Windsor is the southernmost major city in Canada
and lies in
Southwestern
Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.
It is within
Essex County,
although
administratively
separated from the county government.
Windsor is located
south of Detroit
, is
separated from that city by the Detroit
River, and has views of the Detroit skyline. Windsor is
known as The City of Roses and residents are known as
Windsorites.
History
- See also: Neighbourhoods of Windsor,
Ontario.
Mackenzie Hall
Prior to European exploration and settlement, the Windsor area was
inhabited by the
First Nations and
Native American
people.
Windsor was first settled in 1749 as a French
agricultural settlement, making it the oldest continually inhabited
settlement in Canada west of Montreal
.
The area
was first named Petite Côte ("Little Coast" - as opposed
to the longer coastline on the Detroit side of the river), and
later became known as La Côte de Misère ("Poverty Coast")
because of the sandy soils near LaSalle
.
Windsor's French heritage is reflected in many French street names
such as Ouellette, Pelissier, Francois, Pierre, Langlois,
Marentette, and Lauzon.
There is a significant French speaking
minority in Windsor and the surrounding area, particularly in the
Lakeshore
, Tecumseh and
LaSalle
areas. The current street system of Windsor (a grid with
elongated blocks) reflects the French method of agricultural land
division where the farms were long and narrow, fronting along the
river. Today, the north-south street name often indicates the name
of the family that at one time farmed the land. The street system
of outlying areas is consistent with the British system for
granting land
concessions.
In 1794, after the
American
Revolution, the settlement of
Sandwich was founded.
It was
later renamed to Windsor, after the town in Berkshire, England
. The Sandwich neighbourhood on Windsor's
west side is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city
including Mackenzie Hall, originally built as the Essex County
Courthouse in 1855. Today, this building functions as a community
centre. The oldest building in the city is the
Duff-Baby House built in 1792. It is owned
by
Ontario Heritage Trust and
houses government offices. The
François Baby House in downtown
Windsor was built in 1812 and houses
Windsor's Community Museum,
dedicated to local history.
The City of Windsor was the site of the
Battle of Windsor during the
Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, and
was also a part of the
Patriot War,
later that year.
Windsor was established as a village in 1854 (the same year the
village was connected to the rest of Canada by the
Grand Trunk Railway/
Canadian National Railway), then
became a town in 1858, and ultimately gained city status in
1892.
A fire consumed much of Windsor's downtown core on October 12,
1871, destroying over 100 buildings.
On October 25, 1960, a massive gas explosion destroyed the building
housing the Metropolitan Store on Ouellette Avenue. Ten people were
killed and at least one hundred injured. The 45th anniversary of
the event was commemorated by the
Windsor
Star on October 25, 2005 and later re-enacted on
History Television's
Disasters of the Century.
Ontario Court of Justice building and
Windsor Police Services Headquarters in downtown Windsor.
The
Windsor Star Centennial
Edition in 1992 covered the city's past, its success as a railway
centre, and its contributions to World War I and World War II. It
also recalled the naming controversy in 1892 when the town of
Windsor aimed to become a city. The most popular names listed in
the naming controversy were "South Detroit", "The Ferry" (from the
ferries that linked Windsor to Detroit), Windsor, and Richmond (the
runner-up in popularity).
Windsor was chosen to promote the heritage of
new English settlers in the city and to recognize Windsor Castle
in Berkshire,
England. However, Richmond was a popular name used until
the Second World War, mainly by the local
post office.
Sandwich, Ford City and Walkerville
were separate legal entities (towns) in their own
right until 1935. They are now historic
neighbourhoods of
Windsor. Ford City was officially incorporated as a village in
1912 then became a town in 1915, and a city in 1929. Walkerville
was incorporated as a town in 1890. Sandwich was established in
1817 as a town with no municipal status. It was incorporated as a
town in 1858 (the same year as neighbouring Windsor). These three
towns were each annexed by Windsor in 1935. The nearby villages of
Ojibway
and
Riverside were
incorporated in 1913 and 1921 respectively. Both were annexed by
Windsor in 1966.
