Howard Avenue Then, Then and Now…

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• I hate parking lots in the front. They should have moved to building closer and put the parking in the rear.

• Yup! There's no better way to create a wasteland than put all that paved space at the road like that! Everyone understands that you "put your best face forward", and by throwing the acres of asphalt out front like that, what is this saying about this business? When did we officially accept such contempt for our public spaces?

• On Lakeshore Dr in Mississauga, they did move the buildings close to the street. The only problem is the entrances off of the sidewalk is fake and you still have to go around and park in the lot BEHIND the building to enter. Why not two entrances with a till at either end? Most stores have two cashiers anyway.

• I remember that building very well. I believe that was Toledo Scale?

  The Essex Terminal Railway used to have a branch line "The Factory Branch") that ran along Hanna St. and served a lot of industries in that area (Champion Spark Plug, Kelsey-Hayes, etc). There is actually one spot where the track is still in place. (although overgrown). This branch was torn up in the early 90s, but is still shown on many maps.

  Anyway, I don't think that Shoppers Home Healthcare is a "new" business for the area, I believe it used to be located on Parent, but they moved to the Howard location when the old factory was razed.

• It kills me how people complain and moan about an old building being torn down that they probably have never even stepped foot in or barely realized it was there in the first place. We need to change and evolve our city, not bog ourselves down with the anchors of the past. Sure lets keep all these old buildings no one uses, what will that get us? We'll end up exactly like Detroit, thousands of abandoned buildings delapedated and dcaying all over the city attractiing rats and vagrents and being nothing more then a drug den or a fire hazzard. So how many more years should we let grace hospital just sit there rotting eh? Knock it down. Sure if a building is historical and has a PURPOSE, and isn't preventing ddvelopmental improvement, i'm all for it. I hate that big box debacle out on Walker as much as anyone here....its nothing but a gian clusterf**k. Some of those store should have been built in the downtown area to re-vitalize it, jsut like the arena should have.

  My point is, instead of compliang about it here on a little know (But very outstanding) blog... some of the people here should step up, work with the city to find a purpose for these buildings or buy and develop them yourselves. You want to save an old building with a neighbourhood grocery store, open one yourself, but i think you'll find the same results the previous owner did....you won't survive...why? Changing local ecconomics. Odds are the neighbourhood has decayed or your overhead will be too high. What was once a vibrent neighbourhood full of hardworking families has turened into a crime infested sesspool full of junkies, crack-whores and wellfare deadbeats. In fact, Windsor is fastly becomming the Wefare capital of Canada. Now how do you deveolp in a case like that?

  Let's loose the self-rightous attitude some of us have in this city and open up our eyes to reality. This city is dying...All their doing is properly disposing of the bodies.

• Not You> Extremely successful cities reuse old buildings. Jane Jacobs wrote that new ideas need old buildings. No new ideas will come out of a structure like the one built. That needs incentive and leadership -- that's why it happened in Toronto. The Detroit comparison, the "drug den" comment, are ridiculous.

• Toronto isn't a one trick pony relying on a dying industry inhabited by a bunch of whiney over-stuffed union workers...that's why they can make it work there.

• ^yeah, that's what it says on the Welcome to Toronto sign.

• "This city is dying"

  oh great....the mayor's catchphrase is catching on.

• Not you, so should we allow what is happening with the hollowing out of our core for sprawl and suburbs (that don't pay taxes to Windsor)? Since the mantra you stated does just exactly that! Don't believe me I will use your example: DETROIT.

  We aren't bemaoning the fact that the building had to go. We are bemoaning the fact that the building could have been better situated on the property.

  As for not doing anything. A lot of us here have and do a lot of things to try and keep Windsor looking good with GOOD redevelopment proposals and diversifying our economy. But there are only so many of us but a hole hell of a lot of you. That, is the issue...poor mentality and not seeing the whole picture. Just now, now, now is what people like yourself want. We want and DEMAND better. Don't you?