“Keep your chin up.” That’s irrepressible optimist Rob Lynch’s advice for enjoying life in Niagara Falls. It’s actually only part of his advice. Lynch has much more to say about the small city where he has lived all his life, including the 26 years he’s been teaching art at Niagara Falls High School.
In most ways, he’s made his peace with the lowlights of this disappointing yet fascinating city and can speak glowingly about the highlights. In that, he has a more balanced viewpoint than many Western New Yorkers, who are quick to dismiss or even revile the Falls, focusing on the admittedly sad spectacle of its downtown core. These are the people who tell visitors to “just go to the Canadian side.”
Many of us grow up in places that aren’t all they could be, but not places that also host internationally known miracles of nature. That’s the problem with Niagara Falls: It could be fairly said that the city has done very little to live up to the justifiable renown of its namesake. Still, the waterfall and the grand state parks associated with it are always there and they never disappoint.
Lynch walks or runs in this beauty almost every day. His house is just a few blocks from the gorge. “I have one of the most incredible running tracks on the planet,” he says. “I get to run by the falls itself daily.”
Lynch also appreciates how the recent removal of the Robert Moses Parkway’s downtown section gives him even more wildlife to enjoy.
And that’s where the “go to the Canadian side” people lose me. While it’s worth getting the powerful panoramic view Canada offers, I could do without the haunted houses, the wax museums, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not and all the other dreck littered along Clifton Hill. Inexplicably, there are even indoor attractions offering digital 3D views of the falls, despite the ability to see the full, thundering reality a few feet away.
On the American side, there is an…
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