Economy
The Chrysler Minivan Assembly
Plant
Windsor's economy is primarily based on manufacturing, tourism,
education, and government services. It is one of Canada's major
automobile manufacturing centres and is often referred to as the
Automotive Capital of Canada. However, plant closures and
significant job losses in recent years have significantly impacted
Windsor's manufacturing industry. The city is home to the
headquarters of Chrysler Canada. Automotive factories include the
Chrysler minivan assembly plant, a
Ford Motor Company engine plant, a
General Motors
transmission plant (scheduled to close in June, 2010), and a number
of smaller
tool and die and automotive
parts manufacturers.
Windsor has a well-established tourism industry.
Caesars Windsor
(formerly Casino Windsor) ranks as one of the
largest local employers and has been a major draw for U.S. visitors
since its opening in 1994. The city also boasts an extensive
riverfront parks system and fine restaurants such as those on Erie
Street in Windsor's Little Italy, another popular tourist
destination. Additionally, the Lake Erie North Shore Wine Region in
Essex County has enhanced tourism in the region. Caesars is also
the largest casino in Canada.
Windsor is the headquarters of Hiram Walker & Sons Limited, now
owned by
Pernod Ricard.
Its historic
distillery was founded by Hiram Walker
in 1858 in what was then Walkerville, Ontario.
Both the
University of
Windsor
and St. Clair College
are significant local employers and have enjoyed
substantial growth and expansion in recent years.
The
recent addition of a full-program satellite medical school of the
University
of Western Ontario
which opened in 2008 at the University of
Windsor is further enhancing the region's economy and the
status of the university.
The city's diversifying economy is also represented by companies
involved in pharmaceuticals, insurance, internet and software.
Windsor is also home to the
Windsor
Salt Mine and the Great Lakes Regional office of the
International Joint
Commission.
Demographics
Visible Minority Population as of the
2006 Census.
In 2006,
the population of Windsor was 216,473 and that of the Windsor
metropolitan area (consisting of Windsor, Tecumseh, Amherstburg, LaSalle and Lakeshore) was 323,342. This represents a growth of
3.5% in the city population since 2001 and a growth of 5.0% in the
metropolitan area population since 2001.
Windsor attracts many immigrants from around the world. Over 20% of
the population is foreign-born; this is the fourth-highest
proportion for a Canadian city.
Visible
minorities make up 21.0% of the population, making it the most
diverse city in Ontario
outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
From the 2001 Canadian census, Windsor's population was 48.9% male
and 51.1% female. Children under five accounted for 6.3% of the
city population compared to 5.6% for Canada. Persons of retirement
age (65 years and over) accounted for 14.1% of the population in
Windsor compared to 13.0% for Canada. The median age in Windsor is
36.0 years compared to 37.6 years for Canada.
Government
Windsor City Hall.
Windsor's history as an industrial centre has given the
New Democrats (a party partially
founded, governed and supported by
labour
unions), a dedicated voting base. During federal and provincial
elections, Windsorites have maintained its local representation in
the respective legislatures. The
Liberal Party of Canada also has a
strong electoral history in the city. Canada's 21st
Prime Minister Paul Martin was born in Windsor. His father
Paul Martin , a federal
cabinet minister in several
portfolios through the Liberal governments of the 1940s, 1950s and
1960s, was first elected to the House of Commons from a Windsor
riding in the 1930s. Martin (Sr.) practiced law in the city and the
federal building on Ouellette Avenue is named after him.
Eugene Whelan was a Liberal cabinet minister
and one-time Liberal party leadership candidate elected from Essex
County from the 1960s to the early 1980s, as well as
Mark MacGuigan of Windsor-Walkerville riding,
who also served as External Affairs, and later Justice minister in
the early 1980s. Herb Gray represented Windsor as an MP from 1962
through 2003, winning thirteen consecutive elections making him the
longest serving MP in Canadian history. A bust of
Herb Gray is located at the foot of Ouellette
Avenue near Dieppe Park in downtown Windsor.
