Gateway To Canada

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• We never did get a full fledged pedestrian mall. The merchants (Yeah! There were merchants.) wisely protested, afraid that people would go to the real malls where there was already parking. They did anyway but - right up until the late '90's when I had a store downtown on Ouellette myself - the myth persisted that there was nowhere to park downtown. The flagpoles and such that remain are all that really happened except for the part where they've torn up Ouellette Avenue three times now in recent (to me) years to put in brickwork at the intersections, take out the brickwork when women caught their heels in the cracks and replace it with fake brick, and most recently tear up the roadbed completely for months, tolling the death knell for anything that was actually still doing business. planning has never been the city's strong suit.

• That card reminds me of how my grade 7 teacher tried to portray the city to us in Social Studies class. Notice those God-aweful brick flower boxes are missing in the drawing. Is the option of getting rid of those things that unobtainable and too far-reaching utopian?

• I'm glad they never did that either. But the funny thing is in typical Widnsor fashion we never really do any concept or any consultant ideas (though we pay through the nose for them repeatedly)we just do what WE think is best and half-ass it! Windsor moving forward only half the time!

  Clare I agree that planning has never been our strong suit. Especially when we didn't have a supervisor for a long period. Which begs the question. Do we still have planners from those days and if so why are they still employed?

  Don't forget that we only put in those coloured stamped cement crosswalks in 1999 (which I thought looked good) only to tear them up this past 1.5 years and put in lovely plain concrete and black top asphalt. Reach for the brass ring in Windsor? Why no one cares?

  Ken, they still have the brick flower boxes in the old casino area. Though they are now falling apart and the bricks are kicked all over the place. But who needs investments in neighbourhoods right?

• Am I dreaming or were there small road signs at one time touting "Ouellette Mall"? I think they were white with a brown tree.

• I don't think you were dreaming, Jamie. That rings a bell with me too.

• I'd put this circa 1982 or 83. That's about when Ouellette was changed from 4 lanes to 2, with wider sidewalks?

• I'd have to agree early 80s as the Bank Of Commerce building is depicted as built, and I believe that building was built in the late 70s? Looking across the river, there are a couple buildings missing such as One Detroit Centre (completed in the early 90s) as well as 150 West Jefferson (completed in the mid 80s) which would both be visible in that shot. My guess is early 80s as Shawn said.

• The only way that would work is if they started handing out casino licenses across the Ouellette strip like Vegas; otherwise, during the day all the tourists go to Caesar's and then go home. Even all the Bingo Halls in downtown are gone because they all went to Caesar's. There are no real attractions in downtown anymore unless you're into pottery and doilies at Shanfields. Nothing to do there, especially in the Winter months like January.

  But, if you're into drinking your life away, then you've got that watering hole mall Saturday nights where the police close off the Ouellette strip for all the drunken American tourists...

  The reality is that downtown is failing because of the Mayor. What has he done to market it to the world as a tourist area? All he's doing is wasting taxpayer time and money on stupid bridge and tunnel litigation. How many millions of taxpayer dollars was wasted on that already? That money could have been better spent marketing downtown and bringing some real attractions down here like other popular cities. Mayor Francis for improving downtown = FAIL! I don't understand why people keep voting for that guy?

• David, not to worry! The mayor is working on building a new downtown ditch for marina and luxury condos. :)

• Well this was probably planned at the same time Walker Road between Division and Talbot Road was. Let's make the roads 1/2 the size they should be for traffic to flow properly. Also let's have big box retailers move from downtown to the Walker Road area because it is soooooooooo much more easily accessible!! (SARCASM!). This city is a joke for planning, during the December Christmas Rush, I happened to be on Walker Road heading south of EC Row and I was stuck in traffic...not for 10, 15 or 20 minutes...but for 45 minutes from EC Row to Division Road!!! If Downtown had more shopping to cover my Christmas needs, I'd be there in a second!