Downtown Windsor battles negative cross-border perceptions as cops increase patrols temporarily
CBC
As police temporarily show more of a presence in downtown Windsor, the perception of the core is taking a hit with some people across the border.
This has some businesses push for more safety measures and ways to make the downtown more attractive to visitors.
"It just doesn't look good and even in Detroit they don't like broken windows and plywood, right?" said window installer Kyle Gray.
He was replacing a window that was smashed at a downtown business Tuesday night and says he's frequently doing similar jobs.
"We've got enough legitimate work, we don't need people going and breaking windows."
Windsor police, who declined comment to CBC about the initiative on Wednesday, are in their second of two days of increased downtown patrols.
There have been a number of instances of vandalism and violence in the downtown core over the last year.
Tom Lucier owns and operates Phog Lounge, and often stays downtown late at night to keep an eye on his business.
He says on normal nights, police are scarce in the area.
"There are no more police anywhere," he said, describing what he saw as far as police presence in the area earlier this week.
"Right now there's nobody [watching] and they know that there's nobody."
Lucier recently highlighted a Reddit thread named "Is Windsor sort of ... rough?".
Inside the thread, commenters from Detroit said they were "Unpleasantly surprised at how rundown the city is along the riverfront. Even in downtown, near the tunnel entrance/exit."
"I always thought of Windsor as this quirky but vibrant little sibling of Detroit. But based on our experience yesterday, I don't really see much of a reason to go back," the post read.
One of the leaders of the team tasked with modernizing Newfoundland and Labrador's education system says she never would have joined if she thought privatization was on the table.
If Tesla owner Dann Kingsley were in the market for a new electric vehicle (EV) today, he says he would strongly consider other brands first.
After a fender-bender before Christmas, 85-year-old Ossie Gildart was told he'd have to take a driver's test. But a surprise was waiting for him when he walked into Service New Brunswick in Bathurst.
One person is dead and another is in critical condition, after a fire broke out in a two-storey building in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough.
Walmart Canada was recently selling one-litre cartons of milk in Manitoba stores for higher prices than provincial law allows.
Members of CUPE Local 456, which represents city workers in Melville, Sask., have voted in favour of job action due to wage disputes and high employee turnover.
Some schools in Queens and Prince counties are starting one hour later Wednesday due to road conditions following yesterday's storm.
Edmonton's city auditor has made eight recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the city's paratransit service, saying clients who rely on the service will benefit from the changes.
Electric bus manufacturers hit hard by pandemic-era supply chain chaos could soon find themselves pummelled by a trade war.
A workshop will be held Wednesday evening to help give Windsor residents the necessary tools on how to interact with people experiencing homelessness.
Buy Canadian — that's the message being pushed across the country. But on the other end of the movement, some small business owners in Calgary who feel the pressure to pivot to Canadian products say that isn't as easy as it sounds.
Inside a community centre in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, poster board collages display photos of a young woman with a big smile on her face. She's shown with her arms wrapped around family members, being silly in selfies with friends, standing proud in a high school graduation gown.
As an outreach worker helping people with life-limiting illnesses in Thunder Bay, Ont., Julie Diner says she doesn't spend much time in the office.