Where the Hell is Windsor?

[Lowell]

...was a rhetorical question asked Peter Knowles, Englishman and former CEO of the 2008 FINA swimming championship in Manchester, when speaking to the Windsor City Council in reference to a bid by Windsor to get the championships.

Knowles added that the lack of name value in Windsor’s possible bid could be addressed by playing up the city’s connection with the Motor City.

“Everybody in the world has heard of Detroit,” Knowles said.

Francis said that Windsor’s proximity to Detroit and the potential to market the event as taking place in “two nations” would give our bid “one advantage no one else has. Full Article: Windsor Star

Play off the Detroit name was the message. And IMO this makes a lot sense for all of us.


Looking North on Oulette in Windsor, Ontario toward downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Detroit [of which the City of Detroit now comprises only 15% or the metro population] is based, as we all know on the name of an international waterway, not some city that happened to name itself after it. Le Detroit, French for 'The Straits', most likely was a further translation from Native American name for the waterway.

We have great mutual benefits and potential by not simply thinking of ourselves as Detroit and Windsor or even Canada and USA when it comes to marketing our international city. Instead we need market our region as something like 'Detroit-Windsor: World's Greatest International Metropolis', at least when it comes to image and marketing.

How would you market and image-brand our common metropolis to the world?

[Goose]

they put vinegar on their fries, we don't.... sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.....

[Jimaz]

Funny thread title.

... Instead we need market our region as something like 'Detroit-Windsor: World's Greatest International Metropolis', at least when it comes to image and marketing.

Agreed. Brief, but enough of a double-take to arouse curiosity and thus more memorable. Although it probably wouldn't work as well for somewhere like Nogales-Nogales.

Where the Hell is Nogales?

[Richard]

Detroit can be a double edge blade when it comes to international marketing depending on the age group and at what level the marketing is. But I think that will change 15 20 years from now as the big three build plants overseas then it will probably not be noticed by anybody under 30.

[DetroitPlanner]

they put vinegar on their fries, we don't.... sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.....

I put vinegar on my fries whenever possible. I am also all for us being seen as one international region/economic center. After all we make cars and parts on both sides of the river.

[antongast]

they put vinegar on their fries, we don't.... sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.....

While vinegar on fries is pretty tasty, I maintain that the Cadieux Cafe's dipping sauces are the best I've tasted on either side of the river. Plain mayonnaise will do in a pinch; ketchup is an option of last resort.

[p69rrh51]

It seems we will never get over Windsor being treated as the ugly step sister, or Canada being treated as the 51st state nobody wants. To bad, their standard of living is now higher than our's and of course their crime rate is lower. Maybe its time to see what they are doing better than we are instead of just dismissing them.
I would be in favor of selling the international aspect Detroit-Windsor. One very large problem that would stop it dead in its tracts and that is the actual border is such a disaster to cross nobody would want to deal with the hassles.

[Scottathew]

Windsor is a suburb of Detroit anyway, right?

[southofbloor]

Amen - We love you guys [[at least we have since a little bit after you burned us down in 1838) and have a lot to learn from each other. Don't tell Janet Napolitano, her people aren't so keen on fostering the bond.

If you like the white vinegar then you should try poutine.

[Bobknob1979]

Poutine is amazing!

[EastsideAl]

What's funny [[or sad, depending on your point of view) is that in this area, and perhaps in the U.S. as a whole, being tied to Detroit would more likely be seen as a detriment. But internationally Detroit is a much bigger name, with a well-known [[particularly musical) heritage, and is generally free of many of the negative connotations it would carry in these parts.

I wonder if those folks from Windsor were surprised to hear that. I know many of the Detroit area folks I know are very surprised to hear that Detroit has very real international tourism potential.

[Embee]

I'm a Windsorite and I remember when I was once in St. Louis I was explaining to someone where Windsor was by saying "it's across the river from Detroit". She then had a disgusted look on her face. [[She originally assumed it was somewhere near Niagara Falls or Toronto - which seem to be the only Canadian places that many Americans know). I don't have a problem with marketing the area together but overall I think Windsor's proximity to Detroit has hurt its reputation and it's undeserved. We just hope Detroit improves.

[walkervillewillie]

South of Detroit. This fact always raises an eyebrow...

[Gannon]

Homeland Insecurity stole it.

[poobert]

I think Windsor is really nice. In many ways it is what I wish Metro Detroit was. Clean, safe, very little sprawl, multicultural, with a modest walkable downtown. However it is essentially a mid-sized industrial city, of which there are tens of thousands, in the entire world. I'm not surprised that someone hasn't heard of it.

However many of you are operating on the assumption that foreigners somehow know about Detroit. Yes, Detroit certainly has more prominence than Windsor. Yes, we make/made cars and have had quite a bit of musical talent here, but so have countless other places. Cars are made many other places - and in most of the rest of the world they aren't driving Detroit 3 cars.

There are hundreds of cities in the world with populations over 1 million. We're not even that anymore.

After all, how many Americans, nationally, do you think have heard of Kharkov or Helsinki, let alone Almaty or Allahbad? These are also huge cities. They also have rich and storied histories like we do.

I've travelled a lot, and I've met plenty of people [[mostly Westerners, even) who didn't know what Detroit was or where it is. I've met countless more who were only vaguely aware of its existence, the way many of you may think about, say, Pretoria.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we're not really a blip on the world's stage. We're an middling-sized old Midwest Rust Belt city that is generally now associated with crime or the movie 8 Mile, for those few of the 7 billion people on this earth whose thoughts we've entered.

[rb336]

What's funny [[or sad, depending on your point of view) is that in this area, and perhaps in the U.S. as a whole, being tied to Detroit would more likely be seen as a detriment.

Interesting that the guy who is running that new watch/bike company, Shinola, did a study and found that people were more likely to buy something labeled as "made in Detroit" than "made in the USA."