Quote:
Originally Posted by Razor
Yes..I can definitely see that..I visited a friend in Port Colborne a few different times over the years, and it felt like a the whole Niagara region was in step with each other with Hamilton being kind of like the anchor city, and at least for my friend's wife, St. Catharines Penn centre being the mall. Across the border in NY was the grocery shopping.
I didn't get any sort of sense of severe competition between Welland, Port, and Saint Kitts (this one is ok).Maybe there are some of those dynamics that I just didn't pick up on.
There definitely is a Lot of interchange within that whole region including Hamilton. Even moving around yet keeping the same job. My friend and his wife's group of friends lived all over that region, and I sensed that people moved between the towns and cites without giving it a second thought. Moving from Welland to St. Catharines was almost like changing neighborhoods and not cities. They amalgamated since I believe.
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fixed it for ya
As someone born and raised in Niagara, the cities in the Niagara Region are very intertwined and have been since the region was created in 1970.
St. Catharines is the "big city" at 133-140k, Niagara Falls is the tourism/service jobs city, Welland is the former industrial behemoth now sadly call center/service jobs mostly. Retail wise, The Pen Centre in St. Catharines is the anchor for everyone shopping wise, especially since the Niagara Square (NF) is almost dead and the Seaway Mall (Welland) is dying.
You're correct in that most people think nothing of moving within the region as everywhere is 20-35 minutes away with little traffic compared to larger centres.
The connections with Hamilton are increasing, mostly through health care. If you have cancer or your child is sick Hamilton is the place to go for treatment. If you want a good paying industrial job, Hamilton is also not
that far of a commute.
And yes, Niagara residents think nothing of crossing the border into Buffalo/Western NY for shopping, Sabres/Bills/Bisons games, etc.