Current representation
The current
mayor
of Windsor is
Eddie Francis, a
Lebanese-Canadian who was the
city's youngest mayor when he was first elected at age 29 in 2003.
Windsor is governed under the
Council-Manager form of
local government and includes the elected
City Council, mayor, and an
appointed Chief Administrative Officer. The city is divided into
five
ward, with two
councillors representing each ward. They are: Ward 1 (South
Windsor), 2 (West Windsor), 3 (Central Windsor), 4 (East Windsor),
and 5 (Far East Windsor). The mayor serves as the chief executive
officer of the city and functions as its ceremonial head.
Day-to-day operations of the government are carried out by the
Chief Administrative Officer.
At the
provincial and
federal levels, Windsor is divided into
two ridings:
Windsor West and
Windsor—Tecumseh. The city is
currently represented in the
Legislative Assembly of
Ontario by two
Liberal
MPPs:
Sandra Pupatello (Windsor West),
and
Dwight Duncan
(Windsor—Tecumseh).
Federally, Windsor West was a longtime Liberal stronghold under
Herb Gray, while
Windsor—Tecumseh has traditionally
been a Liberal-
NDP swing
riding. Both ridings are currently represented in the federal
Parliament by NDP
MPs:
Brian Masse (Windsor West) and
Joe Comartin (Windsor—Tecumseh).
Climate
- See also: Weather Records in Windsor,
Ontario.
Windsor is at the dividing line of a
humid continental climate and
humid subtropical climate
(
Koppen climate
classification Dfa /
Cfa) with four distinct
seasons. The mean annual temperature is 9.5°
C (49°F), amongst the warmest in Canada. Some
locations in British Columbia have a slightly higher mean annual
temperature due to milder winter conditions. The coldest month is
January and the warmest month is July. The coldest temperature ever
recorded in Windsor was and the warmest was .
Summers are hot, humid and the annual average rain is 94 cm
(37
inches). Windsor is not located in the lake
effect snowbelts and snow cover is intermittent throughout the
winter; nevertheless, there are typically several major snowfall
events each winter. Summers are warm and humid, and thunderstorms
are common. Windsor has the highest number of days per year with
lightning, haze, and daily maximum temperatures over of cities in
Canada. Precipitation is generally well-distributed throughout the
year.
Tornadoes
The strongest and deadliest tornado to touch down in Windsor was a
category
F4 in 1946.
Windsor was the only Canadian city to experience a tornado during
the
Super Outbreak of 1974, an F3
which killed nine people at the Windsor Curling Club. The city was
grazed in 1997 by the
Southeast Michigan Tornado
Outbreak with one tornado (an F1) forming east of the city.
Tornadoes
have been recorded crossing the Detroit
River (in 1946 and 1997), and waterspouts are regularly seen over Lake St.
Clair
and Lake
Erie
especially in autumn.
On April 25, 2009 an F0 tornado briefly touched down in the city's
east end causing minor damage to nearby buildings, most notably a
CUPE union
hall.
Air Pollution
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has denounced pollution
in Windsor: "A lot of the industries in Detroit, the air emissions
make their way to Windsor. Windsor has high cancer rates,
particularly thyroid cancer. Many other respiratory illnesses that
are associated with pollution are more prevalent here than
elsewhere in Canada as Windsor is downwind from several strong
polluters." This position is largely unsubstantiated. According to
data from Cancer Care Ontario, the government-funded agency that
provides cancer treatment, Windsor's overall cancer rates are
similar to the provincial rate, although there are variations
depending on the type of cancer.
The Weather Network has
designated Windsor as "the smog capital of Canada." and Windsor's
Citizens Environment
Alliance holds a yearly art event entitled Smogfest to raise
awareness of air quality issues.
A 2001 Article in the Environmental Health Prospectives journal
stated that the rates of mortality, morbidity as hospitalizations,
and congenital anomalies in the Windsor Area of Concern ranked
among the highest of the 17 Areas of Concern on the Canadian side
of the Great Lakes for selected end points that might be related to
pollution."
In the summer of 2003,
Transit
Windsor provided free transit on smog advisory days. The pilot
project was extremely successful and drew interest from across the
country and Europe. Ridership increased nearly 50% on those days.
