Rare Opportunity

In today's Windsor Star Windsor found itself in the company of some of greatest cities in the world. According to John Russell Morris, Windsor Symphony Orchestra conductor, the Windsor Armouries has the potential to be transformed into one of the greatest concert halls in the world. For most Windsorites, that might be a hard position to take. Sure, we want to think of ourselves as world-class, but to actually think that we could be world class, that is a little daunting, even for the most optimistic among us.

While I don't subscribe to some of hype in the article (remember, no single development will fix downtown Windsor), I do believe that an investment in a heritage property, in addition to an upscale arts establishment, will return dividends for decades to come. Alas, though the thought of a downtown symphonic forum is tainted by two stumbling blocks.

First, according to the DWBIA plans to reinvigorate the downtown with the Downtown Mosaic, and the proposed changes by the WSO, are we missing the opportunity for some symbiotic relationships? Alas, it is far more than a missed opportunity, but a necessity to accomplish the grandiose goals that we envision for our collective future. In order for Windsor to get past itself, we need to build unity into the process, all pushing for a common future, each within our own realm. I hope that the WSO and DWBIA are working in concert (no pun intended!) for the success of our urban core.

Second, and this seems to be a recurring theme, we have city council, certainly not all of them, but consistently the same councillors, who cannot seem to see beyond the confines of our small-town origins. This time around it is Percy Hatfield, who thinks this idea would be great, but not if Windsor taxpayers are going to foot the bill. Hatfield didn't have a problem voting to drop $65 million on an arena that will have questionable ancilliary benefits for Windsor. That is not to say that I favour tax dollars going to support every whim of development that appears to be left leaning, but a favourable allocation of resources that feeds the needs of all citizens. Hell, I'd settle for a comprehensive plan that Windsor actually put some real time, effort and resources behind. Windsor already has reams and reams of plans that could have, would have, transformed our cityscape. Instead we have been frozen by indecision, compelled to act only out of spite, hoping that one more study is going to provide the silver bullet.

It is time to live up to the namesake of SDW and scale down, focus on building the infrastructure to support a community and, with it, a sustainable economy. We must scale our community to prepare ourselves for the future. Just like Mayor Francis and his pay-as-you-go economic philosophy, we need to trim back the wide-ranging expansion plans, the insatiable need to consume, and focus on creating a quality life experience for all citizens.

It's going to be one heck of a journey...

AM800's Jason Moore "Hearts" bloggers

Do you think AM 800's Jason Moore was talking about us? Nah, couldn't be. Who do you think he was talking about when his on-air commentary today derided certain "bloggers" as being too negative?

I'll let you listen and make up your own mind.

In the meantime, let's get back to work, shall we? There's so few people in this city willing to speak up and put their necks on the line, we don't have time to just lay around complaining about everything.

What was Dennis DesRosiers saying when he accused the local media of keeping their heads in the sand? For some reason, I can't remember. Maybe it was the lack of news coverage.

Clipping the Snowbird's Wings

In the coming month, we Canucks observe an annual ritual that will put many millions of dollars into the hands of our neighbours to the south. Thousands observe this tradition, packing up their SUV’s and their passports, kissing their grandchildren goodbye and head for the border.

Montreal Gazette columnist Andy Nulman captured, tongue-in-cheek, the downside of the snowbird migrations: "It's mid-November. Listen closely. It's starting once again. That distinct sucking sound you hear is the whoosh of hundreds of thousands of Canadians--"snowbirds" they're called - making their annual southward migration for the winter... While we're stuck here pulling on woolies and putting on snow tires to navigate sand-strewn sidewalks and salted roads, snowbirds are squeezing spare tires into Speedos to navigate sandy beaches and saltwater waves down south. More than mere objects of ridicule, they've become extreme Enemies of the State."

While I don’t particularly believe snowbirds are “Enemies of the State”, (seeing how my parents are one of them, that may be incredibly unwise on my part) I do believe that Windsor is missing out on a big opportunity.

The Canadian Snowbird Association, a lobby group established to represent migrants' interests to provincial and federal governments, claims that some 800,000 Canadians spend at least one month a year in the South. That’s a lot of people and their quid leaving us to fight the cold weather on their behalf. I don’t begrudge these folks for seeking something they’re missing in their golden years. Most of these people led hard working lives and really deserve to enjoy their golden years how they want to. I just want to find out what Windsor could do to keep some of these folks at home in their community.

I know what you’re saying – it’s the weather, stupid! Granted, if Florida (or Texas, Mexico, etc.) didn’t have that hot, sunny weather they wouldn’t be getting the retirees flocking to their doorsteps every year. I agree with you. Yet, there’s a part of me that believes that there’s another reason. A reason that if absent from the equation would make their annual pilgrimage a lot less desirable.

Like I mentioned, my parents are part of the “Snowbird” phenomenon, so I have access to first-hand accounts of what goes on during the winter months at these retirement Shangri las. My parents, Jerry and Helen, are incredibly social people. Rarely do you ever catch them at home – ever! They are always out with friends and family, enjoying dining, boating, walking and biking and just plain lazing around socializing. It’s a good life, and I am very thankful that they are able to do just that. They’ve earned it. When they pack up their vehicle to head south, dozens of their friends are doing the exact same thing. In fact, their whole circle of friends packs at the same time, takes the same roads to land in the same communities in Florida, to unpack and continue the exact same life they led back home in Canada – uninterrupted.

Yes, the weather is one of the prime motivators for this trek. But I would like to add another reason to the mix. Winter isolation. The winter comes to town and we all put on the storm windows and lock down for the season, only to re-emerge with the robins in the spring. Windsor cannot change this. We’re a Canadian city and we get cold. That’s what makes us Canadian. However, I believe that if we took the social environment out of the Snowbirds winter plans, they would seriously re-evaluate their desire to flee south. If these Snowbirds, who generally live in segregated, affluent suburban developments that are relatively easy to navigate in the summer months, were offered a choice to live in vibrant, walkable, pedestrian-friendly communities where their social lives continued unhampered throughout the year, many would choose not to uproot and instead stay home with their family and friends who are just as easily accessible as they are in the summer months.

This isn’t just a gut-feeling on my part. I look at some of the most-visited vacation destinations in the world and the thing they all offer is a socially rich environment where most of life’s conveniences are within an easy walk from their doorsteps. The people who live in these communities – mostly in older, established European countries – do not feel the need to run away to the sunny south every winter. Their lives are equally rich in the winter months as there are in the summer – only with a few extra layers of clothes on.

This is something that we can compete with here in Windsor. And in building a community that people don’t want to run away from every year, we not only keep the snowbirds in their communities where they belong, but we also enrich the lives of those who may not be able to afford to head south for the winters. True, the travel agents wouldn’t like it very much. They make a pretty good living off of the fact that we’ve built up an inhospitable daily environment and come to them to save our sanity by whisking us away somewhere nice. Well, I want Windsor to be that “somewhere nice” place that not only do we not want to flee, but maybe others will want to flee to.

Yes, it’s a dream, but a dream that’s completely within our control. The weather, on the other hand, is not.