Just Jack Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/niagara-falls/mist-opportunities-visitors-to-falls-find-little-reason-to-stay-20130912 NIAGARA FALLS – A mother and daughter from Michigan cut their trip short by a day because they couldn’t find enough to do here. A couple from Spain visiting the United States made a stop but stayed overnight in Niagara Falls, Ont., because it had better views of the falls, and they heard that there was more to do there. A New Jersey family came to town for a week for their son’s hockey camp. They were pessimistic they’d be able to find enough to do to fill up seven days.“There’s not much on the U.S. side,” said Rich Hall, of Sicklerville, N.J. The falls are world-famous, among the greatest natural attractions in the entire country – but aside from getting drenched on the Maid of the Mist and maybe the Cave of the Winds, many tourists don’t see any reason to stick around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 (edited) American side of the Falls is surrounded by ghetto, Canadian side is amazingly fun...Clifton Hills is like the Las Vegas strip in the summer...takes an hour to go around the block... However there are quite a few things to.do in the area...Niagara Gorge, Lewiston has some breathtaking views and Old Fort Niagara is at least a half day worth spending there...plus its supposedly haunted... I agree with the area itself surrounding the Falls but not the surrounding villages and towns, quite a bit of stuff to do but most out of owner's probably don't know about it Edited September 13, 2013 by matter2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 American side of the Falls is surrounded by ghetto, Canadian side is amazingly fun...Clifton Hills is like the Las Vegas strip in the summer...takes an hour to go around the block... However there are quite a few things to.do in the area...Niagara Gorge, Lewiston has some breathtaking views and Old Fort Niagara is at least a half day worth spending there...plus its supposedly haunted... I agree with the area itself surrounding the Falls but not the surrounding villages and towns, quite a bit of stuff to do but most out of owner's probably don't know about it cant disagree with any of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 There wasn't much to do there. We went to the American side and saw the whirlpool, the falls, and went to goat island. It was neat to see everything again for me and Kelly seeing it for the first time I think was more about seeing it for the first time. She said she had little interest in going back. We drove through Buffalo, as well. Along the river, and saw all of the neat things. When we go back we will take time and see more of Buffalo and that area then Niagara. We spent a few days between Rochester and Buffalo - Brockport and what not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 (edited) Good thing you gotta have a passport and/or enhanced license to cross the border... Keep 'em here! I am being sarcastic. Anyway... People should just cross anyway... Even if they don't have a passport. Canada will let you in like the old days... Just getting back is rough but, just throw the Canadian customs guy under the bus for letting you in! Edited September 13, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 i'm surprised the eco and sportsmen tourism angle hasn't been tried more. could you imagine the interest in a zipline down the gorge or across a part of it? how bout selling sailboat or catamaran tours out of youngstown? i know there are some fishing charter businesses but how bout selling package deals out of a nice lodge on the river? bring gander mtn or cabella's to lewiston. team with orvis for salmon fishing trips. i think the days where wax museums and the like generate big crowds and big spending are gone. is wintergarden still open? that was a step in the right direction for NF NY but it was too small and concentrated. there are not enough outdoor plantings and impressive landscaping to make visitors see beauty that overcomes blight. never has been on the US side. in comparison, the Canadians have always done a great job at this. i haven't been back in a long time (which you might be able to draw a conclusion from on its own) so maybe some of this has already been tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 My wife and I Honeymooned there. Best bar there is the Wild Mushroom. Love that place. Awesome wings and great service. We went back 5 years later and that was a nightly stop during our visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 i'm surprised the eco and sportsmen tourism angle hasn't been tried more. could you imagine the interest in a zipline down the gorge or across a part of it? how bout selling sailboat or catamaran tours out of youngstown? i know there are some fishing charter businesses but how bout selling package deals out of a nice lodge on the river? bring gander mtn or cabella's to lewiston. team with orvis for salmon fishing trips. i think the days where wax museums and the like generate big crowds and big spending are gone. is wintergarden still open? that was a step in the right direction for NF NY but it was too small and concentrated. there are not enough outdoor plantings and impressive landscaping to make visitors see beauty that overcomes blight. never has been on the US side. in comparison, the Canadians have always done a great job at this. i haven't been back in a long time (which you might be able to draw a conclusion from on its own) so maybe some of this has already been tried. Pretty sure there will be rock climbing by next spring. Zip line would be nice. My brother just bought a restaurant a couple blocks from the falls, hoping to open that in the spring as well. The state will be pumping money into the area sooner, not later. Lots of sales tax dollars are not being collected because of the current state of the area. Hope my bro does well!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Pretty sure there will be rock climbing by next spring. Zip line would be nice. My brother just bought a restaurant a couple blocks from the falls, hoping to open that in the spring as well. The state will be pumping money into the area sooner, not later. Lots of sales tax dollars are not being collected because of the current state of the area. Hope my bro does well!! great to hear! i'd make a trip to hike, zipline and fish. that's a 4 day trip with sore muscles at the end. as a teenager, a group of us tried to rapelle a part of the gorge. sedimentary rock walls didn't hold up so well and it's a wonder a falling chunk of rock didn't kill one of us...but artificial ledges could be built on pressure points and what a cool attraction that would be!