My Town Monday: Windsor, Canada, Detroit's Neighbor to the South

Probably most Canadians consider Windsor to be one of their lesser, if not the least, city and it's mostly because of its proximity to Detroit. We used to go to Windsor quite often since

it's a 20 minute drive. Now with the agony of going across the border (especially the US side) we go very rarely. Adding a half hour onto the trip on each side is not attractive.

But on the fourth, we went to Windsor's charming but empty art gallery (museum) and then on to Amherstberg for lunch. Windsor has done a nice job of developing its waterfront (Detroit River), putting sculpture gardens, walking trails and playgrounds along it. But all of it is situated toward Detroit.

It you ask google images for pictures of Windsor, you get the Detroit skyline, taken from Windsor, sure, but not Windsor. All of the photos here are of Detroit. Detroit is not the kind of place you think of as dominant. But the car industry drives both cities and headquarters sit right on the Detroit River in the Renaissance Tower, looking across at Windsor.

Windsor has some good restaurants, some good music, a nice shopping district but a higher than normal crime rate for a city of its size in Canada. Detroit's influence again ,perhaps.

Sometimes when we get very angry at US politics, we contemplate moving to Windsor. But really, it's just a smaller Detroit. And we'd have to look at Detroit all the time anyway.