"Downtown Niagara Falls" written by Vincent on estrip.org

06/21/11 07:06 - ID#54545

Downtown Niagara Falls

I was just thinking lately that Niagara Falls NY is slowly turning the corner and isn't the embarrassment that it has been in the past. From what it appears it's been part government and the other portion has been Canadian investors. The people that just bought the Sheraton own most of Niagara Falls Ontario and it's just ironic that they're bringing the playbook over here. Basically it's have a Starbucks in your hotel and a chain restaurant which is TGI Friday's which will open up next week. The old Hotel Niagara was purchased by some guy from Vancouver, but as you can see from the pics nothing has been done as of you. What gets me is what are they going to do about parking? Carl Paladino beat them to it as it appears he got the lot that used to be used by the hotel.

Yea the old OTB sign still stands on the rusted out mall and the walkway from the parking garage to the now One Niagara Center just looks out of place to the knowledgeable eye.

metalpeter writes at 09:02:43 06/26/11 - Comment #63209: The Winter Gardens used to be pretty Cool.... Love the Hardrock Cafe..... Not sure if I can remember when there was good shops in the Rainbow mall or not.....

The Ugly fact of the matter Niagara falls is the place where it seems that every 2 years ok maybe 3 you hear about some great plan and then none of those cool things ever show up..... I say it is the local mob I mean the Phelps family I mean local 210 not really sure who it is Maybe it is just why would someone want to build something when all the good stuff is on the other side....

I think a lot of it comes from the younger drinking age.... So many people go over to what ever that place was called to drink and then stay over there.... The Older crowd has the strip clubs..... But Trump and others who where concerned about organized crime made sure that gambling would stay illegal so NF usa never got the Casino yes they got an Indian one But it just isn't as cool you can't do as much with it you don't get all the taxes ....... As an example (have no papers so can't cross the boarder) in the past I went to the hardrock Cafe and there is a door that goes (used to be) right to the Casino...

Yes for looking at the falls we have the better side and yes that park should be there....But it is so scary how the other side has taken what ever that place they had with the games from when I was a kid and changed that entire area and the US really hasn't....... I Hope I'm wrong but guessing in 10 years it will still be the same?

paul writes at 09:31:13 06/22/11 - Comment #63121: The rainbow mall is so creepy now. I remember looking down into it from inside the parking ramp a few years back. It looked like something out of a post apocalyptal movie.

I like the openness created by the removal of the wintergardens but at the same time, that was such a cool winter destination.

I hope it all changes bit the Canadians will always have the advantage if the better view. Maybe we should add a curtain and charge them to open it each day, lol.

Permalink: Downtown_Niagara_Falls.html
Words: 218
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 06/21/11 07:06

Category: youtube

06/11/11 11:42 - ID#54472

Cat Lover

She drops the value of a MBA just by posting this video. Wonderful...

Permalink: Cat_Lover.html
Words: 14
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 06/11/11 11:42

05/26/11 11:30 - ID#54351

RIP Mark Haines

RIP :-(

In an age where the News Anchor of the National News has faded away, moments like this make you remember how it used to be when a Walter Cronkite would command the attention of a nation. Mark Haines was that and also the cool professor that you loved in college, the awesome neighbor that you could ask complex questions to that would care about the details of your decision. He helped many "small fish" investors understand the markets and feel as though they had a connection to Wall St. I literally cried when I found out and watched some of these videos. It's amazing that I just wanted to go and hug Erin Burnett, a stranger celebrity cable news anchor that has no idea who I am. Mark treated her like a daughter and you can see that very easily on her last day.

You can almost sense that subconsciously they knew..

It's going to be hard for me to watch CNBC for a very long time. I can't believe I feel so emotionally devastated by the news especially for celebrity people with whom I've never met.

Permalink: RIP_Mark_Haines.html
Words: 199
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 05/26/11 11:37

Category: concerts

05/21/11 10:59 - ID#54324

My Youtube Hero Came to Town

Backpackdave#### came to Buffalo NY to the Bob Seger show on April 9th 2011. He is the reason why I started taking concert video to post for my friends. Back a couple of years ago there were a few shows at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre that just took me to another place. Where low and behold there were Youtube videos of the shows and they were Excellent Quality. I thoroughly enjoy his work, especially when it puts up a pregame video when he visits a town.

