flar
Active Member
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Niagara-On-The-Lake
- Thread starter flar
- Start date
smuncky
Senior Member
beautiful spring time pics flar! looks like the trees are blooming in full swing.
my family and i usually go down to niagara-on-the-lake once a year because it's such a beautiful little town. on the way there, there's usually some wine tasting going on as well that we stop by at and then head down the escarpment to niagara falls for the evening.
i am curious about this building though because i don't remember seeing it the last time i was there. is it a hotel?
my family and i usually go down to niagara-on-the-lake once a year because it's such a beautiful little town. on the way there, there's usually some wine tasting going on as well that we stop by at and then head down the escarpment to niagara falls for the evening.
i am curious about this building though because i don't remember seeing it the last time i was there. is it a hotel?
Towered
Superstar
Brilliant photo tour as usual, Flar. Easily one of the prettiest towns in Ontario. Now if only the main street were cobblestone instead of asphalt...
CDL.TO
Moderator
i am curious about this building though because i don't remember seeing it the last time i was there. is it a hotel?
Those are condos right by the town dock. They were built only a couple years ago and were quite expensive.
CDL.TO
Moderator
Great tour, flar. You must have walked right by my family's house as you photographed so many of their neighbours.
flar
Active Member
^^I probably photographed your family's house too. I took nearly 400 pictures in this town and it was hard to choose which ones to include here. Lots of nice houses in NOTL but there is an increasing and disturbing presence of McMansions right in town. They don't fit in with the well-proportioned simple elegance of the Georgian and Classical houses.
CDL.TO
Moderator
So true. Also, many of the houses going up that are not McMansions are "out of a catalogue" that look like they were plucked right out of a new subdivision in Oakville.
Another funny element of town is that it was actually a very poor place before it became a tourist and retirement destination in the 60s. So there's a bunch of pre-1960s small homes (the ones from the 1920s-1930s often not more than shacks) scattered throughout town. But there's fewer of these homes left with each passing year.
Long Island Mike
Senior Member
Good Niagara on the Lake pics!
Flar: Good photo tour of Niagara on the Lake-right across the Niagara River from Youngstown,NY. I recognize Old Fort Niagara,NY in one of the pics-on my last trip in 2002 I stopped there-noticing the Niagara River and how close NOTL actually was-with the river currents and today with Customs as they are you would not attempt to cross this river in a boat let alone think of swimming the short distance. I had heard it was nice-it certainly looks good!
LI MIKE
Flar: Good photo tour of Niagara on the Lake-right across the Niagara River from Youngstown,NY. I recognize Old Fort Niagara,NY in one of the pics-on my last trip in 2002 I stopped there-noticing the Niagara River and how close NOTL actually was-with the river currents and today with Customs as they are you would not attempt to cross this river in a boat let alone think of swimming the short distance. I had heard it was nice-it certainly looks good!
LI MIKE
Towered
Superstar
Wow, very handsome, elegant design. We could use some of that in Toronto! What amazes me the most is that they didn't go the "ye olde" route in a place like that.
ganjavih
Senior Member
Yet they used quality "yo olde" materials. Very well done.
Observer Walt
Senior Member
Nice pictures as usual flar. I've had somewhat mixed feelings about NOTL, it's unquestionably scenic and a pleasant place to walk around (and noted for fresh fudge as well as architecture). But it seems somehow like walking around in a museum or a film set, not a "real" town. I prefer Paris, another old town which seems a bit more genuine. Maybe that's just my imagination.
egotrippin
Senior Member
As nice as it is, it does look a little sterile and perhaps even boring. Nice for lunch and browsing the shops, but I don't imagine it's the most exciting place to live.
MBS
Active Member
It is a peaceful and beautiful place with small town charm. When I went there for the first time, I was left breathless. NOTL just seems so... perfect.
CDL.TO
Moderator
Of course it's boring... it's a small town. It comes with the territory. But with heavy tourism, a good population of local artists, and the Shaw Festival (and its associated creative workers) it's about as exciting as a small town can get.
It may be a manicured and managed sort of place... but that's the point. Tourism is what drives the local economy... complaining that NOTL is too much of a tourist town is like complaining that CIBC is too much of a bank. As I mentioned above, NOTL was a very poor community until tourism took off (and is also why the main street managed to avoid destruction).
But don't think that this prevents it from being a real town. The place has an very strong sense of community. With the exception of the three "Vintage Inns", the tourist industry in the community is extremely grassroots... small shops, mom+pop B&Bs, and the Shaw itself.
In fact, I would say that it is a "real town" almost to the point of parody. The sort of place where people know the grocer, the baker, the post office ladies, and all their neighbors within a 2-block radius by name. The sort of place where many of the locals get around town by bicycle or foot, only needing their car for the rare trip to Virgil, St. Catharines, or Niagara Falls.
It may be a manicured and managed sort of place... but that's the point. Tourism is what drives the local economy... complaining that NOTL is too much of a tourist town is like complaining that CIBC is too much of a bank. As I mentioned above, NOTL was a very poor community until tourism took off (and is also why the main street managed to avoid destruction).
But don't think that this prevents it from being a real town. The place has an very strong sense of community. With the exception of the three "Vintage Inns", the tourist industry in the community is extremely grassroots... small shops, mom+pop B&Bs, and the Shaw itself.
In fact, I would say that it is a "real town" almost to the point of parody. The sort of place where people know the grocer, the baker, the post office ladies, and all their neighbors within a 2-block radius by name. The sort of place where many of the locals get around town by bicycle or foot, only needing their car for the rare trip to Virgil, St. Catharines, or Niagara Falls.
Tewder
Senior Member
^Also, I find the people there are very proud of their town and its important history, and they are very proactive in preserving it....which is just so refreshing in Ontario where the opposite tends to be the norm. I'll gladly take the overzealous restorations and twee sensibility because you can easily get off the main drag and away from the main tourist traps to appreciate some great architecture, some beautiful gardens and some interesting history. By the way, for those who don't like the touristy quality of NOTL, Queenston is just down the river and you can find most of the same qualities there, on a smaller scale and with nary a fudge store or tshirt shop in sight!