In addition to local media coverage, stories on the project were
featured on The Weather Network, CBC NewsWorld, in newspapers and
on radio stations across the nation. Despite the success, the pilot
project was discontinued as the budget for the program was quickly
expended.
Cityscape
Windsor's Department of Parks and Recreation maintains of green
space, 180 parks, of trails, of sidewalk, 60 parking lots, vacant
lands, natural areas and forest cover within the city of Windsor.
The largest park is Mic Mac Park, which can accommodate many
different activities including baseball, soccer, biking, and
sledding. Windsor has numerous bike trails, the largest being the
Ganatchio Trail on the far east side of the city. In recent years,
city council has pushed for the addition of bicycle lanes on city
streets to provide links throughout the existing trail
network.
The
Windsor trail network is linked to the LaSalle Trail in the
west end, and will eventually be linked to the Chrysler Canada Greenway (part of
the Trans Canada Trail).
The current greenway is a 42 km former railway corridor that
has been converted into a multi-use recreational trail, underground
utility corridor and natural green space. The corridor begins south
of Oldcastle and continues south through McGregor, Harrow,
Kingsville, and Ruthven. The Greenway is a fine trail for hiking,
biking, running, birding, cross country skiing and in some areas,
horseback riding. It connects natural areas, rich agricultural
lands, historically and architecturally significant structures, and
award winning wineries.A separate 5 km landscaped traverses
the riverfront between downtown and the Ambassador Bridge. Part of
this trail winds through Odette Sculpture Park, displaying various
modern and post-modern
sculptures from
artists in
Essex County.
Families of elephants (see picture), penguins, horses, and many
other themed sculptures are found in the park.
Culture and tourism
Windsor
tourist attractions include Caesars Windsor, a lively downtown, Little Italy, the Art Gallery
of Windsor
, the Odette
Sculpture Park,and Ojibway Park
, . Windsor was a major entry point into
Canada for refugees from slavery via the
Underground Railroad and a major source
of liquor during American
Prohibition.
The Capital Theatre in downtown Windsor had been a venue for
feature films, plays and other attractions since 1929, until it
declared bankruptcy in 2007. As of 2009 the Capital Theatre was
open, showcasing various features.
Windsor's nickname is the "Rose City" or the "City of Roses" and
the city is noted for the several large parks and gardens found on
its waterfront. The Queen Elizabeth II Sunken Garden is located at
Jackson Park in the central part of the city. A World War II era
Avro Lancaster was displayed on a
stand in the middle of Jackson Park for over four decades but has
since been removed for restoration. This park is now home to a
mounted
Spitfire replica and a
Hurricane replica.
Of the parks lining Windsor's waterfront, the largest is the
5 km (three mile) stretch overlooking the Detroit skyline.
It
extends from the Ambassador Bridge
to the Hiram Walker
Distillery. The western portion of the park contains the
Odette Sculpture Park which
features over 30 large-scale contemporary sculptures for public
viewing, along with the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The
central portion contains Dieppe Gardens, Civic Terrace and Festival
Plaza, and the eastern portion is home to the
Bert Weeks Memorial Gardens. Further east along
the waterfront is
Coventry Gardens,
across from Detroit's
Belle Isle. The
focal point of this park is the
Charles
Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain which floats in the Detroit
River and has a coloured light display at night. The fountain is
the largest of its kind in North America and symbolizes the
peaceful relationship between Canada and the United States.
Art Gallery of Windsor overlooking
riverfront rock gardens
Each summer, Windsor co-hosts the two-week-long
Windsor-Detroit
International Freedom Festival, which culminates in a gigantic
fireworks display that celebrates
Canada
Day and US
Independence
Day. The fireworks display is among the world's largest and is
held on the final Wednesday in June over the Detroit River between
the two downtowns. Each year, the event attracts over a million
spectators to both sides of the riverfront.
