Creating a Livable Region through Sustainable Development Practices: Reorienting Development in Windsor-Essex through the Implementation of Light Rail Transit

Windsor-Essex County lacks proper regional transportation, a major sustainability issue compounded by poor land use strategies, resulting in low-density suburban communities defined by extensive sprawl and heavy dependence on private automobile use. The current development direction of Windsor-Essex County is unsustainable on multiple levels, turning the region into space in which residents have limited options for how they can efficiently travel within their own municipality and to other municipalities. The downtown core of Windsor needs serious regeneration and the communities that make up the larger metropolitan region need an effective means of travel that is both environmentally sustainable and affordable. In order for Windsor-Essex County to be competitive in a global market place, the local governments within the region need to work on a regional development plan which will create strong economic clusters that are accessible by various means of transit