Niagara Falls, NY?

Why is Niagara Falls, NY so desolate and boarded up? Does anyone even live there?

Source: http://www.angelfire.com/nv2/niagarafall...

Well obviously I know it's a dump, I'm wondering WHY

Niagara Falls New York had two major industries, Chemicals and Tourism. With the Love Canal disaster and failing economy the jobs moved elsewhere, and with that the tax base that provided the tourism industry its funding fell. Niagara Falls could not compete with the Canadian side, and the weak Canadian doller didn't help. The tourist industry was stronger on the Canadian side, and Americans came over to take advantage of the exchange rate. At one time Niagara Falls New York was a booming bar town, the less restrictive American liquor laws, cheaper booze, and chicken wings were bringing Canadians over every night. Pine Street and the bar strip were well known, and cheap groceries and gas kept the stores open for many years. The balanced economy, restrictions in border crossing, rising U.S. prices brought that to an end as well, and as more and more businesses failed, the rest of the city followed. There are still some popular places around the city, but the Canadian side still has a major advantage over Niagara Falls, New York.

It is a dump compared with the Canadian side.

i would guess it is because most of the people are there are tourist, so not too many people would want to live there, just visit.

maybe people can't afford to live there anymore, so they've moved out

Because there aren't a lot of tourists on the NY side, because you really don't get as good a view of the falls as you do from the Canadian side.

55,000 people live in Niagara Falls, NY and 82,000 people live in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Niagara Falls, NY was also very much an old industrial city (home to Love Canal, which was a landfill).

Well, those are pictures of the worst houses in the area. All cities have those types of things. I'm not going to try to defend the area, because I know it is pretty beat up. Thats what happens when your economy slows down and dies. It all depends on the location as well. I live a few miles away from Niagara Falls in a pretty upscale community that is nothing like that. Take a ten minute drive and you will be in second safest city in the country with a ton of development and new construction of buildings and upscale neighborhoods.

not really. l don`t live to far from there but lt all depends where you go

Its in the US....