The Queen City

Taking a break from visiting the Falls this week, I decided to look up more on the history and the correlation between the tourist site to the city of Buffalo. Niagara Falls State Park is actually placed in the corner of a few little communities that surround the park. Niagara being the border of the community that separates Canada from the U.S. is actually connected to the north side community of Gorge. The community of Gorge then extends the border line between the Canadian border and the American border where Rainbow Bridge is in. To the east of Gorge is the Main Street community; a lot of bars, hotels, and restaurants fill up the busy night life streets. Below the Main Street is the Old Falls community adjacent to the Niagara community (please refer to picture above). The Old Falls community is full of historic aspects from statues to plaques of the fighting ground.

Along with all the communities is the famous Seneca Niagara Casino that I mentioned in the past post. Although the tourist map states that this Park is broken into different communities, I feel like they together act as one. These communities are all almost adjacent to each other which help one community get the visitors to the other. Ending on a positive note towards my study, I found that in the early 20th century, the city of Buffalo began calling itself the City of Light both because of the plentiful hydroelectric power made possible by nearby Niagara Falls and because it was the first city in America to have electric street lights!


- Edward L

The To-Do List

Pay tolls, I dislike them. However you need to pass by one when you are on your way to the Falls if you want to get there the fastest way possible. The route that I take, which is the I- 290 to the I-190 is the fastest route to reach Niagara Falls and back to Buffalo, but at the same time is the 25 minute route each way worth the $1 pay tolls back and forth each time as oppose to the 40 minute  each way that avoid the tolls? Instead of cutting through Grand Island, you could re-route and drive up north towards North Tonawanda.

Prior to arriving at the Falls once again, I saw some interesting attractions that I personally thought could bring more people to the Niagara Falls region as well as the local city of Buffalo. First was an advertisement of a Winery in Niagara Falls. Second was a large Culinary School in which still looks like in developmental stages. However being so close to the tourist attraction, I felt many visitors or tourist may have felt the same way I did when I saw those attractions. Where is this place, is it close to the Falls and how much is it to attend? In a way, I felt like there was an attraction in an attraction. Attractions mean a source of income. This income means a thriving economy for the city.

As I continued into the Niagara Falls State Park, I saw that there were actually many recreational activities in which visitors decide to do themselves, activities that are not online nor in the pamphlets. For example I saw a person practicing riding a unicycle right next to a group of people doing yoga. This state park has the perfect combination of recreational activities and relaxation due to the natural landscape it provides. Signs are almost on every corner of the State Park’s grass fields guiding and providing information for first time visitors and local residents who like to come to the park every day. For more information please refer to the link below:

http://www.waterfallswest.com/waterfall.php?id=53

- Edward L