39° and Overcast
The Mad Traveler, Dave Seminara, was at it again recently, visiting Niagara Falls, Ontario to ask people the same gotcha question he’s hit Niagara Falls with 3 times now.
“Do you think Niagara Falls is getting better or worse?”
This time, he set up on Main Street outside a Suboxone clinic near a homeless shelter where addicts are allowed to use in peace.
Sure enough, every person he talked to with the exception of one couple, said life sucks.
It reminds me a bit of the “Soft White Underbelly” video series where the videographer talks to people about how their life came to be a wreck. It creates an interesting narrative and is interesting to watch but it doesn’t really make a point. Issues like generational poverty, substance abuse and a lack of opportunity multiply to make more.
The problems in Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, N.Y. are similar. Ontario, 30 years ago, embraced tourism. New York turned a blind eye.
The vacant homes and houses in New York are caused by incompetent government and a decline in industry. Stateside, meaningful code enforcement could be used to take absentee property owners to task.
Good things are happening in Niagara Falls, N.Y. As the mayor says in his weekly missive, $30 million in public and private investment is happening on Main Street.
Almost $20 million is being spent at the City Market. These are real things. Another real thing is the scourge of drug abuse and poverty Seminara illustrates by talking to people in the street.
If you care to watch his most recent work, here is a link.