Downtown Core
Windsor has often been the place where many metro Detroiters find
what is forbidden in the United States. With a minimum
legal drinking age of 21 in Michigan and
19 in Ontario, a number of 19 and 20-year-old Americans frequent
Windsor's bars.
The city also became a gaming attraction
with Caesars
Windsor's opening in
1994, five years before casinos opened in Detroit. In
addition, one can purchase
Cuban
cigars,
Cuban Rum, less-costly prescription
drugs,
Absinthe, certain imported foods,
and other items not available in the United States.
Media
Windsor Star offices on Ferry Street,
in downtown.
Windsor is considered part of the Detroit television and radio
market for purposes of territorial rights.
Due to this fact, and
its proximity to Toledo
and Cleveland
, radio and television broadcasters in Windsor are
accorded a special status by the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, exempting
them from many of the Canadian
content ("CanCon") requirements most broadcasters in Canada are
required to follow. The CanCon requirements are sometimes
blamed in part for the decline in popularity of Windsor radio
station
CKLW, a 50,000 watt
AM radio station that in the late 1960s (prior to
the advent of CanCon) had been the top-rated radio station not only
in Detroit and Windsor, but also in Toledo and Cleveland.
Windsor has also been exempt from
concentration of media
ownership rules.
Although Blackburn Radio has a rebroadcaster of its
Chatham
station in Windsor and is scheduled to launch a new
station in 2009, all of its current commercial media outlets are
owned by a single company, CTVglobemedia.
The city
is also home to one campus radio
station, CJAM-FM, situated on the University of
Windsor campus.[5972]
Education
Dillon Hall, University of
Windsor
Windsor
is home to the University of Windsor, which is Canada's southernmost university.
It is a research oriented, comprehensive university with a student
population of over 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate
students and over 1000 graduate students.
The university is
just east of the Ambassador Bridge, south of the Detroit River. Windsor is also home
to St. Clair
College with a student population of 6500 full-time
students. Its main campus is in Windsor, and it also has
campuses in Chatham and Wallaceburg. In 2007, St. Clair College
opened a satellite campus in downtown Windsor in the former Cleary
International Centre.
Windsor
is home to two International
Baccalaureate recognized schools: Assumption
College School
(a Catholic high school) and Académie Ste.
Cécile International School (a private school). Vincent Massey
Secondary School is renowned in Southern Ontario for its notable
accomplishments in mathematics,and computer science.
St. Clair College campus on Riverside
Drive.
Windsor youth attend schools in the
Greater Essex County
District School Board, the
Windsor-Essex
Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district
des écoles catholiques du Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de
district du Centre-Sud-Ouest. Independent faith-based schools
include Maranatha Christian Academy (JK-12), First Lutheran
Christian Academy (preschool-8), and Académie Ste. Cécile
International School (JK-12, including
International Baccalaureate),
and Windsor Adventist Elementary School. The non-denominational
Lakeview Montessori School is a private school as well.
The
Windsor
Public Library
offers education, entertainment and community
history materials, programs and services. The main branch
coordinates a
literacy program for adults
needing functional literacy upgrading.
The
Canada South Science
City serves the Elementary School Curriculum’s Science and
Technology component.
Infrastructure
Health systems
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital.
There are two hospitals in Windsor: Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital and
Windsor Regional Hospital.
Hôtel-Dieu Grace is the result of an amalgamation of Grace Hospital
and Hôtel-Dieu in 1994. The merger occurred due to the
Government of Ontario's province-wide
policy to consolidate resources into
Local Health Integrated
Networks, or LHINs, which aimed to eliminate duplicate services
and allocate resources more efficiently and regionally. This policy
resulted in the eventual closure of many community-based and
historically important hospitals across the province. Accordingly,
two of Windsor's independent hospitals - Metropolitan General
Hospital on Lens Ave and Windsor Western Hospital on Prince Road
were joined to form Windsor Regional Hospital. The original
hospital sites remain but are administratively centralized through
the new collective structure.
Windsor hospitals have formal and informal agreements with Detroit
area hospitals. For instance,
pediatric
neurosurgery is no longer performed in
Windsor;
The Windsor Star reported in July 2007 that
Hôtel-Dieu Grace has formally instituted an agreement with
Detroit's
Harper Hospital
to provide this specialty and surgery for the dozen patients
requiring care annually.
