  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4582 Registered: 10-2003 |
Such was splashed across the Detroit News headlines a few days ago with the subtitle, "Border crossing hassles, factory job losses and weak dollar batter economy". Windsor is the biggest 'suburb' of our international metropolis. We breathe the same air, drink the same water, and we suffer and enjoy the same fate. While the rest of the country is on a roll, Windsor languishes just our American communities did and do while the rest of the country rolled. One thing the article does not touch on is the large number of Windsorites who work on the American side and have had a de facto cut in their wages which, in turn, adds to Windsor's woes. At the core is a restrictive and increasingly tightening border. It is damaging our entire metropolis to the tune countless millions. Our way out is to come together and tear down that border. Two dead ends equal two dead ends. | ||
Detroitbill Member Username: Detroitbill Post Number: 495 Registered: 09-2006 |
The Situation if bad on both sides, One huge plus for Detroit and a big negative for Windsor is the amount of Canadians coming over here for shopping due to the dollar . I work over there,, the amount of people in my office buying US dollars and buying over here , especially on weekends, is enormous.. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2814 Registered: 04-2006 |
I was thinking that what could help both Windsor and Detroit immensely is a non-vehicular crossing between downtown Windsor and downtown Detroit. I know this isn't a new idea... I envision it to be similar in a sense to the [legal] pedestrian border crossings along the Mexican border, such as in San Diego. There are thousands of tourists per day who walk between Tijuana and San Diego. If all of those people were forced to make the trip by car or bus it would be a traffic nightmare (even more than it currently is), and plain inconvenient. On a similar vein, it's inconvenient for someone staying at the Marriott downtown to need to rent a car, drive across the border and find a parking space in order to make a 1.5 mile trip. I know that there is a bus available, but buses are still subject to border delays, lower capacity, and require more operators to move comparable amounts of people as would a train. So the idea is that the crossing would be in form of a monorail similar to the Northwest Airlines tram at Metro. Or it could be a subway train using one of the existing train tunnels that goes under the river. It would only have two stops; one on the Detroit side and one on the Windsor side. There would be a pedestrian customs check on each side like they currently have in San Diego. In the same manner as the rumored light rail line on Woodward, it could be funded privately. I was thinking that a non-profit entity could be set up and funded through a Detroit/Windsor business consortium. Possible interested businesses: The four casinos, the other Detroit and Windsor hotels, GM, Chrysler Canada... to a lesser extent, the nightclubs... | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1493 Registered: 12-2005 |
quote: Tear down the border and we are no longer an international metropolis! Seriously though, the restrictive border regulations have nothing to do with the USD/CAD exchange rate, which is what really affects the cross-border job commuter's take-home pay as well as the amount of cross-border shopping traffic. Keep in mind that the USD/CAD exchange rate pendulum has swung back and forth with a period that is measured in decades and which is the result of our two nation's budgetary, fiscal and trade policies, not border regulations. The last time we saw these kinds of exchange rates, it was June of 1976 and we were getting ready to celebrate the US Bicentennial. quote: This is because we have done away with many of the trade barriers between our two countries, beginning with the Canada-US Auto Pact of 1965 and extended with the NAFTA (which finally became fully implemented this past Jan. 1st). As a result, our two local economies have become even more inextricably entwined, particularly around auto manufacturing. I think it is kind of illogical for you to argue for dropping all US-Canada barriers while at the same time bemoaning the very consequences that such actions can cause. While I share your concern about the continuing implementation of US-Canada border regulations that unnecessarily hinder the movement of citizens back and forth, your post is nothing more than a bunch of feel-good platitudes riddled with fuzzy thinking. | ||
Pete Member Username: Pete Post Number: 108 Registered: 10-2003 |
Iheartthed, Bring back the gondola! | ||
401don Member Username: 401don Post Number: 307 Registered: 11-2007 |
