ABOUT US

UPCOMING EVENTS

Executive Director's Message

Welcome to Downtown Windsor

Through its leadership in advocacy, infrastructure, development and promotion, the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association works to ensure that downtown Windsor is the preferred place to work, visit and live. The association exists to effectively represent the interests of all its member sectors as they relate to the economic, political and social vitality of the downtown business district.

Our board and staff have been working tirelessly to improve the face of downtown, with our innovative “Fresh Fronts” storefront improvement grants. You may notice our Clean Team on the streets five days a week at 6am to 10am, who ensure our core is more inviting to our guests and members. We have also embarked on an innovative gum removal program in partnership with St-Leonard’s Windsor.

Perhaps our most visible contribution is the on-going streetscape initiative with our partner, the City of Windsor, which continues with the revamping of Pelissier Street from Wyandotte to University, and the conversion of Maiden Lane into an urban park in 2010.

Other initiatives include the Free WiFi program for access to the internet in parts of downtown, the downtown Farmers’ Market, the Red Bull Air Races and proposed business and tax incentives to stimulate revitalization.

With our close proximity to the United States, downtown has earned a reputation as a hospitality and entertainment district. To better manage the relationship between our daytime and nighttime businesses, the Downtown Business Improvement Association initiated the Hospitality Resource Panel, led by coordinator Bob Williams, a respected downtown resident and businessman. This panel includes a unique alliance of business owners, municipal staff, council members, police and community representatives.

The DWBIA has embraced social networking as a means to communicate with our members and the public. To that end, we have developed an innovation BLOG downtownwo.ca. This informative site is being maintained by Phog Lounge’s Tom Lucier (Canada’s #1 Venue for Live Music according to CBC Radio3). We also broadcast an electronic newsletter every Thursday highlighting events within the core. You can subscribe to these at our revamped website, downtownwindsor.ca.

These programs and many others are designed to create a more attractive downtown for shoppers, tourists, merchants, residents, and potential investors.

Downtown Windsor has gone through at least three main commercial and cultural shifts in the past 35 years, from a traditional “Main Street” featuring a strong retail base to “Party Central” for young adults from surrounding U.S. states with higher age-drinking limits who frequent our nightclubs and restaurants.

The third phase, which is happening today, offers tremendous potential. We envision a downtown that features a mix of entertainment, culture, art, entertainment and business - a people place where we live, work and play. How we manage this mix is critical to our city’s future, because, after all, downtown is a reflection of our city and of our future.


Chris Edwards, M.A.