Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2007 » Windsor No. 1 - "Great Pormise right across the river" « Previous Next »
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 3828
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 3:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No. 1?

In Cuban cigar stores? Nope.
In kiddie bars? Nope.
In nudie bars? Nope.

quote:

A publication called fDi (shorthand for “foreign direct investment”), produced bimonthly by the Financial Times of London, recently released its biannual “Cities of the Future: North America” report.

The publication invites cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to compete. Each is judged on economic potential, cost-effectiveness, human resources, quality of life, infrastructure, business-friendliness, and foreign investment promotion.

Guess who won?

No, it wasn’t Detroit. Would you believe that Windsor/Essex County, our neighbor across the river, came in No. 1 in the small-cities category? Among cities with populations between 100,000 and 500,000, Windsor was ranked tops in North America for foreign investment.

The publication designed the competition “to reflect the short-list screening process by which cities compete to win capital investment projects by companies....

Next month, some of you will be heading to Mackinac Island for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference. Each year, the most entertaining of the conference sessions involves the “Big Four,” a discussion with the elected leaders of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and Detroit. Last year, Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis was added, making it the “Big Five.”

Francis hardly got a word in, though, in part because of the banter between Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and time devoted to recognizing the retirement from elected office of Nancy White, chairwoman of the Macomb County Board of Commissioners.

This year, I hope Francis is given the opportunity to explain how Windsor has developed its enviable position as a hotbed for foreign investment. Is it all about promotion? Are trade missions, which seem so popular with our regional leadership, the best use of our resources? Which environmental business factor is most important: less punitive taxes, less red tape, better infrastructure, more college graduates?”
source

Yay Windsor!

This from an editorial Christopher Crain, who seems to be carrying on the balanced tone set by his father. [Republicans your red uncle could like.]

I agree totally. Let's make our metropolis international at every turn. Our border costs us dearly due to border guards, duties et. al. for which we all pay.
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Fury13
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Username: Fury13

Post Number: 1577
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 3:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I love Windsor. The quality of life seems to get better all the time over there.

Good for our neighbors across the river.
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 668
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 3:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm very interested in what type of institutions would they market Windsor to (hopefully not automative related).
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Mackinaw
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Username: Mackinaw

Post Number: 2733
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 3:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Windsor was ranked tops in North America for foreign investment."


Ummmm, do you know why? Because of Detroit and the SE Michigan population center. Of course there is tons of foreign money spent there. What other small city could take the crown...there are very few other small cities near the border near a large American city.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but let me say something I believe, which may only be partially true, and which I'm sure many fellow Detroiters believe. Windsor means nothing to me, and I don't think it should mean much in assessing Detroit's future. However, as the foreign investment numbers show, Detroit is important to Windsor. Windsor has a lot more to gain because of the presence of Detroit. Take away Detroit, or cut its size in half, and Windsor would be totally insignificant, and surely would not win this award for having potential.

When I think about the redevelopment of Detroit, I don't ever think about Windsor. Am I in error for having such a tendency?
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Citylover
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Username: Citylover

Post Number: 2274
Registered: 07-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 3:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not at all Mackinaw; Windsor is essentially a suburb of Detroit. It really was not until the last 15- 20 yrs or so that Canada got on it's patriotic bandwagon and tried to claim an identity. Canada derive almost everything from the U.S.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 4203
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

OK Lowell, Windsor won the Small Cities category (which Detroit didn't qualify for)... now who won the large cities category?? (over 500,000) Crain's didn't even mention that. So unless there is that competition (or study)... there's no point in comparing Windsor to Detroit, since Detroit wasn't even in the running...
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Upinottawa
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Username: Upinottawa

Post Number: 822
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 4:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Chicago was number 1 in the large city category. Toronto was number 2.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 3831
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 5:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

LOL @ Citylover, the suburbanite from Ann Arbor!

Pot meet kettle.
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Miketoronto
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Username: Miketoronto

Post Number: 535
Registered: 07-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 6:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That is interesting. Its funny how in Detroit, Windsor is seen as some great place that is more well run.

Talk to people in other parts of Ontario and they don't like Windsor much. Its kinda known for having a decayed downtown and being boring :-)
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Fastcarsfreedom
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Username: Fastcarsfreedom

Post Number: 177
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 7:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm so sick of every one of these threads turning into a cross-river pissing match. Detroit's great, Windsor's great--leave it at that. Our economies--and I mean, Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois--are interdependent--hear of NAFTA? We function as a single unit--not two--we are dependent on each other. Open your eyes, shut your mouths and drop all this stupid "we're better" business--we're blessed to live here and share the best of each other's cities.
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Llyn
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Username: Llyn

Post Number: 1814
Registered: 06-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 7:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

every one of these threads



Did I miss some of the excitement???
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Goat
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Username: Goat

Post Number: 9370
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Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 7:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Miketoronto, that is just the typical T.O. arrogance...go figure. Who is paying for your new 1 mile subway to a university? You guessed right, we are! So go panhandle elsewhere.

