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Good pics Wylie.

There appears to be a fair amount of grittiness downtown still, especially on the side streets. I'd really like to see something happen with the old Custom House and the closed department store.
 
There are some fabulous buildings there, but the lack of people and moving traffic is quite eerie (or should I say Erie).
 
The REAL NIAGARA FALLS,ONTARIO...

Wylie: As I promised here are comments of your Niagara Falls pics:
#1-GO Transit train at Toronto then #2,3,6 at NFS.
The patronage on the train looked good-was your ticket checked anywhere
en route? Any pics at stations or otherwise in between?
#5-Niagara Transit buses - shuttle to Falls tourist area?
#7-Hotel Europa-neat!
#15-Queen Street-quiet as usual? and #16-20 Queen Street scenes...
#22-Rosberg's Department Store-STILL closed!
#26,27-Canada Southern RR Bridge closed-note barricades on it.
#28-Good pic of both the CASO and Whirlpool Bridges with the Robert
Moses Parkway overpass in the background.
#29-Pagoda-I have noticed it but I would like to know more about it...
#30-34 Spanish Aerocar-Something I never have been on...
#35-42,45 Brock Monument climb and view-nice!-Another thing I have missed...Can Toronto be seen in the distance when it is clear?
#44- Hello!
#47-Sir Adam Beck Generating Plant.
#48,51-Lewiston-Queenston Bridge with perpetual backup into Ontario...
#49-Robert Moses Power Vista (NYS Power Authority) across river-good view.
#50-57-Good Sir Adam Beck plant pics especially #52-Interesting!
#57-Fallsview area and the new skyline...
#58-Interesting street-where exactly?
#61-The Skylon and the Minolta Tower once dominated here...
#62-65 Fallsview and Casino pics...now NF has a noteable skyline!
#66-Marineland sign...never been over that way either!
#67-Casino - Appleby's - Skylon an interesting combination...
#69-Power Plant water intake?
#70-Casino and Galleria-interesting...
#71-The Minolta Tower once dominated this scene...
#73-Interesting fountain with a electric power generation theme.
#75-Falls Incline Railway-I have been on it and have hiked the adjacent
hill...
#79-85 Old Electric Building-Down in gorge?
#86-The Skylon stands tall...
#87-The new Fallsview skyline...
#88 to 95 - The Falls at night are always neat...
In closing this was a good tour from a good day-thanks for the pics!
Long Island Mike
 
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NF Update Photos

Great shots of the new GO service.
I've been dying to take it out that way this summer, but have been way too busy (plus July's weather sucked!)

I have to say, Downtown NF, ON has come a long long way since I went to Brock (spent a lot of time exploring the Niagara Region... LOVE that haunted old gothic Customs House Downtown NF! So scary!).

I'm not sure how many of you know, but there is actually a plan to build a Big Box Bonanza right behind that nice lil Victorian VIA/GO Stn, so literally right across from Downtown (in what I'm assuming is an old rail yard).

*sigh*

Maybe instead of building THAT, they could use the old Rail Trail and install a LRT from Downtown NF (Via/GO Stn) to the most South/Western part of the City. That Rail Trail actually connects every major attraction!
IT'S CALLED LOGIC!!
 
Niagara by GO

Took the GO to Niagara on Sept. 5.
Returned to Toronto on the same train - 3/4 hour later.
Only enough time to wander for a couple of blocks from the station.
Enjoyed the trip - 2 hours each way!

See attached photos:
 

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Naigara Falls - Then & Now

Found a couple of archive photos to add to my Then & Now collection

See attached
 

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More of the Real Niagara Falls...

Goldie: I remember that bank building at Bridge/Zimmerman - back in the 80s it was an antique store. LI MIKE
 
Yeah its weird.

Also the number of people that go to the falls in the summer is greater then ever.

I remember I went on a random Friday this August and there were tens of thousands of people everywhere. However if you go anywhere north of Lundy Lane, its dead...

However I would say almost all pay for parking and then just sit down for an hour and look at the falls and then come back home.

Yeah Niagara falls is still a massive draw to people from the GTA. If you have anyone over, its automatic that you must go there.

You may be sick of looking at it buts its a world wonder to everyone else!!!
 
I may have already commented on this, but here it goes again: fantastic! Love seeing the dirty truth behind the clean facade down in the 'new' part of town.
 
I grew up in NF, though I left to go away to college in 1989 and lived various places around the province for 18 years before returning here in 2007. I was shocked to drive down Queen St for the first time on my return... virtually everything boarded up and abandoned. But that was just around the time when the Downtown Business Improvement plan got rolling. Since then there must be 20 - 30 new businesses that have opened... bars, restaurants, cafes, a micro brewery, a bakery, art galleries, theatre company, dance studio, lots of live music etc on top of several tenacious businesses that have endured through the hard times. I am spending more and more time down there and it does get quite busy on Fri / Sat and other nights when there is a special event on. Away from this core area, there is a new Shoppers Drug Mart opening on a formerly dead stretch of Victoria Street.

Again, part of the challenge is to get tourists to explore this part of the city. I'm sure the downtown BIA is not getting much help on that from the established tourist areas who would like to keep all the people in their own part of town. Another thing that occurs to me is that there should be additional mid-rise housing built to increase the local population so that these businesses can be sustained through the "off season".

I am definitely passionate about the rebirth of downtown NF and I try to get down there a couple times a week to spend some money. The people down there are much more interesting and friendly than most you meet at suburban bars. Many of them have encouraged me to move downtown and become part of the rebirth. I have definitely started to consider it....

So, come experience it yourself (before the weather turns crappy)!
 
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A few Urban Toronto folks spent an afternoon this Sunday riding our bikes from St. Kitts to Niagara Falls (via wine country). We ended up spending some time at a nice microbrew pub in downtown Niagara Falls. While the area was admittedly dead, it was a Sunday afternoon and it definitely looked better than the photos above. There were quite a few obvious signs of new businesses having moved into the area. So I think it has started to turn the corner, but it'll be a long hual. I noticed the The City seems to be marketing it as the "Arts District" as opposed to "Downtown" which might confused tourists and take them away from the Clifton Hill area.

P.S. Redroom, I lost an expensive camera near the Butterfly Conservatory. If you find it, let me know!
 
oh wow, thats a bummer man. To tell you the truth I dont really get down that way... I just spent $700 on new camera equipment - a bag, flash and tripod and the more stuff I buy the more I worry about it being lost or stolen. No doubt there is something to be said for a cheap point and shoot.
 
Kind of late to comment, but I just want to say I enjoy looking the photos Flar and others posted here. Maybe I will visit while the train is still in service and before the area revitalizes and becomes all uniteresting.

Btw, where is St Kitts? I never heard of it, couldn't find anytihng in search.
 
if you are serious... he means St Catharines, the city of my birth. St Kitts is a nickname. Personally I would have done that bike ride in the opposite direction and enjoyed going down the escarpment instead of struggling up it, but of course I am lazy.
 
Niagara Falls 40 years ago

Niagara Falls 40 years ago when they shut off the water!
 

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