So enjoy a Sociological showcase of Buffalo before a Big Concert Show:

Permalink: My_Youtube_Hero_Came_to_Town.html
Words: 101
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 05/21/11 10:59

Category: cities

05/16/11 10:55 - ID#54300

For Real Stuff that Matters

I went to Pittsburgh this weekend. Then the thought occurred to me, EVERYTHING that the the Buffalo CVB is trying to do by the videos already exists in Pittsburgh. I for once went down there to see Greg Dulli & the Twilight Singers because they he never has played Buffalo for whatever reason.

What got me was the architecture, they have at least 5x the amount of historic structures that Buffalo has and most of them are occupied and in good condition. Also for me as a rail-fan, they never destroyed their train terminal, actually it still is in all of its majestic glory and connected to a bus station. While at the same time they have a real trolly system that goes places, uses an old Pennsylvania Rail Road Bridge and even have some old landmarks for the old trolly system before that was torn up.

To me what Buffalo is almost on the scale of Wheeling West Virginia in terms of old office buildings built around the same period. Heck they even have a nice old theater in town where their Philharmonic plays. I'm just getting tired of the "We Matter" "We're Real" Blah Blah Blah. To me if we don't have the confidence of swagger, no one is going to believe it.

The funny thing I remember about the whole response to the "For Real" video is that it didn't mention anything about sports. Sports and Concerts sell themselves. People come because of the event not because of the town. If they like the town after they get there then they will come back. That's what happened to me & Wheeling. I went there for a casino and went out of my way 2 hours to swing by and say Hello after coming back from Columbus a month back.

It's the same thing with Universities. What got me about Pittsburgh is how impressive the University is and where it is located. I was taken aback by the Cathedral of Learning and the immediate neighborhood as I went there for some 5 guys burgers and fries. Maybe UB is a public institution and that hampers things. If it was on par say with Michigan or even Syracuse would things be better economically? All I can say is that is UB 2020 is cut and slashed this town is doomed.

tinypliny writes at 10:28:20 05/26/11 - Comment #62518: Megabus has a new service to Pittsburgh for $1 currently....

janelle writes at 03:50:25 05/19/11 - Comment #62390: You're not going to get a very unbiased commentary on Pittsburgh from me or Drew.

Drew has a great deal of hometown loyalty. There is nothing wrong about Pittsburgh to him.

Me. I didn't like Pittsburgh at all. It seemed like a poor excuse of a city after having lived in Philadelphia for 4 years.

Pittsburgh has a worse downtown than Buffalo does, I think. Pittsburgh also has had a lot of population loss and some of the outlying suburbs are growing much faster than the city. Neither Drew nor I are big fans of the casino on the water front. I don't think the public transit is much better in Pittsburgh than Buffalo. Their transit serves the south suburbs and that's it. Very limited. The bridges and tunnels are a nightmare for commuting. Parts of the city and immediate suburbs with steep hills are shut down in the winter because it's to dangerous to drive the steep hills covered in snow/ice.

Buffalo has a lower cost of living and we would never own the house we do right now in Pittsburgh.

The restaurant scene is better in Buffalo. My social life has been better in Buffalo. Buffalo geographically is more accessible and easier to navigate than Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh did have a better economic recovery than Buffalo after the steel plant closings and what not. And they did a better job keeping universities and sports teams downtown.

I would hands down choose to live in Buffalo over Pittsburgh.

metalpeter writes at 05:41:19 05/17/11 - Comment #62382: Have to add something here Buffalo has had Championships in Sports Bandits , Bisons (and the AHl team pre sabers), AFL champions before the superbowl I think not sure... But I think if in Hockey or NFL a Championship could have made Buffalo be that great city....

