This post from anti-casino activist Joel Rose:

Cynthia Van Ness, who runs the BfloIssueAlerts list, sent me a private note the other day which, with her permission, I want to share with you all. While it depressed me, I thought it captured the Seneca Niagara Casino perfectly. Here’s the note:

——– Original Message ——–

… I got my first look inside the Seneca Niagara casino on Monday evening. I was with a group of German tourists, and our hosts decided to have dinner at the casino buffet. It was a dramatic exercise in wretched excess. A gazillion deserts, all kinds of seafood flown in from who knows where, lots of red meat, you get the idea.

But quite apart from the food service, the place was dispiriting. The customers looked grim and visibly underwhelmed by all that manufactured “excitement.”

The private luxury surrounded by the public squalor of Niagara Falls made me ashamed of my country, ashamed in front of these German tourists to be an American.

My response:

I don’t mind reading Joel’s updates about the No Casino efforts, because it’s interesting from a political and “built environment” point of view, the latter of which renders it on-topic.

Although I agree with the issue that sovereign Indian exclaves should not be carved out of downtown to circumvent the state prohibition on Class III gaming, I do not subscribe to the whole “we have to protect people from themselves” aspects of the anti-gambling efforts. It’s patronizing and ignores loads of other, more pervasive, vices that are readily available in every neighborhood, which can destroy lives as handily as any casino debt bankruptcy.

So, when I read this patently off-topic opinion of Cynthia’s with respect to the buffet at the Niagara Falls Casino, I have to ask so what? Why is it here?

First of all, for most BIAniks, you’re preaching to the choir. Secondly, who cares? It’s a casino buffet - what did you expect? Ration cards and vegan food with lemongrass juice?

I’ve been to the Seneca Niagara casino on several occasions, and it’s not my cup of tea, but I leave it at that. I don’t judge the people who go, because it’s none of my business. Ever been to Oktoberfest? That’s just as much an exercise in wasteful excess as any casino buffet in the world, so the delicate sensibilities of the German tourists were, I’m sure, unoffended. Oh, and there’s loads of squalor juxtaposed with incredible wealth in Germany, so you needn’t feel quite so ashamed. Not only that, but casino gambling is quite prevalent in Germany: http://gogermany.about.com/od/nightlife/a/casinos.htm.

As to the “grim” “looks” on the patrons, unless you actually went and spoke with them, you have no idea whether they were really grim at all, or what they might have felt grim about. When I’ve been there, I’ve seen grim people and happy people. I’ve seen people smoking cigars, sipping drinks, playing blackjack, and having a good time. Ever been to the Fallsview Casino in Ontario? Gorgeous facility, amazing shopping and food within walking distance, happy customers, and loads of people having fun.

Add this to the potpourri of border crossing identification options available to people crossing between the US and Canada by land.

The Passport card is $20 for current Passport holders as a renewal, or $45 as a new document for adults, and $35 for kids. It is valid proof of citizenship for land and sea border crossings to Canada and Mexico, and the RFID chip inside it will activate information stored on DHS computers - it will not, itself, contain any identification information.

I hadn’t heard anything about it in our local media after seeing an ad for it in the post office downtown. It’s about half the price of a proper passport.

As the Bills have decided to regionalize their fan base by playing some regular season games up in Toronto, there has been some movement, spurred on by Buffalo News publisher Stan Lipsey and Senator Chuck Schumer, to have the Toronto Raptors play some home games at our own HSBC arena.

Sounds like a great idea to not only bring the NBA back to Buffalo, albeit in a limited way. It would also help to further the cause of Buffalo-Toronto economic and cultural integration, from which both cities stand to benefit in some way.

Now if we could just get Via Rail to propose a dedicated high speed service between Buffalo and Toronto with pre-screening at the station so there are no border waits, and with improved transportation links in Buffalo to sports, shopping, and cultural attractions. That would be huge.

(Image courtesy Buffalo Braves’ History)

From a map in Aer Lingus’ in-flight magazine:

Instead of the hydroelectric from Niagara, according to this map we’re very close to the James Bay Project.

This article in Salon, which skewers the United States’ idiotic, backwards, counterproductive border policy with Canada, is must-reading for any Buffalonian.

A snippet:

It’s terrible for trade,” he said. “NAFTA was supposed to be so we were all strong — 450 million of us to compete with those guys in Europe. If you go to Europe, it’s wide open. The borders here are not open, but were getting that way. If 9/11 hadn’t happened, it would have been laxer. Seventy-five percent of the time, when I took a bus to see the Tigers, we just breezed through. Now, they stop the bus and board it.”