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 (edited) i'm surprised the eco and sportsmen tourism angle hasn't been tried more. could you imagine the interest in a zipline down the gorge or across a part of it? how bout selling sailboat or catamaran tours out of youngstown? i know there are some fishing charter businesses but how bout selling package deals out of a nice lodge on the river? bring gander mtn or cabella's to lewiston. team with orvis for salmon fishing trips. i think the days where wax museums and the like generate big crowds and big spending are gone. is wintergarden still open? that was a step in the right direction for NF NY but it was too small and concentrated. there are not enough outdoor plantings and impressive landscaping to make visitors see beauty that overcomes blight. never has been on the US side. in comparison, the Canadians have always done a great job at this. i haven't been back in a long time (which you might be able to draw a conclusion from on its own) so maybe some of this has already been tried. Niagara Falls is like Canada's Vegas... It is almost as warm as it gets within its borders! And where do you suggest people get good paying jobs to support tourism? Let alone "eco tourism?" Trying not to be negative here but, there are better places to go... Especially if the season only runs from May to Septemember. Everybody is heading south right now, trying to get the heck away from the north! What tax dollars are going to be spent stocking invasive salmon? Cave of the winds gets dismantled in October and gets put back up in April. 6 months of the year, the place is a desolate wasteland. It is only September 13th and I as sure as heck do not want to be out on any of the lakes today. Honestly, I really don't know what they can do... They have whirlpool jet boats. Everything costs an arm and a leg. An expensive playground for the elites 6 months out of the year just won't cut it IMO. Cripes... I took my children to Cave of the Winds in August and that was almost 50 bucks. Edited September 13, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Niagara Falls is like Canada's Vegas... It is almost as warm as it gets within its borders! And where do you suggest people get good paying jobs to support tourism? Let alone "eco tourism?" Trying not to be negative here but, there are better places to go... Especially if the season only runs from May to Septemember. Everybody is heading south right now, trying to get the heck away from the north! What tax dollars are going to be spent stocking invasive salmon? Cave of the winds gets dismantled in October and gets put back up in April. 6 months of the year, the place is a desolate wasteland. It is only September 13th and I as sure as heck do not want to be out on any of the lakes today. Honestly, I really don't know what they can do... They have whirlpool jet boats. Everything costs an arm and a leg. An expensive playground for the elites 6 months out of the year just won't cut it IMO. Cripes... I took my children to Cave of the Winds in August and that was almost 50 bucks. it might not work...but tourism is a changing paradigm, especially with the decline less people able to afford it, especially traditional vacations. i'm no expert in tourism and hospitality but i'd see their target new customers as people within a 6 hour drive looking for something new. it's not like it's uncharted territory. west virginia's new river gorge area has cashed in and they don't have the falls. lots of the tourists there are young and adventurous but not necessarily "elite" or rich. neither place is going to draw many folks jetting in that could otherwise be adventuring in alaska for 2 weeks but a long weekend? somebody from ohio, pa, other parts of nys, toronto (if you make it attractive enough)? maybe. niagara on the lake's been attracting those types of visitors for years. why not the falls and lower river? and many successful tourist destinations are seasonal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 it might not work...but tourism is a changing paradigm, especially with the decline less people able to afford it, especially traditional vacations. i'm no expert in tourism and hospitality but i'd see their target new customers as people within a 6 hour drive looking for something new. it's not like it's uncharted territory. west virginia's new river gorge area has cashed in and they don't have the falls. lots of the tourists there are young and adventurous but not necessarily "elite" or rich. neither place is going to draw many folks jetting in that could otherwise be adventuring in alaska for 2 weeks but a long weekend? somebody from ohio, pa, other parts of nys, toronto (if you make it attractive enough)? maybe. niagara on the lake's been attracting those types of visitors for years. why not the falls and lower river? and many successful tourist destinations are seasonal. I hope it does work... I hear you. But man, NF, NY is a mess! In August, coming back from The Falls it looked like a scene from Mad Max in some, well MOST parts! :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 My wife and I Honeymooned there. Best bar there is the Wild Mushroom. Love that place. Awesome wings and great service. We went back 5 years later and that was a nightly stop during our visit. Likely the Honeymooners are not having any trouble finding somethig to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 I hope it does work... I hear you. But man, NF, NY is a mess! In August, coming back from The Falls it looked like a scene from Mad Max in some, well MOST parts! :-( i'll take your word for it on NF. so rehab the area around the falls itself and actively direct folks down river. in short i'm saying make it cool. think xterra or subaru commercials...don't know, maybe a pipe dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 i'll take your word for it on NF. so rehab the area around the falls itself and actively direct folks down river. in short i'm saying make it cool. think xterra or subaru commercials...don't know, maybe a pipe dream. Look on Youtube... There is an old ABC sports (It may be WW of Sports, outdoors??) show... It has professional kayakers shooting the lower rapids in the gorge below The Falls... It was from the mid-1970's... Pretty cool! It was the show that Bob Beattie used to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Likely the Honeymooners are not having any trouble finding somethig to do! I don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 I don't get it. I am having a hard time understanding too. I think he means people w/the names Alice & Ralph? Trixie & (Ed) Norton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 I am having a hard time understanding too. I think he means people w/the names Alice & Ralph? Trixie & (Ed) Norton? I thought they were dead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Politics on the NY side, all about bringing in tourists and making money on the Canadian side. I always said I would be pissed if I booked a hotel on the US side and ended up in one of the dingy motels along NFB! And I am sure many who have no idea, do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 American side of the Falls is surrounded by ghetto, Canadian side is amazingly fun...Clifton Hills is like the Las Vegas strip in the summer...takes an hour to go around the block... However there are quite a few things to.do in the area...Niagara Gorge, Lewiston has some breathtaking views and Old Fort Niagara is at least a half day worth spending there...plus its supposedly haunted... I agree with the area itself surrounding the Falls but not the surrounding villages and towns, quite a bit of stuff to do but most out of owner's probably don't know about it "Ghetto" is a little harsh...the Falls themselves are a national park, and quite well maintained. But just a little harsh, as the park itself is...well, surrounded by a ghetto. Parts of Niagara Falls look worse than photos I've seen of postwar Berlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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