The UGH Factor

Oh if only I lived on a different street in South Windsor. Then everything would be all right. I would not have the ugliness problem.

No, no, no. I'm not talking about violence or break-ins. I'm not suggesting that I and my neighbours do what others in Windsor have done in the past to feel comfortable and secure:

• "Fed up with crime in their well-to-do neighbourhood, some of Windsor's more affluent residents have hired a private security firm to patrol their residential properties.
  
  Employing uniformed officers armed with batons and handcuffs, marked cruisers and patrol dogs, Sheprott K-9 Security Inc. began in mid-July to police an area northeast of the Dougall Avenue and Cabana Road intersection known as Southlawn Heights."

I wish I lived on the street in that area, for example, like Huntington, where I could have some confidence that my high taxes would actually be put to good use by ensuring the area was cleaned up nicely. With that precedent, they might go out and hire street cleaners and landscapers themselves if the City did not do a good job I would bet!

You see I made a mistake. I chose not to live on one of the roads that tourists would use when they are coming into Windsor. I foolishly chose a street where one could raise a family where there was very little traffic.

Had I been smart, I would have bought a house on Dougall or perhaps Howard. You see, that is where the City is spending part of the $900,000 for the WOW FACTOR ie putting in flower boxes with beautiful plants and shrubbery to fix up the roadway so that people who are passing through the City from Toronto to get to I-75 will be dazzled by our beautiful entranceways for the 5 or 10 minutes that they are looking around instead of keeping their eyes on the road.

Or perhaps I should have bought a house in the downtown since I probably could have purchased one at a very depressed price. Now, according to Gord, Eddie's canal plan has

• "its potential to provide a wow factor for a depressed downtown..."

How much might the homes' value increase in that area... 400% plus! Another lost investment opportunity for me. I wonder if the speculators are buying all the properties there now!

Nope, I am stuck in an area of the City without the WOW Factor. What is even worse is that one of my Ward Councillors I believe is in the landscaping business. He of all people should understand what an attractive neighbourhood means for the Community.

You see, that is where Eddie has missed the boat (or the gondola), in a manner of speaking, with his canals. He needs to understand that he has to fix up the City first before he can attract outsiders.

His plans for downtown are so exciting that I am sure that they will attract investors and business people to the community in droves from all over the world for the next few years or so. They will want to build factories here, set up knowledge-based industries in our City and make this City the distribution and logistics center of North America.

There are some major problem though.

If they drive along Wyandotte West to take a look at the nearby areas around the canals and to get to the Unviersity, perhaps to speak to the Chair respecting his feasibility study or the area's future, good luck with the shaking and rattling in their autos as they drive on the street!

Before they can move into one of the canal homes or condos since they probably won't be built for a decade or so, they need to find a place to live now. Unfortunately, if they come into my area they will see... what I am posting below...some photos my daughter took the other evening of my neighbourhood.

Instead of WOW, they will say UGH. They will leave and never come back here again.