Like many other Canadians, Mastronardi finds the restrictions insulting. Proudly multicultural, Canada is scrupulous about minority rights. To American border hawks, that makes it a haven for radical Muslims. In February, Chertoff told the New York Daily News that “more than a dozen” potential terrorists have tried to infiltrate the United States from Canada. According to a DHS report, Canada harbors “known terrorist affiliate and extremist groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria.”

Mastronardi scoffed at the idea that the Canada was a haven for radical Muslims. “You’ve got eight million Muslims. We’ve got, what, 800,000?”

This February, I made a trip around the Golden Horseshoe, a cultural and economic region that encompasses the western bell-end of Lake Ontario, from Toronto to Rochester, N.Y. The two sides of the Niagara River have been getting along splendidly ever since the War of 1812 ended. Ontario has the wineries, the Shaw Festival, and the best view of Niagara Falls. New York has the Walden Galleria. The Buffalo Sabres depend on Canadian hockey fans; the Bills are so popular in Canada that they’ll be playing games in Toronto next year. Canadians also cross the border to ski in western New York and fly out of Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.

At Fort Erie Race Track & Slots in Ontario, a popular destination for Americans, Sue, a gambler from Buffalo, was lingering by the slots. “I just carry my birth certificate,” she said. “I got asked coming across. It’s a lot harder going back. They’ll look in your luggage. I saw a group of 80-year-olds, and they had their bags open. It’s not like they’re al-Qaida.”

and

I visited the Soo three years ago. Even then, the border was a serious issue. The DHS would have been a source of derision, with its fleet of Turtle-waxed SUVs and its speedboats churning the river, if it hadn’t make a quick run to Canada such a pain in the ass. “They’re not fighting terrorism,” griped the wife of a Canadian tour boat captain whose business was suffering. “They’re fighting tourism.”

Canadians think the United States has gone all Rambo since 9/11. I found that out on the International Bridge Walk, which starts at Lake Superior State and ends across the river. One morning, I fell in step with David Orazietti, the local member of the Provincial Parliament. Orazietti’s uncle had been captain of the first Lake Superior State hockey team. As a boy, his Pee-Wee hockey squad played in Michigan. So he was worried that a Fortress America would estrange the Soos. The new border-control measures mean that Americans are practically being told to stay home, he said.

At the Canadian end of the bridge, we walked through the border booths, no questions asked. A welcoming committee garlanded us with maple-leaf flags.

This summer, bridge walkers will have to bring birth certificates to celebrate the closeness between the United States and Canada. Next year, passports or the equivalent. It doesn’t make sense to Leisa Mansfield, director of the Sault Chamber of Commerce.

“When you think that the 9/11 attackers were here legally, I doubt a passport is going to protect us against terrorist threats,” she said.

And that’s the point. All of this is sound and fury, signifying nothing. The federal government figures any threat - however minor - must go to eleven, and it has acted accordingly. Octogenarians get searched. All this helps to further retard economic development in border areas like Buffalo and Niagara Falls. It’s bad enough we hamstring ourselves with a despicable state government and lackadaisical county officials. It’s bad enough we keep clinging to past glories rather than plan for future goals. It’s bad enough the state has made itself inhospitable to both business and residents. At least Buffalo is next door to America’s largest trading partner, right? At least Buffalo has all that water, right? Well, the water’s still there, but we’re treating Canada like Mexico, which is disproportionate to the threat.

If we had an ounce of forward thinking, we would, through a bilateral treaty, harmonize entry requirements for Canada and the US. DHS would work in conjunction with Customs Canada at points of entry throughout North America, and border requirements between the two countries would be abolished.

Imagine if we actually installed high-speed rail between a borderless Western New York and Southern Ontario. Hell, you could commute to Toronto from Buffalo or Niagara Falls.

There is so much untapped potential in this city, looking forward. But we have no brand, no goals; instead, we cruise along in an easy mediocrity, and constantly consider what could have been while ignoring what should be.

The other day, Governor Paterson declared that New York would recognize gay marriages performed in Canada, Massachusetts, and California.

Naturally, some are up in arms about it. Outgoing crap Congressman Tom Reynolds said,

This is a terrible decision, directed in a secretive and abusive manner, designed to circumvent any sort of public hearing or comment from the New York people. The Governor should full well know the rightful role and prerogative the legislature has in the rule of law in this matter.

