| Page Views: 3,285 Last Visit to Niagara Falls: - | ~NIAGARA FALLS Americas Natural Wonder~ by Michael_D - last update: Nov 10, 2007 |
Niagara Falls New York-A city in serious decline Only 80 miles south of Toronto and 18 miles north of Buffalo is one of North Americas true natural wonders.
Growing up 90 miles east in Rochester, New York made Niagara Falls the most requested sojourn for visiting friends and relatives, so Ive lost count of the number of trips made there.
My grandmother lived in Niagara Falls New York back in the 1920's when Niagara Falls was in its heyday. It is easy to see the city was once an important city with all its old buildings & great(mostly now dilapidated) old homes and historic looking buildings(also mostly dilapidated).
The Falls area is typically crowded but fun and the views from the American side are unexpectedly powerfull inasmuch as conventional wisdom is the good view is from the Canadian side.
Unforseen circumstances relegated me to have to spend 8 days in Niagara Falls NY and they were 8 challanging days as you can pretty much see everything in a day or two with good planning. I stopped in an "iffy" nieghborhood to use an ATM on my way to Canada. Little did I know Id end up spending 8 days there later in the trip.(not that anyone cared).
Forays into the original downtown area were a bit scary(even for America!) with ghost townishly boarded up stores flanked by the only 2 functioning enterprises Burger King and Family Dollar Store with virtually NO ONE around except occaisonal clusters of young people(usually 3-5) wandering through at odd intervals.
There seems to have been an attempt to make a NEW downtown further south near the falls, but it appears a tad haphazzard and had an uncomfortable feeling about it in general. The fact that a number of cab drivers been shot that summer didnt help my mood and clusters of wandering teens made the area uncomfortable even in daytime.
I rarely saw a cop, though I did have a very VERY bad experience with one as I napped in my van in a nearby state park. To this day I have NO IDEA why he was so irate. I guess a retired guy with Florida plates is a thing they worry about in Niagara Falls LOL
I did have an external look at the AMTRAK Station which looked like it had been in a war and no one bothered to clean up the rubble!!! It pained me to realise that this station is the FIRST view of America Canadians(or other train travellers) have of America. I was utterly embarassed to look at it.
There were a few high points.
LITTLE ITALY is totally safe and enjoyable and has tons of good shopping(Savealot, Walgreens etc) and a bevvy of restaurants.
HYDE PARK that adjoins it is huge and has FAR more facilities than one can imagine at 1st glance(like hot showers..open to the public near the tennis courts).
THE CITY LIBRARY is 1st class. 50 computers and plenty of magazines/newspapers and clean toilets;-)I got to know the head ..a lady from Charleston SC who mentioned all the staff lived in...Buffalo LOL
I spent most of my time in Little Italy, Hyde Park and the city library....
I have to say the NFalls library was a pleasant surprise, curiously appears lavishly Antonio Gaudi-ish architecturally and is FIRST CLASS in many respects!!! but ALAS it is surrounded buy once proud nieghborhoods that are so in decline it may make you consider not stopping. I actually didnt stop the 1st time I went by but was glad I reconsidered.
I also found a Chinese Restaurant CHINA GARDENS that had only 10 items on the buffet(only weekdays), but they were the RIGHT 10 items and were replenished every 15 minutes. Cost...$5.80 and included unlimited drink.
In summery..
-City Library/Little Italy/Hyde Park/China Garden Restaurant are all A++
-Amtrak Station is a national embarassment
-Three cab drivers were shot the week I was there.
-I didnt feel comfortable.
-The fact that the police were downright rude & offensive didnt help either
The falls were amazing..the city...no so much...I was happy to leave. |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| Pros: | "The Falls are magnificent to look at" | | Cons: | "The city is not so safe" | | In A Nutshell: | "stay away from downtown and youll do OK;-)" |
Michael_D's Niagara Falls Travel Tips
 Comments for Michael_D about Niagara Falls | | | | |
Maria250 Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:26 UTC
I may want to expand my scope? lol. Guess my affection for the states' SOUTH is about "unconditional love". But yeh-yeh it looks nice too there in the north as your pages prove :-) | chewy3326 Sun Apr 30, 2006 15:18 UTC
Nice photo and info on the falls. Niagara Falls is very wonderful, but I've never seen them from Skylon tower. should get back there to do that someday. | blubee Fri Jan 28, 2005 16:49 UTC
i fell in love with niagara falls. went there twice, stayed overnight at the sheraton by the falls. booked a room overlooking the falls. It's so breathtaking during the night. As the Mayor of California once said " I'D BE BACK " Indeed ! I will be back ! | Paul2001 Wed Dec 15, 2004 03:34 UTC
Excellent photos of the Falls. I actually think that visiting Niagara is best in the winter when the Falls ice over. |
|
|
email me
add as friend