Leamington District Memorial Hospital in
Leamington, Ontario serves much
of Essex County and, along
with the Windsor institutions, share resources with the Chatham-Kent
Health Alliance.
The Essex County Medical Society lists family doctors accepting
patients. Many people who do not seek a family doctor use the
region's many walk-in clinics for regular medical conditions.
Transportation
- See also: Roads in
Windsor, Ontario, and Bike trails in
Windsor, Ontario.
New bus terminal opened in 2007.
Interior of bus terminal.
Windsor is the western terminus of both
Highway 401, Canada's busiest highway,
and
VIA Rail's
Quebec City-Windsor
Corridor.
The city is served by Windsor
Airport
with regular, scheduled commuter air service by Air
Canada Jazz and heavy general
aviation traffic. The Detroit
Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
is located approximately 40 km across the
border in Romulus,
Michigan
and is the airport of choice for many Windsor
residents as it has regular flights to a larger variety of
destinations than Windsor Airport. Windsor is also located
on the
St. Lawrence Seaway, and
is accessible to ocean-going vessels.
Local transportation is provided by
Transit Windsor, the city-owned
bus company, which shares its newly-constructed
$8-million downtown depot with
Greyhound
Lines. The new depot opened in 2007.
Windsor has a municipal highway, E.C. Row Expressway, running
east-west through the city. Consisting of of highway and nine
interchanges, the expressway is the fastest way for commuters to
travel across the city. E.C. Row Expressway is actually in the
Guinness Book of Records as the shortest freeway that took the
longest time to build as it took more than 15 years to complete.
The expressway stretches from Windsor's far west end at
Ojibway Parkway east to Banwell Road on the
city's border with Tecumseh.
The majority of development in Windsor stretches along the water
instead of in-land. Due to this, there is a lack of east-west
arteries compared to north-south arteries. Only
Riverside Drive,
Wyandotte Street,
Tecumseh Road and
the E.C. Row Expressway serve the almost from the west end of
Windsor eastward. All of these roads are burdened with east-west
commuter traffic from the development in the city's east end and
suburbs further east.
CN 5588 the
Spirit of Windsor
on display at the riverfront.
There are eight north-south roads interchanging with the
expressway:
Huron Church Road,
Dominion Boulevard, Dougall Avenue,
Howard Avenue,
Walker Road, Central Avenue, Jefferson
Boulevard, and Lauzon Parkway. Traffic backups on some of these
north-south roads at the E.C. Row Expressway are common, mainly at
Dominion, Dougall, Howard, and Walker as the land south of the
expressway and east of Walker is occupied by Windsor airport and
there is little development.
Windsor's many rail crossings intersect with these north-south
thoroughfares. In October 2008, the Province of Ontario completed a
grade separation at Walker Road and the CP Rail line. Another grade
separation is currently under construction at Howard Avenue and the
CP Rail line. In both cases, the road will travel under the rail
line and both will have below grade intersections with an east-west
street. These plans are both parts of the "Let's Get Windsor-Essex
Moving" project funded by the Province of Ontario to improve local
transportation infrastructure.
Windsor is connected to
Essex and
Leamington via
Highway 3, and is well connected to the
other municipalities and communities throughout Essex County via
the
county road network. Nearly
17,000 vehicles travel on Highway 3 in Essex County on a daily
basis. It is the main route to work for many residents of
Leamington, Kingsville and Essex.
Tunnel entrance on Goyeau St.
Windsor
is linked to the United States by the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
, a Canadian
Pacific Railway tunnel, and the Detroit-Windsor Truck
Ferry. The Ambassador Bridge is North America's #1
international border crossing in terms of goods volume: 27% of all
trade between Canada and the United States crosses at the
Ambassador Bridge.
Windsor has a
bike trail network
including the (
Riverfront Bike
Trail,
Ganatchio Bike
Trail, and
Little River
Extension). They have become a blend of parkland and
transportation, as people use the trails to commute to work or
across downtown on their bicycles.
