A resilient city shows it’s ready for change
History will show Windsor’s 125th year as a city was a good one.
The Star has been along for the whole ride, covering the news and documenting the city’s evolution through 125 years of highs and lows. Our records show Windsor is resilient, resourceful and ready to respond when opportunity comes knocking.
At the close of 2017, we still have a clear memory of the most recent low: the financial crisis and recession that nearly collapsed the North American auto industry nine years ago.
Thousands in Windsor and Essex County lost their jobs. Many lost their homes. All levels of government poured money into infrastructure projects to soften the blow. Generous and community-minded residents stepped up to help those who were struggling.
The city has clawed its way back since, helped by a global economic rebound, reasonable real estate prices and a can-do attitude. Former residents are returning and newcomers smelling opportunity are moving to the area.
New businesses are filling vacant commercial properties and making neighbourhoods like Walkerville trendy. Wineries with stores, tasting bars, restaurants and event halls are turning Essex County Road 50 into a destination.
The automotive sector has roared back and agribusiness remains strong.
The region is looking healthier and greener thanks in big part to Windsor’s evolving riverfront parks, walking and cycling trails built along the Herb Gray Parkway, and the expansion of the Chrysler Canada Greenway.
Construction of a new publicly owned bridge crossing between Windsor and Detroit is supposed to start by the end of 2018. Meanwhile, the Ambassador Bridge has received approval to build a span to replace its aging and iconic one.
The ties that bind Windsor to Detroit and the larger U.S. economy are as essential to our pocketbooks and psyche as ever.
Detroit, which went through the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013, finally seems to be turning the page on decades of decline. Its once decimated, foreboding city centre is returning to life and attracting investment.
A joint bid by Detroit and Windsor to woo online retailing giant Amazon to locate its second headquarters in the region is drawing attention. While the bid is being cast as a long shot, it is significant that the two motor cities see themselves as contenders for a growing number of jobs tied to the online economy.
It was hard to imagine a few decades ago how the internet and automation would change our day-to-day lives — including the way we work, what we build, and how we communicate and get our news.
As Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor Assembly Plant enters its 35th year of making minivans — a segment it invented — the world is preparing for autonomous vehicles. What will be Windsor’s role in the auto industry of the future? We are starting to write that chapter, but the ending is still unknown.
There are a few dark clouds on the horizon. Windsor will be sideswiped if the U.S. takes more protectionist trade measures. The city still has many vacant properties in older core neighbourhoods. And forecasters say we can expect more weather calamities, like flooding and tornadoes.
We can’t predict all the challenges and opportunities to come.
What we do know is that entering 2018, we are hopeful and — as always — ready for change.