Toronto can thrive in that environment. It already has the backbone of the mass tourism industry (CN Tower, AGO, ROM, etc) but we are a city of neighbourhoods and the fact is that you could spend a night every day of the week in a new neighbourhood and have a mindblowing experience that you share with your friends when you get home. Other cities are already doing this and we just need to start acknowledging that there are tons of niches and interests out there that people are willing to spend money on. Hell, when I was in Paris 3 years ago I ran into a tour group doing a week long tour of all of the sites in The Da Vinci Code. The possibilities really are endless.
Perhaps, but the possibilities are more endless in some cities than others. I completely agree that 1/2 of Toronto's (or the GGH's) tourism potential is totally untapped, and the other 1/2 is very poorly developed. Of course, we definitely need more things to help channel that development energy further.
First I think, would be adding at least one aquarium, if not two or three. I mean honestly, I can't believe how we can't come up with this. An aquarium would go wonderfully well with Ontario Place, and with more development at Ontario Place, it'd draw in a huge number of people and really act as a development anchor. Right now, Ontario Place is kind of in limbo, stuck between being a good cultural destination and being an amusement park. I think it'd be better to focus on making it a nice cultural centre instead of amusement park, in part due to it's location close to downtown.
Second is Humber Bay. I mean, this place could look almost exactly like Acapulco. It's getting development, but I think the entertainment aspects are quite untapped.
You're not from Niagara, are you? Because you're essentially proposing riverfront condos in what is now a green space that stretches for much of the river from lake to lake in an area of the country that might have been hit hardest by the recent recession. Who is going to afford your dream? And why would you ruin such an asset? They've already done enough paving near the falls. There's no need to stretch that for kilometres in each direction.
Well I'm not from Niagara, but I've been there many, many times.
I'm proposing riverfront condos in green space? Have you been to Niagara?! Unless you consider overgrown gardens green space, that entire area downriver from the falls is totally filled with houses, and for a good 4-5 kilometers until you hit golf course. Unfortunately, right after that golf course is the hydroelectric area and is pretty solidly undevelopable. But there's at least 4 km of land that could easily get at least a row of condos, if not two or even three.
Your "main shopping street coming from the core" is already there. It's called Lundy's Lane. And, they already have an amusement park called Marineland, which at one point was targeted by Wonderland's folks, but is currently dying a slow death.
Hah, when I meant "main shopping street coming from the core," I meant a place where people could actually shop. Lundy's Lane is pretty pathetic as a shopping street. Sure, Lundy's Lane could stay the main shopping street, but it'll need a major revamp.
Yes, Marineland certainly is dying a very slow and painful death. That's why it needs to be better. I've heard something about it getting some expansion, but right now it's no amusement park. It's a destination, but it just needs to be better. Perhaps it should be split in half, with part aquarium/zoo thing and part amusement park. Either way, it needs to be more of an amusement park. Not quite Wonderland in that sense, but getting closer to that idea.
Also, Niagara Falls' untapped potential is found in its ability to establish itself as a year round destination. The summer months are already packed with people (it's almost too packed actually). It's the Winter when no one wants to sit near a frigid waterfall where they are trying to create a more diverse product to attract people to the area. The casinos are one way of doing it, but things like the Great Wolf Lodge will help attract the families to the area for at least the weekends in the colder months. Niagara Falls has come a long way since the mid-90s. It's just now realizing that it can't sustain itself on a 4month tourist season. Sports tourism is starting to become a big thing in Niagara as well, and there might be some potential there too.
I realize that. Great Wolf Lodge really is a great place, and I wouldn't object to another hotel like Great Wolf Lodge. I dunno, maybe a hotel built around an indoor slice of the Pacific. But another thing along the lines of Great Wolf Loge would be totally great for the city's tourism.
Casinos and a better shopping area built around the Falls would be great as well. The city's definitely getting much better at realizing their tourism potential, but nothing is going to make it a direct competitor to Vegas in a decade. That said, there's a lot more the government could do to help the city along.
Your vision for transit is fine. Taking GO into Niagara Falls was a great first step for bringing tourists to the area. But, people from outside of Niagara don't understand that Niagara is really in it's own world. People who live in St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, etc, don't go to Hamilton. I grew up in St Catharines and Welland and out of everyone I ever met I cannot recall one person or their parents who commuted outside of Niagara to work. It just doesn't happen down there. If you live in Niagara, you work in Niagara and it's something that people from the GTA can't seem to wrap their heads around. In fact, I would argue more people have links to Buffalo than Hamilton and the rest of the GTA.
Yeah, Niagara is in it's own world. Does that actually sound healthy to you?
The city should be interacting much more with neighboring cities, especially St. Catherines and Hamilton. Both these cities have well established industries and businesses, and St. Catherines has a very convenient location in the middle of Niagara Region. So Niagara Falls can be a separate entity because of it's tourism, but also be a kind of bedroom community to St. Catherines and Hamilton. I'm sure that a lot of people would love to live in Niagara Falls in a condo on the river, and take the Go train into work in St. Catherines or Hamilton. So right now, Niagara Falls might not be connected to anywhere else in any way, but that doesn't mean it has to be like that forever, and certainly doesn't mean that it
should be like that.
