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

Buffalo's Economic Down Fall

The city of Buffalo, New York is the second biggest city in New York in terms of city population according to citypopluation.de, but one of the poorest cities in the state of New York. The city’s population has been dropping ever since the 1960s when it use to be just over 530,000. What’s the cause of this population decrease? An article in one of Buffalo’s newspaper (The ArtVoice) actually had an article stating that the Dows Jones Industrial average stock market index increased from 2008 to the present year of 2012 a total of $3 billion. According to New York State’s Department of Labor, employment has also rebounded creating over 330,000 new jobs. So the question is why isn’t more people coming to live in the city of Buffalo? Does Niagara Falls have anything to do with it at all? Maybe families dislike moving into a city that is next to a tourist site such as Niagara Falls. 

After looking at the source of Buffalo’s economy, I have noticed that a majority of the income is coming from the University’s at Buffalo, the local/ public banks and steel manufacture. There does not look like there is a big influence of economic impact from the tourist attraction of Niagara Falls going into the city of Buffalo. The only major influence in terms of economic impact from Niagara Falls State Park to the city of Buffalo are major holidays like Independence Day in which tourist reservations increased by 30% according to the article below. However, other than major holidays the tourist site of Niagara Falls State Park just does not seem to have much beneficial economical influence to the city of Buffalo.

http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1058724636/WALK-THIS-WAY

- Edward L.

Active Nightlife on Rosh Hashanah

Due to the lack of attendance in the Falls last weekend (Labor Day), I decided to go again to see if this three day weekend (Rosh Hashanah) would have a better turnout in terms of the amount of visitors and tourist that will be there at night for the illumination. At my arrival, I realized that there was a casino called Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel within walking distance to the Niagara Falls State Park. The casino had free self-parking in which I parked in and made my way to the surrounding streets in between the two locations. Between the casino and the Falls was a pedestrian plaza that included The Conference Center of Niagara Falls, several hotels, and many restaurants and bars. I felt like I was in a very active community full of nightlife.

While exploring these busy streets, I approached a huge crowd of people in what looked like tents playing loud music and dancing freely. I kindly went up to one of the people and was informed that they were participating in the Roller Derby After Party due to the fact that the Queen City Roller Girls had made it to the playoffs in The Thrill of the Spill. For more information on this event, click the link below:
http://www.qcrg.net/

I joined in for a bit and decided to make my way to the Falls. While walking to the illumination, I noticed a majority of their recreational activities or if not all of their recreational activities were already closed at 9:00pm, which is when I have arrived at the State Park. However, what caught me off guard was that there was still an active public bus that arrived right in front of the Park, NFTA Metro- 55T Trolley. 

- Edward L

Route to Niagara Falls

Prior to going to my study location, I decided to do some research regarding the fastest way to get there from the town of Amherst in the city of Buffalo, which is where I am staying for my Off Campus Program study. It took 25 minutes to get to Niagara Falls by taking Interstate 290 West then merging into Interstate 190 North and taking exit 21. Moments later I arrive at the Niagara Falls State Forest Park where you arrive at a big parking lot and all day parking for $10. There are many other ways to route your way around to this tourist icon. The significant point is that this tourist icon is close, 25 minute drive close.

There are many features of Niagara Falls; tourists come from all different times in the day to enjoy the many recreational activities. One of the many popular features includes the Niagara Falls Illumination. The illumination has nearly three million lights and over one hundred lighting displays through the year. The lights are turned on from the Canadian side, but as a tourist you can see the magnificent lights from either side. For more information please refer to the site below: 

http://www.niagaraparks.com/attractions/falls-illumination.html

As I continued doing research regarding the activities of the Falls, I question what times of the day do most visitors come due to the illumination of the Falls which are only visible after dusk. From first-hand experience of visiting the site, I started noticing that the American side seem to focus a lot more on the historic aspect of Niagara Falls with plague and statues as oppose to the Canadian side in which they look a lot more relaxed and for every day daily use. Unfortunately, I did not have my passport and will have to make another trip to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side to see if it is indeed more glamorous than historic on the Canadian side. 


- Edward L

Labor Day Weekend

After a long and stressful week in Buffalo of settling in, I continue to do more inventory on the city of Buffalo, NY. I decided to go visit the State University of New York at Buffalo to ask the students, how many times or if any have you gone to Niagara Falls? To no surprise, a majority of the students that I’ve asked have gone to this tourist icon either with their families or their friends. Personally, I’ve also gone to Niagara Falls with my family when I was quite young and have not gone since the beginning of this study. A majority of the students also stated that they decide to go because it was either a family trip or because they were bored in college and Buffalo doesn’t have anything interesting to do after the school hours.

While being in the University at Buffalo, I also had the opportunity to participate in their Fall Fest 2012 event, where many performances by artists like J.Cole were present. There was a huge audience that was in this Fall Fest concert.  A lot of the people seem to be non-locals to the city of Buffalo, NY possibly because they were visiting with the long weekend of Labor Day. With all the people that came to Buffalo, NY, along with the three day weekend of Labor Day, I thought people would take this opportunity to visit Niagara Falls being that it is only thirty minutes away from the city.

As a surprise, not many visitors/tourists were in Niagara Falls this weekend. There was also no traffic while driving to Niagara Falls from Buffalo. This came as a surprise to me because Labor Day weekend is perfect for a family vacation, as I thought many visitors and tourist would have taken this opportunity to visit the Falls. While driving by Niagara Falls I started to realize that there seemed to be a lot more people in the Canadian side than the American side. I came up with the question: Does Canada use Niagara Falls more as a tourist attraction than the U.S.? Further research has to be done. Here are some links to what I’ve came across:
http://www.niagaramuseum.com/
http://www.niagarafallshistorymuseum.ca/
http://www.niagara-usa.com/things-to-do/attractions/
http://www.niagarafallstourism.com/play/historic-sites/niagara-falls-history-museum/

Welcome to Buffalo

After driving for seven hours upstate from I-81 to I-90, I finally arrived to the city of Buffalo, NY safe and sound. Moving into a new environment and apartment if always thrilling to me. I am now on my way to get settled in and get to work. First thing I've noticed was the vast amount of traffic and the amount of cars as I was coming into the city of Buffalo, NY. I also noticed the large amounts of parking lots and open spaces.

Streets in the city of Buffalo are thin in comparison to the amount of space cars have on the road. It seems to me that a lot of people in the city of Buffalo, NY rely on cars as a source of transportation in order to get to places like the supermarket or a local delicatessen. 

Everybody in Buffalo is easy to get along with so far and I have been able to manage my way around the radius of the  apartment letting myself become more familiar to the community in which I live in. The University at Buffalo is also quite close to me, which will allow me to get access to some of the references I will need for my study. 

- Edward L