The Port of Windsor is located on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence
Seaway System, on the Detroit River. The port is the third largest
Canadian Great Lakes port in terms of shipments.
Ambassador Bridge and potential third crossing
A major and controversial issue is the amount of traffic to and
from the Ambassador Bridge. The number of vehicles crossing the
bridge has doubled since 1990. However, the total volume of traffic
has been declining since the September 11, 2001
attacks.
Access to the Ambassador Bridge is via two municipal roads:
Huron Church Road and
Wyandotte Street. A large portion of the
traffic consists of tractor-trailers. There have been at times a
wall of trucks up to long on
Huron
Church Road. This road cuts through the west end of the city
and the trucks are the source of many complaints about noise,
pollution and pedestrian hazards.
In 2003, a single mother of three,
Jacqueline Bouchard, was struck and killed by a truck at the corner
of Huron Church and Girardot Avenue in front of Assumption
College Catholic High School, a tragedy argued to be due to a lack of practical
safety precautions.
Windsor City Council hired famous traffic consultant
Sam Schwartz to produce a proposal for a
solution to this traffic problem. City councillors overwhelmingly
endorsed the proposal and it was presented to the federal
government as a "Made in Windsor" solution. Not all of the
surrounding residents supported the plan. One problem with the plan
is that the proposed road would cut through protected green spaces
such as the Ojibway Prairie Reserve.
In 2005,
the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC - a joint
Canadian-American committee studying the options for expanding the
border crossing) announced that its preferred option was to
directly extend Highway 401 westward to
a new bridge or tunnel across the Detroit River and interchange
with Interstate 75 somewhere between
the existing Ambassador Bridge span and Wyandotte
. The exact route of this new highway
connection has not yet been determined.
On
February 8, 2008, the Ontario Ministry of
Transportation announced it was beginning to buy properties
along the Huron Church/Highway 3 corridor for the future extension
of Highway 401, now called the Windsor-Essex Parkway. In May
2008, a list of practical alternatives was released by DRIC. The
preferred alternative was a below-grade road with surface service
roads. A series of short tunnels or land bridges plus berms and
walls were incorporated to mitigate noise and environmental
impacts. The City of Windsor released its own alternative called
Greenlink that consists of much longer tunnels and more surface
green space, which the city believes is a better alternative in
terms of mitigating environmental impacts on the surrounding area.
On November 12, 2008, the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA)
report was released and City Council is currently considering its
options.
Sister cities
Windsor's Riverfront walk is lined
with sculptures, such as this one, named "Anne", the Lady
Dipper.
Windsor has several
sister cities in
the world - dates are in parentheses:
- Changchun
, China
(1992)
- Coventry
, U.K.
(1963)
- Fujisawa,
Japan
(1987)
- Granby, Quebec
, Canada
(1956)
- Gunsan
, South Korea
(2005)
- Lublin
, Poland
(2000)
- Mannheim
, Germany
(1980)
- Las Vueltas
, El
Salvador
(1987)
- Ohrid
, Macedonia
- Saint-Étienne
, France
(1963)
- Saltillo
, Mexico
- Udine
, Italy
(1975)
Windsor
also has a very close relationship with fellow Motor City
:
Sports teams
's sports fans tend to support the
major professional sports
league teams in either
Detroit
or
Toronto
, but the city itself is home to the following
youth, minor league, post-secondary and professional teams. Many
Windsor sports teams at the amateur level are sponsored by the
AKO Fraternity.
In addition to these teams, Windsor has been lobbying for a
Canadian Football League
franchise.
This franchise (if awarded) would play its
regular-season home games in Windsor and possibly their playoff
games in Pontiac
, a suburb of Detroit. Former CFL commissioner
Tom Wright met with Windsor
mayor Eddie Francis about
possible expansion to Windsor prior to
Super Bowl XL (in which Windsor played a major
role although the game itself was held in Detroit). Shortly
thereafter, local media criticized this as an unrealistic pipe
dream.
Former teams
Famous people
See also
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