having all those tourists trotting through every day?

The view of the Canadian falls from the Canadian side is the nice one, so that's where the tourists go. Also, the New York side is prime rust belt territory, so factories and people have been fleeing the place for decades.

Google "Love Canal."

But yeah, Buffalo and Detroit are a big part of the reason that people in southern Ontario find the "vertical socio-economic affinity" thesis espoused by western folks so at odds with our experience. Going over the border from Manitoba to North Dakota is a vastly different thing from going to Buffalo or Detroit.

kwoldtimer · #**632** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Funny enough I have no desire to visit either of them ever. I have a feeling the overwhelmingly ugly urban landscape would completely nullify the beauty of the falls.

No, it doesn't. I doubt anything could.

esquire · #**633** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rousseau

But yeah, Buffalo and Detroit are a big part of the reason that people in southern Ontario find the "vertical socio-economic affinity" thesis espoused by western folks so at odds with our experience. Going over the border from Manitoba to North Dakota is a vastly different thing from going to Buffalo or Detroit.

Yeah, Minnesota and North Dakota are just like here... probably even more prosperous in many respects, but certainly recognizable. On the other hand, going from Ontario to Buffalo and Detroit must be jarring.

I'm actually headed to Buffalo for the first time next month, so I'm looking forward to seeing this first hand.

kwoldtimer · #**634** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rousseau

The view of the Canadian falls from the Canadian side is the nice one, so that's where the tourists go. Also, the New York side is prime rust belt territory, so factories and people have been fleeing the place for decades.

Google "Love Canal."

But yeah, Buffalo and Detroit are a big part of the reason that people in southern Ontario find the "vertical socio-economic affinity" thesis espoused by western folks so at odds with our experience. Going over the border from Manitoba to North Dakota is a vastly different thing from going to Buffalo or Detroit.

I had the usual views about Buffalo until my first visit to the Albright Knox and the surrounding neighbourhood. Now I think "it's complicated".

rousseau · #**635** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Funny enough I have no desire to visit either of them ever. I have a feeling the overwhelmingly ugly urban landscape would completely nullify the beauty of the falls.

I wouldn't cross the continent solely to see Niagara Falls, but as part of a two-day sojourn taking in the vineyards and Niagara-on-the-Lake? When you're in the GTA anyway?

You definitely shouldn't pass that up. What's really remarkable is that the walk along the edge of the river above the falls isn't spoiled by the tacky Vegas-lite stuff over on the hill. It's actually quite nice.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.0781925,-...YuXGyChGzNgsGGTSjQRww!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Acajack · #**636** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rousseau

I wouldn't cross the continent solely to see Niagara Falls, but as part of a two-day sojourn taking in the vineyards and Niagara-on-the-Lake? When you're in the GTA anyway?

You definitely shouldn't pass that up. What's really remarkable is that the walk along the edge of the river above the falls isn't spoiled by the tacky Vegas-lite stuff over on the hill. It's actually quite nice.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.0781925,-...YuXGyChGzNgsGGTSjQRww!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Yeah, definitely don't miss the falls if you're in that area!

rousseau · #**637** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I had the usual views about Buffalo until my first visit to the Albright Knox and the surrounding neighbourhood. Now I think "it's complicated".

The larger cities in the northeastern and midwestern US had an audacious grandeur 100 years ago that Toronto didn't, that's for sure.

Acajack · #**638** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I had the usual views about Buffalo until my first visit to the Albright Knox and the surrounding neighbourhood. Now I think "it's complicated".

Yeah, there isn't anything like the Detroit Institute of the Arts or Fox Theatre in Windsor, or in most Canadian cities for that matter. Or, for different tastes, like Ford Field and Comerica Park.

As you say, it's complicated. As a Canadian, the U.S. will often do that to you.

MolsonExport · #**639** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 8:52 PM**

I was struck by just how armpity Niagara Falls NY was. We crossed over to shop. Streets with mostly vacant lots, an army recruiting centre, a handful of lousy fast food places, abandoned buildings, that shitty casino, and run-down homes. Most people were grotesquely overweight or crystal-meth-skinny. Extremely hardscrabble. A general feeling of utter hopelessness pervaded the air.

flipv · #**640** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 9:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Okay that does look grim. As grim as the Canadian side but more small town feeling. Based on these photos of both sides of the border I think I will start referring to Niagara Falls as the transborder toilet bowl.

There is very little grim about the Canadian side of the falls. The parks directly next to the river/falls are beautifully landscaped, traditional in design, peppered with monuments, etc. Even Clifton Hill in its grotesque garishness is actually a pretty interesting little street. The subtle curve and the not so subtle incline with the view to the falls and NF NY's Art Deco buildings in the background is one of the nicest vistas I can think of in Canada. There's just something weird urban and natural about it. Also, the park/square at the bottom of that street is superbly landscaped and maintained.

The American side is the definition of bombed out rust belt. It's really awful and shameful because the architecture is generally better (if still standing of course).

NF ON serves a purpose and it's to be a tacky tourist town. I hope one day Toronto and the NF are linked by reliable, frequent and fast rail to get us closer to our Vegas on the falls.