Therefore, I am calling on the Governor to suspend this ill-advised executive directive. I intend to call the Catholic Conference, the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, legislative leaders and other interested parties to assist in looking at the options available in helping cease and desist the Governor’s directive.

Frankly, this is yet another example of a New York Governor abusing his power to disregard the legislature, the rule of law and most importantly the people of New York. Whether it is trying to issue drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants or attempting to recognize gay marriages this pattern of circumventing the legislature and the will of the New York people is not only troubling but should not be recognized by the legislative or judicial branch or the public as a whole.

Why?

I mean, why not just consider my Massachusetts marriage invalid in New York State, too? It was entered into outside the purview of New York statute and law, after all.

I understand that there are people who are opposed to this quite strenuously on a variety of grounds. Primary among them is religion. But when you subtract relgion from the argument, what are you left with? What is the reason why we shouldn’t just let gay people get married to each other? Does it really cheapen or weaken heterosexual marriage? Then ban divorce. Is it really equal to letting pedophiles marry kids, or letting people marry pets? Of course not, and it’s just idiotic to suggest that.

Watch liberal pinko commie Bill O’Reilly tackle the issue with a gay marriage opponent:

UPDATE: There’s a debate going on in comments, where some are alleging that Paterson’s directive to state agencies that they recognize same-sex unions entered into legally out-of-state is an improper usurpation of democracy and the rule of law. Naturally, I disagree strenuously.

But I wanted to add that I listened to Paterson’s statement on this issue just now, and to his rationale. For instance, New York State has no such thing as “common-law marriage”, but other states do. We have traditionally recognized the validity of those unions when those couples come to New York.

Furthermore, Paterson’s order is based on a February 1st 4th Appellate Division decision, (penned by Republican Supreme Court Justice Erin Peradotto), in the case of Martinez v. County of Monroe, linked to here. (.pdf) The key point and rationale:

For well over a century, New York has recognized marriages solemnized outside of New York unless they fall into two categories of exception: (1) marriage, the recognition of which is prohibited by the “positive law” of New York and (2) marriages involving incest or polygamy, both of which fall within the prohibitions of “natural law” (Matter of May, 305 NY 486, 491; see Moore v Hegeman, 92 NY 521, 524; Thorp v Thorp, 90 NY 602, 605; see generally Van Voorhis v Brintnall, 86 NY 18, 24-26). Thus, if a marriage is valid in the place where it was entered, “it is to be recognized as such in the courts of this State, unless contrary to the prohibitions of natural law or the express prohibitions of a statute” (Moore, 92 NY at 524; see also Thorp, 90 NY at 606; Van Voorhis, 86 NY at 25-26). Under that “marriage-recognition” rule, New York has recognized a marriage between an uncle and his niece “by the half blood” (May, 305 NY at 488), common-law marriages valid under the laws of other states (see Matter of Mott v Duncan Petroleum Trans., 51 NY2d 289, 292-293), a marriage valid under the law of the Province of Ontario, Canada of a man and a woman both under the age of 18 (see Donohue v Donohue, 63 Misc 111, 112-113), and a “proxy marriage” valid in the District of Columbia (Fernandes v Fernandes, 275 App Div 777), all of which would have been invalid if solemnized in New York.

We conclude that plaintiff’s marriage does not fall within either of the two exceptions to the marriage-recognition rule. “[A]bsent any New York statute expressing clearly the Legislature’s intent to regulate within this State marriages of its domiciliaries solemnized abroad, there is no positive law in this jurisdiction” to prohibit recognition of a marriage that would have been invalid if solemnized in New York (May, 305 NY at 493 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see also Van Voorhis, 86 NY at 37). The Legislature has not enacted legislation to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages validly entered into outside of New York, and we thus conclude that the positive law exception to the general rule of foreign marriage recognition is not applicable in this case.

(Emphasis added.) So, as you can see, there is not only legal precedent, but legal justification and rationale for what Paterson did, which is merely to implement the holding of the 4th Department across all state agencies and entities.

That’s how a democracy works.

New York’s Enhanced Driver’s License - it’s fortified with vitamin proof-of-citizenship.

New York is the second state to have an enhanced drivers’ license approved by the Department of duct tape Homeland Security. In order to obtain the new license, you’ll need to present proof of citizenship at your local DMV, and pay $30 on top of the regular charge for a license. In return, you’ll get the new license, which will have your information embedded in an RFID chip, which will be automatically read by the border patrol’s computer.

The licenses will be available beginning in August and will look a bit different from regular licenses. Now, if they could integrate this program into Nexus, it would be teh awesome.