What hurts Buffalo is not having a Hindsight guy..... Great highway system except it broke up parks that was connected... The Metro Rail great idea... But why not also still have traffic on Main and since we have great old buildings make it look like trolley cars. I saw and old picture with them and cars.... Why tear it up in the first place... Why stop using the Central Terminal? I think that once one bad decision is made it makes everything a political battle.... That is what Buffalo has turned into... Not hey lets do this or that how about doing something good for the city... I take the Seneca Casino as Prime Example #1. Yes the mob would have taken over the falls but as we see nothing is going on there any ways but so what... Someone wanted to legalize gaming (illegal my ass NYS Lottery) in NYS....It lost. We are a border state it should have been made legal and all that cool stuff Canada has could be on our side over looking the park based of Legal Casinos where we get the entire share there could be one downtown also.... The Metro rail could connect them. Go underground get off on the Island and go to Fantasy island... Have a station at Niawanda Park look at the water and go to Mississippi muds. Have a special Bus service that goes between the beach areas..... Something at least argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

metalpeter writes at 05:29:36 05/17/11 - Comment #62381: I've wanted to go there for some time now... You know being a Steelers and Penguins fan is why.... Don't think my body could handle being out side for an entire football game unless it was really early in the season.... That assumes there is ever a NFL season again.... From what I have heard it is a blue collar town and you gotta like that... I think the closet I have been was I was at some school for a swim meet and you could see one of the bridges that lead to Pittsburgh but again couldn't see the city so not sure if that was where the bridge (yes it was far away to me) really lead.....

vincent writes at 09:43:45 05/17/11 - Comment #62380: With it being 4 hours away it is a nice quick trip. Jason, Ha Ha Ha! If you're going to go out and hit the town I'd stop by a place called the Brillo Box :::link::: it's a nicer version of Hardware downstairs and they have a dancefloor/band space upstairs.

matthew writes at 09:05:17 05/17/11 - Comment #62379: I only spent one evening in Pittsburgh a few years ago, but i really enjoyed my time there. Like Buffalo, but all grown up. I'd like to go again. We should plan an (e:strip) road trip to Pittsburgh.

jason writes at 08:23:16 05/17/11 - Comment #62378: Of course, when I took a sip of the beer I spit it out and was like, "Dad this is some commersh garbage. Why don't people have standards?"

jason writes at 08:20:26 05/17/11 - Comment #62377: Yeah, Pitt is awesome. That is where Josh and I were served our very first beer, actually, in a parking lot before a Pirates game when we were 10 or 11. Some Pennsyltuckian gave us a MGD. "Where did you get that??" my father asked. "Some guy." Did Dad let us drink it? Yes he did. I still haven't dug into the town on a night out yet but I believe it is a proper night out waiting to happen.

mrmike writes at 07:45:05 05/17/11 - Comment #62376: It's funny because of all the hullaballoo around that For Real video, they actually have another produced and floating around that has all the things missing from the first one. That said, never went anywhere because of a catch phrase. Had they just put it out there and not made a big thing out of it, it wouldn't have been a big thing

libertad writes at 06:50:06 05/17/11 - Comment #62375: Interesting observations, I can't believe they have a Statler too. I never have been and have been wanting to check it out since I went to Philly. Now that you wrote this I want to go even more.

paul writes at 01:25:07 05/17/11 - Comment #62374: Wow, that is like the exact same hotel building. Its weird they don't mention that at all on the wiki article. Are there lots of other ones?

vincent writes at 01:16:24 05/17/11 - Comment #62373: They also didn't let their "Statler" fall into disuse and decay...
:::link:::
:::link:::

vincent writes at 12:02:38 05/17/11 - Comment #62372: I wonder if Drew & Janelle still read stuff on here anymore? This was the first time in years I went and to be frank I was blown away. Even by their brand new WATERFRONT Casino!

paul writes at 11:54:34 05/16/11 - Comment #62371: Maybe I should just move to Pittsburg.

Permalink: For_Real_Stuff_that_Matters.html
Words: 386
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 05/16/11 10:55

Category: concerts

05/07/11 02:18 - ID#54235

Free Concerts

Artpark hit it out of the park literally.

