The REAL Niagara Falls

[flar]

This was not approved by the Niagara Falls CoC


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The main attraction:

[smuncky]

holy ghost town batman!

great set of pics as usual, flar. well done!

i loved those bridge pics. especially this one.


this one is also interesting because of the message on the bench. love the contrast of the slogan and the surrounding area.


it's really unfortunate that a town which has such a booming tourist core is really rundown if you take a couple of steps outside that touristy area.

it also reminds me a lot of niagara falls, usa. the only difference is that they don't have those attractions that we have on the canadian side.

[CDL.TO]

Thanks for a great tour of the side of Niagara Falls that most people never see.

[jn_12]

Thanks for posting these. I'm from Welland so I've had the chance to see how poor Niagara Falls really is in person quite a bit. When I tell people from here that Niagara Falls is a dump, few believe me. For a city that should be swimming in money, it is in dire need of investment outside of Clifton Hill. Even Lundy's Lane is quite seedy for much of it and it's supposed to be the tourist area. I've always said that Niagara Falls is the most American city in Canada with its gutted downtown, the bizarre entrepreneurial culture and even things like store signage. I think there have been talks about trying to improve things, but I feel like its mostly hot air.

[TKTKTK]

Great pics! I'm having really strange cravings for a rose cigarette though...

[Prometheus The Supremo]

great pics! i love those old buildings.


p.s, this is amazing...

[leeanne172]

Wonderful photo's

I love the Fall's and try to get there as much as possible, have always thought the VIA station was a great building, reminds me of an old school house

[adma]

Here's one place worth visiting in downtown NF

[cruzin4u]

The images are eerily similiar to those pictures posted of Wallaceburg I believe it was.

Sad to see Downtown Niagara Falls in shambles like this.

[Ithaqua]

I love this style of house:

does any one know what this style is called?

[urbandreamer]

I grew up in a house like that: Queen Anne style.

I love urban grit and there's some gems in the downtown tour. Thanks. What's the average Niagara Falls "dump" house sold at?

[Redroom Studios]

hey Flar - great tour of my city! I must admit that its is sad that the downtown has totally collapsed and pawn shops are everywhere. I think the location of downtown has something to do with it as it is not centrally located and is away from major traffic patterns. For all the abandoned businesses, its still kept relatively clean. The other factor as mentioned is that tourism is the main economy in the older part of town - its very boom and bust as the winter season tends to keep the tourist numbers quite low and a lot of places just close up. Somehow though I just love this place - its just big enough to be interesting. And it has quite a few things that other cities of this size (85000) dont have such as the highrise hotels, crosstown highway (420) and 3 international border crossings. I feel really comfortable being among the lower middle class that seems to dominate here - never see men in business suits. Of course the suburbs are quite nice and all the big box stores seem to be doing quite well. In the Fallsview area where I live there is a growing Asian community with Vietnamese and Sushi restaurants right across the street, Chinese take out a block away, Asian foods store and a new Karate studio just opened a few months ago. So I guess what I'm saying is that the decay is really restricted to the old downtown areas of Queen St, Victoria St and Main St... but I love it all anyways, atleast its good for photos.

[adma]

Maybe it's somewhere around there where some college or community-college facilities can inject a little life into the nabe...

[flar]

Niagara Falls reminded me a lot of Brantford. These cities have two of the worst-off downtowns in Canada. Both have the mostly abandoned downtowns reminiscent of some depressed American towns. Both also have thriving suburban areas far from their cores.

[MisterF]

Great pics. Most people don't even know downtown Niagara Falls exists. When someone asks how to get downtown, they usually mean Clifton Hill. I've always thought an LRT would be perfect for Niagara Falls, connecting the VIA station, downtown/Queen St, Clifton Hill, and the Fallsview area.

This in particular is depressing