The paranoid lunatic fringe need not apply.

(Photo courtesy Glenda @ Flickr)

The neighborhood in the immediate vicinity of the Peace Bridge has been designated as one of the 11 most endangered places in the United States. Part of the Peace Bridge project involves the construction of a new customs plaza, and this would require the demolition of several homes in this very attractive community.

The original plan had been to have border management shared on the Canadian side of the river. American DHS officials would check passports and handle customs matters on Canadian soil to avoid idling on the bridge and to streamline operations. The problem was that Canada would not permit US officials to fingerprint motorists who simply changed their minds and made a U-turn rather than cross the border. That is violative of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the US would not relent on that one point.

Interestingly, the Canadians suggested several alternatives to permit US inspectors to have real or quasi-US sovereignty at those booths - everything from the airport model, where US inspectors check you before leaving, e.g., the Bahamas, to literally swapping land, to embassy-like sovereignty, to Chunnel-style border pre-clearance. Nothing was satisfactory to the Bush Administration.

Let’s be honest - the fact that the federal government nixed all of these possible solutions was extraordinarily short-sighted and stupid

As much as I can’t stand the use of a Joni Mitchell song to make a point, and as much as I’m annoyed as hell by the terms “built environment” and “sense of place”, I agree that the Peace Bridge project as currently constituted should not go forward.

Buffalo obviously has no use for a signature bridge or a twin span or anything else. What’s the point? Its construction has been hindered by everything from a decade-long design process to bird flight patterns to fish swim patterns to Bush intransigence.

But this region absolutely needs improvements made to border crossing to Canada - something that could be very helpful to our economy.

The new span from Canada should not be at the Peace Bridge, and it should not be at the Railroad bridge either. What’s the point of building a bridge at a spot where it has to make a 90-degree turn the moment it hits US soil? What’s the point of building a bridge at the Scajaquada, which people are already demanding be downgraded to a skate park or something?

Instead, we need:

1. A companion span at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge. It has the most congestion of any bridge crossing at just about any given non-Bills game time and handles a lot of truck traffic due to the fact that it’s the easiest connection from 405 to the I-190. An expansion of existing Customs facilities would also be needed.

2. A 21st century signage system peppered throughout WNY that shows motorists exactly which bridges have what delay. NITTEC has been using the overhead programmable signs to do just that over the last few days, and it’s been quite helpful, I’m sure, to visiting Victoria Day holidaymakers and shoppers. Separate, similar signs should be installed throughout our region and on the QEW in Ontario.

I don’t disagree that the Columbus Parkway neighborhood is worth preserving, and the uncertainty is probably in some ways more harmful than the demolition itself might be. But let’s scrap the whole Peace Bridge nonsense while we’re ahead.

If it was wanted or needed, it would have been built years ago. Let some other area both reap the benefit and suffer the inconvenience that comes with a new international bridge.

Correct me if I’m wrong. All of this happened several years before I moved here or cared.

When Peace Bridge expansion plans first began, it was going to be a second, almost identical steel span. Planning to double bridge capacity began in 1992 and was to start construction in 1999. Many people wanted a signature bridge, so a suit was filed to block the steel expansion based on the fact that environmental impact studies hadn’t been completed.

It’s now almost 10 years later. A signature span designed by Christian Menn has been selected, and environmental studies have been conducted.

In the mother of all ironies, the chosen signature span has been eliminated from contention due to environmental concerns. (.pdf). By the Federal Highway Administration. The common tern might have issues getting up and over and around the high pillars, and the silvery emerald shiner may be confused getting around the bases of the bridge. Also, note that the silvery emerald shiner is better known to the common tern as “food”.

Evidently, there was no modification that could be made to the cable-stayed design that wouldn’t adversely affect the In its stead, the Peace Bridge Authority is moving forward with the second-choice design. This was designed by Figg Engineering:

Look. I like it alright. It’s modern, yet evokes the profile of the current bridge. Peace Bridge second span 2030!

Saturday we took a ride up to IKEA, and given that Mia is now out of the crib and in a regular bed, we decided to buy this lamp for her room so that she wouldn’t hurt herself on a hot bulb.

We plugged it in, and after a few minutes the switch became extremely hot, and finally the entire circuit blew. Not just blew, but upon turning it back on at the breaker box, the circuit just doesn’t work. Period.

I got online to get the customer service numbers for IKEA, and it took me to the US site. Here’s the lamp:

But the price seemed strange. I then checked the Canadian site. Here’s that:

So, not only did I get hosed x2 with respect to the price of the lamp, but now I have calls in to electricians to come fix my house.

