What we can learn from these cases
Niagara Region United States and Canada

For all three, preserving the physical man­ifestations of the story goes hand in hand with telling the story. Indeed, they have all spent relatively more on restor­ing buildings and sites than they have on documentation and interpretation. In crude terms, this means that if you don’t have the goods, there is nothing to market.

At the same time, all three have worked hard to make the whole seem at least as large as the sum of its parts; to piece together the fragments, to connect the attractions, physically, with the development of routes and trails, and virtually, on attractive web-sites.

Finally, all three of these cases have fo­cused on preserving or repairing the nat­ural environment. In some cases this has meant massive infrastructure investments, in others community tree plantings. Environmental regeneration is sure­ly a biological necessity. It is also a possibility brought about by the changing structure of our economy. Crucial to this discussion is the fact that as time goes on, environmental quality will be increasingly important as a matter of regional competitiveness.

If your air, water, and land are polluted, people won’t want to live there and they won’t want to visit. But the good news is, every investment in environmental quality, every river regenerated, every brownfield restored, turns a regional liability into a regional asset.

An embarrassment of riches

Residents of the Niagara Frontier might have at least two reactions to these cases. One could be admiration for the obvious accomplishments these regions have made. But another would have to be that our region has a lot more going for it than any of these.

We possess, not only one of the great natural wonders of the world, but an extraordinary array of other attractions, existing and waiting to be developed. Live theater, sports and recreational attractions, visual and performing arts, historic architecture, nightlife, entertainment and casinos, rural landscapes, and much more are all here.

The Niagara Frontier also has story after story to be told — that are already being told — from the story of our colonial and military days to the emerging story of economic rebirth and everything in between. The first nations heritage, the Erie Canal, the birth of hydro-power, the story of the cataract, itself, the rise and fall of steel, the Underground Railroad, and many, many more need only to be gathered, highlighted, and told again.