lenaitch
Senior Member
With particular regard to "inner city neighbourhoods", while I don't know the detailed history of the area, I get the sense that, historically, Niagara Falls was a fairly industrial town that just happened to surround an environmental feature. The OHPC and its predecessors no doubt employed hundreds of workers and the proximity to the Welland Canal spawned shipping and heavy industry-related employment. Back in the '50s and '60s, visiting The Falls was largely a day trip event.There is still some good architecture in Niagara Falls, but nearly all of that is inherited from the past.
I think the issue of the hotels and poor planning in Niagara Falls ultimately falls to the city and its lack of vision that has resulted in piecemeal development within a rather ugly inner city neighborhood. Still, it does point to a general shallowness of CanCon architecture and planning in many Ontario small cities and towns.
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For those who think that a casino is guaranteed solution, both Gateway Casinos and Great Canadian Entertainment have or are dealing with significant debt lately.
Canada’s Gateway Casinos Seeks $1.3 Billion in Private Debt
One of Canada’s biggest gaming companies is seeking as much as C$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion) of private debt to refinance loans and pay owners a dividend, in what would be one of the country’s biggest such deals this year.
www.bnnbloomberg.ca