Thanks, IKEA!

That’s my prediction. It is never, ever going to happen. Not in my lifetime, not in yours. Frankly, I think that increased traffic capacity isn’t needed in Buffalo anyway. Why shove it down Buffalo’s throat if it so clearly doesn’t want it?

The Ambassador Bridge to Black Rock? Not going to happen. No one’s going to build a plaza and new interchange on the US side with the Scajaquada and 190 right there, particularly given the fact that the push now is to downgrade the Scajaquada to a boulevard of some sort.

While an ideal crossing would be across the river just south of Grand Island, so that it would connect up with the I-290 and I-190, that disturbs residential neighborhoods in Canada.

Instead, we should completely jettison the Peace Bridge expansion altogether and instead increase capacity at Queenston-Lewiston. That single span gets a tremendous amount of truck and vehicular traffic, and recently received an upgrade to five lanes. The Q-L bridge provides direct access on both sides of the span to a major highway; the 405 to the QEW on the Canadian side, and the I-190 on the US side.

If there was any semblance of forward-thinking on the part of the CVB, it would already have been in talks to develop and construct a gorgeous visitor’s center that is run locally - not from Albany. Lease some Thruway property from the Authority and give border crossers a reason to come to a whole host of attractions in Western New York. The fact that there is no “Welcome to New York” or “Welcome to WNY” center on this side of the border underscores just how backwards and simple our supposed tourism promoters are. They’re at Thruway rest areas, but not at the border. How patently stupid; you have to wait until you get to Pembroke or Angola - well on your way out of the metro area.

There comes a time when you just say “enough”. The Peace Bridge project has spent ten years in environmental review, design review, and negotiations over the now-dead shared border management. We can sit and wait another few years for a new administration to change its mind, but it’s been almost ten years now that nothing tangible has happened. The preservation community has drawn a line in the sand as far as the neighborhood that would be adversely affected by a new plaza on the Buffalo side, and we all know about Al Coppola’s threat to move his Pan Am house. What else could be more persuasive?

So screw it. Enough. Everybody wins.

Expand the Queenston-Lewiston bridge with a second, signature span across the Niagara River, right at the escarpment with a gorgeous view of the meandering river leading to Youngstown, and Lake Ontario beyond.

A couple of years ago, we spent a weekend in Toronto and stayed at the Intercontinental on Bloor just west of Avenue Road, across from the ROM. The skeleton of Daniel Libeskind’s ROM Crystal was just going up at the time, and it looked as if a crane had accidentally dumped a bunch of steel girders, and that they had landed in a somewhat haphazard manner.

It’s now done and open, so we checked it out Saturday afternoon. From the outside, it looks like Salvador Dali got a hold of the plans of the original building and had at them:

From the inside, it’s rather impressive. The best way to describe it is to invite you to remember Superman’s Fortress of Solitude from the 1978 movie. The only thing missing was the green crystal that made Marlon Brando talk.

It’s cool how the building reflects its surroundings:

Here’s a shot of the atrium just inside the ticketing area:

Third floor. Dinosaurs.

It’s one of those areas that’s crowded enough that you’ll wish: (1) you had checked your coat; and (2) you had checked the stroller, too. The Crystal is perfect for this exhibit, because you focus on its details, rather than the building.

Any WNYer who crosses the border - whether for the casino, for Toronto, for Chinese food, or for bingo - knows the drill. Even if you hand the inspector your passports that are stamped “United States of America” in bright, gold letters, he or she will still ask you your citizenship. This sometimes redundant back-and-forth was - for years - enough to get you across, provided you also had a driver’s license or other form of ID.

Like a lot of other legislation Washington’s shat out in the last decade, the law that will change all this does the exact opposite of what its name implies.

The “Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative” inhibits and discourages travel in the western hemisphere.

Want to swing over to Ming Teh for an unplanned lunch? Not if you don’t have a $100-and-wait-3-months passport, you won’t. Going to IKEA? Go get a certified copy of your birth certificate, first. Maybe you can buy a RIBBA frame for it.

The state is working with DHS to pull some sort of ID out of their collective rears that will be valid, wallet-sized, carry-it-with-you, proof of citizenship. Come to think of it, maybe the rollout of that ID could have been the condition precedent for the new policy.

