Las Vegas North-Plans For Niagara Falls

[lenaitch]

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.

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.

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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

 

[SashaLemon]

This might be a stupid idea... but what if you built a GO station right next to the Fallsview using the Montrose spur? I guess your issue would be figuring out how to get back up to St. Catharines, either cheaply and slowly or fast but requiring a buttload of new infrastructure. Up the QEW? Rebuild the track that split off past Carl Rd to get onto the Stamford Sub and then do a little loop? Rebuild that track but then use the Thorold/Coniagas spur and then rebuild a bridge THEN go back to the mainline? Do something else equally crazy?

Listen I'm just starting at OpenRailwayMap here I don't actually know what is feasible in real life... I just keep looking at that spot next to the The Oakes Hotel where they built a parking lot and a road over the rail alignment but they left a tunnel... it almost seems perfect.

 

[rdaner]

FYI: ChatGPT
Tokyo Disney World - 200h
Shanghai Disney - 390h
Paris Disney - 700 h

 

[jje1000]

Also IMO the whole customs and road network around the Rainbow Bridge should be cleaned up, as often times the line of cars crossing the bridge into the US spills out into the adjacent streets.

 

[afransen]

FYI: ChatGPT
Tokyo Disney World - 200h
Shanghai Disney - 390h
Paris Disney - 700 h

What does this mean?

 

[lenaitch]

Also IMO the whole customs and road network around the Rainbow Bridge should be cleaned up, as often times the line of cars crossing the bridge into the US spills out into the adjacent streets.

A la Huronchurch Rd. in Windsor. A few others, like Sault Ste Marie and Cornwall would be as bad if volumes were as high. Many border crossings were built for simpler times.

 

[gabe]

Niagara will never be Vegas North. Maybe Atlantic City north, where they roll up the carpet in the winter months.

Vegas benefits from having no major city near by to compete with. Los Angeles is a 4 hour drive away in good traffic, heavy traffic 5 hours. Toronto is right down the street from Niagara.

 

[SubHuman]

Niagara will never be Vegas North. Maybe Atlantic City north, where they roll up the carpet in the winter months...

The supposedly "prime redevelopment site" of Atlantic City's Bader Field has been sitting largely empty for about 18 years, except for a little-used former minor-league baseball stadium and a small of number music festivals. Let's hope Downsview Airport develops a little more quickly.

Bader Field - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jje1000]

The supposedly "prime redevelopment site" of Atlantic City's Bader Field has been sitting largely empty for about 18 years, except for a little-used former minor-league baseball stadium and a small of number music festivals. Let's hope Downsview Airport develops a little more quickly.

Bader Field - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I think location is key here- I expect Downsview will be built out on account of its prime location.

On the other hand, Atlantic City has more in common with Niagara Falls, especially considering that they're slowly being out-competed by international and even more alluring domestic destinations, and aren't really draws for people wanting to live there.

Vegas benefits from having no major city near by to compete with. Los Angeles is a 4 hour drive away in good traffic, heavy traffic 5 hours. Toronto is right down the street from Niagara.

IMO Vegas does benefit from being driveable from Los Angeles- it's a reason why the Strip emerged on the road going to Los Angeles.

I think Vegas is close enough to be an accessible vacation getaway to Southern Californians, was close enough to attract exiled gambling operators from Los Angeles, and also far enough that the saying 'Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' rings true.

A la Huronchurch Rd. in Windsor. A few others, like Sault Ste Marie and Cornwall would be as bad if volumes were as high. Many border crossings were built for simpler times.

Exactly, even though the crossing to the US is relatively simple, the number of cars being processed really needs a much larger queue. It's a subpar experience with cars crowding Bender St, the 420 and Falls Ave, and it may arguably be a turnoff for US visitors who don't want to deal with such a thing.

I think that the 420 is a perfect road leading to the bridge, but it should be reconfigured to directly feed into the bridge, and at a minimum, Bender St and Blondin Ave need to be closed off from the 420 to simplify flows. Even just disconnecting the Eastbound lanes of the 420 between Bender St and Falls Ave, and turning those into a dedicated left-turning lane into the bridge would fix a lot of things.

 

[6ixGod]

Don't mind this at all, had Niagara Falls, ON been in any other country, they'd have done this decades ago.

Fact is Niagara Falls, ON is the dominant "tourist market", as compared to Niagara Falls, NY.

Even though New York tried to capture the tourist market with casinos and its own international airport, the Ontario side survived and has thrived way beyond expectations. It's literally fallen in their laps and they've done nothing with it.

Frankly, that's the story on Toronto, the GTHA and Ontario as a whole. It's grown so fast, so quickly, that the boomer government leaders still clinging to power haven't yet realised it and can't think in terms of the modern day realities. Some still think it's 1965, and Ontario is some quiet sleepy mid-continent locale.

Put NF in China and I could imagine:

1. A fully functioning rail station with an integrated bus terminal serving as the main point of entry into the city and the hub of NF transit.

2. A redeveloped downtown to coincide with the redevelopment of the station.

3. An LRT connecting the falls, strip and station via the redeveloped downtown.

4. An international airport

5. A ferry/cruise terminal at Niagara on the Lake.

6. A gondola/ski lift type attraction along the Niagara River

So much could be done, and that's excluding what could be done with Marineland and the main tourist strip.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Ontario’s vision of Niagara as northern Las Vegas may not include Marineland, Tourism Minister says

Ontario Tourism Minister Stan Cho says the province is ‘not currently in discussions with any of the private matters going around the sale’ of Marineland, which is located a short distance from Horseshoe Falls

www.theglobeandmail.com

Sing it with me.... "Everyone hatessss Marineland"

How is that gulag for marine mammals still open?

3. An LRT connecting the falls, strip and station via the redeveloped downtown.

Monorail!

 

[Collingwoodbuildinglover]

Sing it with me.... "Everyone hatessss Marineland"

How is that gulag for marine mammals still open?


Monorail!

It's not this was his last year though any politician whose name is anywhere near marineland should be kicked out of politics forever for animal cruelty