...Scale Down, Windsor: Windsor, Ontario

I am sure that by now, ...Scale Down readers are familiar with our regular Guest Blogger, James Coulter. James has been blogging on his own and for SD for a while now. His articles are insightful and always show me a slightly different way of looking at issues around us. Maybe that is why I enjoy reading him so much.

Maybe that is also why Josh, Mark and myself are now welcoming James as the latest ...Scale Down contributor! So, this will be the last time that you will see James' words posted by me as a guest blogger. From the mouth of Mr. Coulter...

I am really humbled (seriously, after meeting Chris and Mark and learning what it is they want for Windsor) to have been invited to join ...Scale Down, Windsor as a regular contributor.

So who is James Coulter? I guess that I’m one of you. I’m someone that wants to see Windsor move in a better direction. Where do I get my ideas? Well I have the opportunity through my work at St. Clair College to review a large amount of texts and articles on architecture and civil engineering works. I also read blogs and newsgroups that deal in Peak Oil and Globalization because I think these are big picture issues that will drive change in this city. Big and small, bad and good, there are plenty of ideas and issues out there and SDW gives us a forum to discuss and explore all ideas that could benefit our community. I look forward to bringing you my thoughts and working with SDW to affect change for the benefit of us all.

Could Windsor go from auto capital to bike capital of Canada?

Why not? It won’t happen overnight but it is possible. Reading this article I got to thinking there is a strong cycling community in Windsor and if we could make the bicycle industry a driver forthe local economy people would getbehind locally made products and events and well…

Windsor Ontario, Bike Capital of Canada.

Production of bicycles runs the gamut from the lone craftsman to the factory churning out hundreds of units each day. Any number of machine shops that are slow on business could start to turn out custom and production bicycles or components. Could you image the bumper stickers “Buy the BIKES your neighbour helped to WELD”. Then there are anynumber of opportunities for small businesses to start up producing clothing and otherspecialty products.

Windsor and Essex County tourism could get a boost if the region was more bike-friendly. Our flat terrain and extensive network of county roads provide plenty of opportunities for cyclo-tourists of all abilities to get around from historic sites like Fort Malden or the John R. Park Homestead to the many local wineries. Small hotels and bed and breakfasts could make themselves bike friendly by providing special “bike rooms” with facilities to wash off road grime or perform repairs. Highway 18 makes an excellent bike tour route as there are towns evenly spaced along the entire distance from downtown Windsor all the way around to Wheatley.

In addition to cyclo-tourists, the region has always had an active bicycle racing community. These racers go to races and host races. Windsor is home to the oldest annual bicycle race in Canada (theLabour Day races on Erie Street) and the area has hosted many other road and off-road events. Our location near the U.S.border has always allowed race hosts to attract quality fields of racers. If we learn from the auto makers and NASCAR, if you sell racing you can sell the products.

Windsor/Essex has a reasonable climate for cycling too. Although the last few days have been a little cold, you can comfortably ride a bike most of the year here. As well the size of the city is pretty reasonable for getting around unlike a lot of big cities. One can ride across Windsor in about an hour. There are so many people that spend that amount of time in their cars trying to get around our town, silly really.

So to summarize: let’s make Windsor not just bike friendly but a bike city. Let’s have industries based on an affordable, eco-friendly mode of transportation. Let’s create economic opportunities for new businesses large and small. Let’s encourage cyclo-tourism and the promotion of bike festivals and races to promote our new local industries and businesses and let’s enjoy a healthier and cleaner way of getting around town.

ED: Welcome to the Team, James!