With respect to the elevated I-190 that runs like a gash through downtown Buffalo, we are hardly alone. Back in the 50s and 60s, many other older cities actually wanted to separate their thriving downtowns from their smelly, industrial waterfronts. An elevated highway to make it easy to pass through or commute to downtown was a welcome addition. In Buffalo, the I-190 snakes its way not too far from the shore of the Niagara River, and is at-grade pretty much all the way down until it reaches the Niagara Street exit.

It was placed in that location for one reason - it follows exactly the path of the Erie Canal as it existed during the first half of the last century. The canal terminus (recent legislation notwithstanding) was subsequently relocated to North Tonawanda.

So, when I think I-190, I think of that section that physically (and to some degree psychically) continues the division of Buffalo from her waterfront. A Big Dig project is probably out of the question, since the money won’t ever be there, the Big Dig itself has become somewhat of a liability, and because Buffalo’s I-190 seldom sees the frequency or volume of traffic-tie ups that Boston’s old Central Artery had.

WBFO featured an interview with Tim Tielman recently, who talked about two ideas that he has. One of them involves the Peace Bridge and the 190, but doesn’t address what I had always thought was the biggest problem - downtown.

Instead, Tielman argues that there should be no second span at the Peace Bridge location due to the negative affect that would have on the surrounding community. He advocates for a second crossing should be at the location of the International Railway Bridge. On the New York Side of that crossing are, according to him, loads of unused track and rights-of-way that could be used to connect that bridge to the Scajaquada and a new “boulevard” that would funnel traffic up to the I-290.

In that case, a portion of the I-190 in Riverside could be dismantled.

Glancing at Google Earth, that would affect just over two miles’ worth of roadway. Presumably the expressway that leads to the Sheridan exit, servicing DuPont, the power station, GM Powertrain, and Dunlop would remain intact. Tielman is quite blunt that he doesn’t want to move the 190, he wants to eliminate it. He also doesn’t want a crossing from Canada to be high enough to accommodate ships in the navigable waterway - he wants it to be a liftbridge.

The only entity that has proposed using that location for a new crossing has been the Ambassador Bridge, and they want it to be for truck traffic only. There is no way whatsoever that any entity - public, private, or hybrid - is going to build an international crossing that utilizes a lift bridge or isn’t connected to a limited-access interstate highway of some kind. Period.

Setting aside whether “Boulevard” has become some sort of strange shorthand for “good planning” among some, Tielman all but promises that a “boulevard” along the rail right-of-way would “eliminate noise” and get tractor trailers “off residential streets”. Somehow, this would make us a “really progressive city”.

Tielman explains that Buffalo is “only major city in the Northeast” where you can watch the sun set over the water. Obviously, along the eastern seabord, the sun rises over the water, and Tielman points out that Chicago gets a sunset over “some suburban prairie”. He adds that one of the best places to watch the sunset over the water is Riverside.

A quick scan of your memory or this map will remind you that Riverside is - well, on the banks of a river. If you’re in Riverside, the sun actually sets over “some suburban prairie” in Ontario, Canada.

He also wants to preserve a part of the Skyway south of the Buffalo River, and turn it into an elevated open-air park. It would have to be ADA-compliant. Yes, the views from the Skyway are pretty. No, the Skyway is not “Jetsonian” or in any way futuristic. No, we don’t need teacup rides at the bottom of the Skyway. Yes, the liability of having people traipsing around 100 feet above is mind-boggling.

As it stands now, people could certainly make a utilitarian point about its functionality. But if you remove vehicular traffic from it, it becomes nothing more than an eyesore. If you want a nice view, build a tall building on the outer harbor.

What’s good for the Galleria is evidently pretty bad for Windsor and Valcourt.

While local shops and tax receipts are flush with cash spent by Canadians seeking bargains on this side of the border, the Canadian economy is taking quite a beating. Think of it this way: Pick up a book. It probably has separate prices in Canadian and US dollars, and the Canadian price is always higher because historically it was worth 20-30% less than the greenback. Not so anymore. Now, go to the Walden Galleria. On the lower level not far from the Hugo Boss store is a used Jaguar from West-Herr. There’s a new sign on there targeting Canadian buyers. Sure, they’d have to pay cash or arrange for domestic Canadian financing of some sort, but West-Herr can give them a massive deal on a used (or new) car. Due to NAFTA, a car produced in North America is duty-free, to boot. Used to be Americans would shop through Canada to get a deal on a Honda produced in Allison, ON. Now, that same Honda is significantly cheaper in the US, even though it was built in Ontario.

I don’t expect the disparity in the currencies to last that long or remain this wide for much longer, so retailers on this side of the border better take advantage of this while they can.