Sorry for the latest delay, but I haven't had anything new to put up for a while, so this time, I decided to go across the 49th parallel to Gananoque, ONT, Canada, where I'm going to the casino shown above. What gets to me is the limited retail. Should it be like Skaneateles back near me, or should it be more like the suburbs? Gananoque is a suburb of Kingston, ONT, yet it's not like Vancouver or Montréal. Gananoque is a seaside tourist town, which goes into dormancy during the winter like Alexandria Bay a boat ride away.
While Gan has Metro, Shoppers Drug Mart, a flea market, a variety store, McDonalds, BMO, Dairy Queen, and some indie eateries, the town is lacking big box and chain retail such as Walmart, Dollarama, Mr Sub, HBC, Future Shop, HMV, and other retailers typical in larger areas. Another thing lacking is enough public transport. This seems like the kind of place where you have to know how to drive to get to Kingston and Cataraqui. There's a VIA Railway station, or you can take a cab. What do the local over-60s without cars do? The ones on my side of the Great Lakes Seaway are coming into town on a chartered bus and I'm coming with them!
All of Canada deal with the winter when it's there, and there's more happening in the big cities and suburban Québec (skiing and a winter festival) than at the seaside. There must not be enough incentive for development. Maybe it's better that Gan stays small. Maybe the casino is better off small as it doesn't have to be Vegas or Atlantic City. Also, everything's within a 5 kilometre radius. The point I'm trying to make is that I'm on the fence whether Gan is fine the way it is or could use gentrification. Then again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
"Gananok" has many meanings; The "rising above the rocks" continues to this day for the residents of the city, for those summers and for the summer, for visitors to the region.
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