LETTERS
Additional thoughts on Moses Parkway
While it is pretty well accepted the Robert Moses Parkway is determent to the well-being of Niagara Falls, no politician has offered a clear cut plan on what to do with it.
I would like to see someone who would advocate terminating the Parkway South at John Daly Boulevard and finish the John Daly Extension to at least, Pine Avenue.
I would like to see all four lanes and the overpasses of the parkway north removed to Findlay Drive before any more studies are completed. I don’t want a four-lane grandeurs boulevard along the gorge. Canada did not need one and neither do we. Whirlpool is plenty wide enough for an expanded two-lane thoroughfare, with housing and commerce on one side and public land across the street.
In an earlier piece I quoted Jane Jacobs: “If the downtown area is to survive, it must provide not only a place to shop and do business, but, also a wide variety of cultural and entertainment activities. It must be exciting and lively. Its physical improvements must be designed to put color, beauty, and excitement into the downtown area.” Any civic leader who would stand on the corner of Old Falls Street and Rainbow Boulevard North, look around, and state we have achieved these goals should resign.
We should establish who is responsible for Falls Street Station and what type of commerce should be employed there. Remove the glass walls and install the type of attractive facades that promote public interest.
No one wants to go to dinner then walk a half a mile (or to an unkempt ramp) to their car. Redo Old Falls Street (and Third Street) to establish on-street parking that can be cleared of snow in the winter.
Remove Rainbow Centre and/or redesign it. We have tried numerous family-oriented entertainment ventures downtown that did not work.
This city should never prosper on tourism alone. As one mayor put it, the city should walk on two legs, tourism, and industry. It is unlikely we will ever see the type of heavy industry that flourished in the past but that does not mean we can rely on tourist economy to support us year around.
Instead of suing the Power Authority for excess profits we need to pursue the power authority to lower its rates.
We must promote the area as more than just a tourist mecca. Removing the Robert Moses and cleaning up the atmosphere downtown will promote the city and entice more types of commerce.
This year we repaved more roads than I can ever remember in my lifetime. This was largely due to increased revenue from stimulus and casino funding. In light of the fact we will not always enjoy this much funding, the question is, was this money well spent?
Many streets were repaved, but, as in the past, there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason for the priority. It does not make sense to repave a neighborhood street with a few potholes when a through street full of potholes with numerous ups and downs remains untouched. When there is money in hand to address a situation, the people should see action. Where is the $ 6 million for Buffalo Avenue?
All public officials are responsible to adapt and speak out for positions that are in our best interest and we have the responsibility to vote for ones that will. This city, county, and state has gone off for years, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on public and commercial ventures that have gone down the drain. Meanwhile, we still have the parkway and downtown streets are deserted, winter and summer, in the Honeymoon Capital of the World.
We cannot even develop an atmosphere to attract tourism, let alone higher standard of living industry.
On another matter, regarding recent stories on the renovation of the Rainbow Centre mall to house the Niagara County Community College culinary institute:
We are on the verge of pouring of millions into a building which has no practical purpose in the City of Niagara Falls other than a parking lot.
Tourists do not come to the Falls specifically to eat and play in an amusement center. They come to experience the beauty of the area. Which is why we should be spending money on showcasing that beauty by restoring the parkland along the upper river and gorge and removing the eyesores downtown.
There are numerous other suitable locations for this venture but we always seem to run with blinders.
How long will it take before the people wake up?
Dan Davis
Niagara Falls
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