From the tourist standpoint, I think a lot of what has hurt downtown Windsor has just been the changing times. Suburban Detroiters have more options for entertainment, and no longer fear, the trip to downtown Detroit. The evening out no longer consists of formal dining in places such as the "Top Hat" and "Ye Olde Steak House". Families are not jumping in the station wagon which used to land them overnight in Windsor. Windsor's downtown shopping hung on an extra ten years or so before succumbing to Devonshire Mall. Windsor therefore will need more downtown Condo residents to thrive. Granted the border is a hassle, but I believe it only magnified a long-term downhill trend for Windsor. I've been coming to the area for ballgames for 35 yrs. I stopped staying in Windsor a few yrs ago because of overpriced subpar lodging along with some of the previous reasons. The higher exchange rate is just the icing on the cake. | ||
Newport1128 Member Username: Newport1128 Post Number: 177 Registered: 05-2007 |
Here's one idea that would make people more eager to cross the border, and it would cost nothing: friendliness. Have the border guards on both sides of the river smile, say hello, actually act friendly and welcoming for a change. Acting intimidating and rude only turns people away. I'm not saying they have to be less "professional" or relax their security measures. I used to visit Windsor about once a month in the pre-9/11 days, but have been back only twice in six years, mainly because of the rudeness and intimidating demeanor of the U.S. and Canadian border patrols. (Message edited by Newport1128 on March 08, 2008) | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2008 |
I second Newport1128, I used to go to Windsor quite often but now forget it, every time having to spend 45 minutes in customs and the rude rude customs officers, Windsor is not getting my dollar. I'll spend my money in the D thank you. add up how many other people like me not going to windsor because of this and add up windsor's loss. | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 1899 Registered: 07-2004 |
I miss the Chinese restaurants in Windsor; I havent been over there since 911, I am ashamed to say. The hassle with the border guards is a big big reason. Maybe when the new passport cards are available I will go over again. | ||
Downriviera Member Username: Downriviera Post Number: 79 Registered: 02-2008 |
What ever happened to the proposed cable car/gondola across the river? | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 56 Registered: 02-2008 |
Windsor's downtown definitely has a lot more things to do, places to go, to eat and open late. and the whole area is clean. Not knocking Detroit, just wish Detroit would become like Windsor. I've always said why can't Woodward be like Windsor's Oulette. In Detroit, all the smaller businesses close early like starbuck's, jimmyjohn's etc. The only places that stay open late are bars, clubs and high dollar restaurants and i'm not going to plaka cafe. Thats another thread. | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 180 Registered: 12-2006 |
I wrote a letter to the Free Press in support of the cable car, in response to an article discussing the second-bridge issue, pointing out that it would be cheap (compared to a bridge), environmentally friendly, and effective in taking day-trippers and some commuters out of the traffic stream. They printed it. | ||
Ray Member Username: Ray Post Number: 1090 Registered: 06-2004 |
Windsor is a wonderful experiment to test some of the theories about the decline of Detroit. Most white people over 40 blame Detroit's downfall on the Blacks, who "took over the city" and "ran it into the ground" (in the white people's minds). My take is that the white's themselves are wholly to blame for abandoning the city in the face of racial interaction and conflict. What is really interesting to me is to ask the question, why was Detroit's white population so prone to abandon the city and so incapable of contending with racial diversity. As compared to, for example Chicago. I think what's fascinating is to study Windsor, which in comparison to Detroit over the past 80 years is lily white and baby crib safe. Yet, the popluation of Windsor has somehow abandoned its city for the malls and the outskirts. I find this stunning and thing (or speculate) that a parallel can be drawn between the culture of white Detroiters and white Windsorites in which both groups have an apathy if not an antipathy for urban lifestyles. If this is true, I wonder if the root cause has to do with migration patterns in the first half of the twentieth century and also with the timing and pace in which these cities developed (both driven by the auto industry). I guess to speculate further, I am envisioning a bunch of people living in rurual Poland and the Southern USA flooding into Detroit within a generation and then the very next generation rushing out to the suburbs. There was no time to develop over multiple generations a true "city culture" like you find in NY and Chicago. I realize this is supposition heaped upon speculation but I welcome comments. |