I know Buffalo Place has their lineup next week but at this point I really don't care what they throw out there for Thursdays. I'm just excited that the company that runs it finally put together a plan that puts it at the pinnacle of the "free" shows in the area. Basically they put together a way to have the people that want to see a show without dealing with drunken idiots a way to enjoy it and at the same time raise revenue to keep it free for the people that just want to enjoy outdoor happy hour. What impresses me is that they were able to get a Livenation Amphitheatre show Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive 35 Tour and put it out there for "free."

Which makes me think; Why doesn't Buffalo Place just close off the Memorial, charge $25 and make that VIP seating with beverage service?

Permalink: Free_Concerts.html
Words: 164
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 05/07/11 02:18

05/06/11 08:26 - ID#54231

My Response to: "If I could live anywhere else I would choose to live in ...." suggested by e:paul

Southern California

Well at least not in the smog someone a bit out of the smoke if that is possible, but the place is one of the chakra's of the planet (throat) and the place just seems to be another dimension entirely. I love that the "retroness" of the town is the 1950's and not 2 centuries ago. If I could go to the Hollywood Bowl to catch shows once in a while that would be sweet. Also how can you beat the fact that I would be able to go to Santa Monica and Venice Beach on a regular basis?

Permalink: My_Response_to_If_I_could_live_anywhere_else_I_would_choose_to_live_in_suggested_by_e_paul.html
Words: 100
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 05/06/11 08:27

Category: vlog

04/12/11 07:54 - ID#54040

Queen St NF Ontario

Video of driving down Queen St in Niagara Falls Ont during the fog a couple of weeks ago.

Permalink: Queen_St_NF_Ontario.html
Words: 21
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 04/12/11 07:54

Category: travel

04/03/11 01:16 - ID#53969

Airfare! Seriously

Who the F in their right mind would pay this much money to fly from Buffalo to Florida [through Cleveland & Toronto & deal with Customs] for the price of $2,248 when you can fly other alternative airlines for around $300-$400 for the same destination one way ticket?

Totally WTF!?!

Permalink: Airfare_Seriously.html
Words: 49
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 04/03/11 01:16

Category: gambling

03/28/11 07:37 - ID#53935

Fort Erie Rant

This is me in the moment where I vent about how customer service in Canada Sucks, especially when it comes to casinos.

leetee writes at 01:27:28 03/30/11 - Comment #61522: (e:Paul), he said Harvey's, not Arby's. And the poutine at Lick's is better than the poutine at Harvey's (who have the WORST burgers in the world).

metalpeter writes at 05:22:17 03/29/11 - Comment #61514: In Terms of the Drink that is true at the movies and Sports events for 2 reasons that I know of quickly.....
1. The Food and drinks are where they make a lot of the money
2. The Re selling of it or giving it away.... Why not bring in a burger with that drink and sell it to someone else at a cheaper rate then they sell it.......

What I'm really guessing is that Venues have deals with vendors and I'm guessing that they don't want to compete with someone else but not sure how that is.... So say Pepsi or Budweiser or some company is willing to do x, y, z well if some can buy coors or coke and bring it in why do this.....

For Some reason I get the feeling that (e:MrMike) would know a lot more about this then me and I would like to hear his take on it. That being said Here is my most extreme example of not being able to bring stuff into a venue of any kind...... Buffalo had an Arena Football Team called "The Destroyers" ... One thing about them is they really tried to make it Family Event not like Bills Games... So they had a lot of stuff out side... Some of that was Vendors... I don't mean the hot dog cart at the corner .... It was set up by the team or the league or the Arena and was so endorsed... It was meant as like an out side thing ........ Again it was Team Sponsored and set up by them.... Eat your food and then me and my father went into the arena .... You couldn't bring that food in Hot dog and coke had to be eaten out side.........

paul writes at 10:21:01 03/28/11 - Comment #61508: Good story - the downside of being all video is that it won't come up in search. You should add a quick overview in text to the blog so that it comes up more readily.

They have poutine at arby's?

Permalink: Fort_Erie_Rant.html
Words: 25
Location: Youngstown, NY
Last Modified: 03/28/11 07:37