As for Eddie Francis the mayor...he can go fuck himself too! Nothing but a self serving asshole who, just like the former mayor, is running this city into the ground. Nice foresight this douche of a mayor has for the city.
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 4274
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Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 7:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I love Windsor but I don't like waiting in line for an hour and having to deal with asshole border patrol guys on our side.
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Fury13
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Username: Fury13

Post Number: 1584
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 7:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"...that is just the typical T.O. arrogance.."

Yeah, I've always heard that other Canadians like to look down their noses at Windsor... but I think it's a great little city.

Hey, doesn't Montreal and the rest of Quebec look down its collective nose at Toronto? :-)
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 853
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 8:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Charlotte, NC was #3 in the mid-size cities...
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Miketoronto
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Username: Miketoronto

Post Number: 536
Registered: 07-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 8:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I did not say I don't like Windsor. I am just saying what I observe from other people when you mention Windsor outside of the Windsor area :-)
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 670
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 10:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Toronto sounds like New York...
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Fastcarsfreedom
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Username: Fastcarsfreedom

Post Number: 178
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 11:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I grew up about 50 miles from T.O.--it's a great city with a massive case of egocentrism. Everything there is "world-class", whatever that means, and it sometimes seems no one realizes there is life beyond Dixie Road.
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Fastcarsfreedom
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Username: Fastcarsfreedom

Post Number: 179
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 11:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

One other point to add--although I anger easily at people elsewhere in Ontario that look down their noses at Windsor--I will say, people IN Windsor are just as bad or worse--the level of negativity here among people in regard to their own city is a big source of frustration for me.
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 671
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 7:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Windsor sounds like Detroit...
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 3835
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 11:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have heard the snubbing of Windsor by other Canadians, particularly Torontonians, and never 'got it'.

For starters, Windsor is part of a larger metropolitan area than Toronto with a longer, deeper history, culture, superior art collections, better sports teams and more.

This is not meant as a put down of Toronto, a great and fun city, just the unreasonable attitudes of a few.

By itself Windsor has many attractive assets, a great riverfront walkway with sculpture parks, the best skyline view in the metro, a downtown with interesting shops and restaurants, Walkerville, Sandwich, the Italian district, the university district and even the rough and tumble Ford City area are fascinating with a lot of character.

Best of all it is next to and a part of the Detroit metropolitan family of communities. Sorry Toronto. :-)
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Wfw
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Username: Wfw

Post Number: 220
Registered: 03-2004
Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 8:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Interesting...I'm not sure how Windsor claimed the number one spot. Frankly, I find it baffling.

In any event, I'm sick of Windsor bashing by other Ontarians. I spent the first 27 years of my life in Windsor and have been living in Toronto for the past 3. Comparing the two cities is like comparing apples and oranges, but I must say that Windsor's bad rap is largely undeserved. Admittedly, it can be a pretty boring place if you're under 19, since most of the city's attractions (gambling, bars, strippers) don't cater to kids or teenagers. But having said that, it was also a reasonably safe place to grow up, and still retains a small-town feel for a city its size. It can't compare to Toronto in terms of activities, excitement or ambiance, but it has a gritty charm that outsiders just don't seem to understand. It's the kind of place where you have to make your own fun, but if you're good at doing that you can have a great time. I was, and did.
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 5080
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2007 - 1:01 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I love Windsor! I'm really surprised at times that Detroit tourism doesn't work harder with them to promote this area. All of the out of town guests that I know love the fact that "it's just over there".

It's almost a suburb of Detroit and yet it's not like Royal Oak, Livonia, Pontiac or any of the American suburbs. Personally I dig the fact that Windsor has its own unique vibe and we're so close to it. Besides it has some of the best Chinese & Italian food around.
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Realitycheck
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Username: Realitycheck

Post Number: 420
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2007 - 9:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fury13 says:
quote:

Good for our neighbors across the river.

. . . or neighbours, as they say.
x
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Goat
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Username: Goat

Post Number: 9372
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2007 - 9:32 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fury13, Quebecers look down their nose at everyone.

Wfw, wonderful post and spot on! The one big issue I have is that there is very little to do here that is family or youth oriented (we can thank the mayor and his stupidity for that. When is he going to address the quality of life issues for the residents? Instead he slashed the parks budget from $10 M - $2 M!). Finding Windsor to be #1, I believe somebody was payed to write that.
However, Windsor for all it's warts is still my city and I will always defend it.
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Upinottawa
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Username: Upinottawa

Post Number: 826
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2007 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Exactly, Goat. And that is why those of us from the Canadian side understand why Detroiters feel so strongly towards their city!

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