Community Improvement Plan Strategy

Place Making and Public Realm Improvements

The public realm is defined by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute as “the publicly owned places and spaces that belong to and are accessible by everyone”. These places and spaces include the municipal streets, alleys, public squares and plazas, sidewalks, recreation trails, parks and open spaces, waterfronts, and civic buildings and institutions. (Ontario Professional Planners Institute, 2016). 

Within the context of University Avenue West and Wyandotte Street West, the two corridors are arterial streets that serve the surrounding residential communities and are identified as mainstreets in the Official Plan. They offer a mix of commercial uses that provide business and services for the community and additionally offer higher density housing that provide a mix and range of housing types to the community. The parks and institutional uses provide destinations for recreation at various parks and greenspaces, and education at the University of Windsor or community programing at Adie Knox Community Centre.

The public realm shapes the interaction between the street and the adjacent buildings, as well as defines the relationship that people have with their surroundings. In doing so, the public realm establishes the community identity, local character and sense of place. Public space between buildings influences both the built form and the civic quality of the city. A balance between the public and private domain is paramount to creating the type of environment that people want to be in. As such, buildings and their surrounding spaces should interrelate and define one another to the greatest extent possible

Another important feature about both corridors is the connecting link between Downtown Windsor and the University of Windsor. Many students live around the University or downtown and travel back and forth between the University of Windsor and Downtown for social reasons and between the two University of Windsor campuses. This important link for students and residents travelling to downtown has opportunity for more active transportation along the corridors.

This plan will provide additional high-level guidance and recommendations about how the public realm can be improved or enhanced. The framework will be based on the foundation of some defining principles that will assist in the implementation of all future public realm improvements. The principles are as follows:

• A high standard of design: As mentioned, both streets are designated as mainstreets in the official plan, and although the land uses vary along both streets from residential to commercial/mixed use, high standard of design is important to maintain the level of importance for the corridors. This includes high quality components, materials, implementation and detailing. Additionally, projects need to be designed with consideration given to ongoing maintenance costs to ensure that materials are long lasting and easily sourced should they require replacement. 
• Recognizes the importance of Wyandotte Street West and University Avenue West to the surrounding residential neighbourhoods: The public realm must emphasize that the built environment is about people first and foremost. Therefore, it must be built on a human scale, with public spaces offering comfort, access and safety for pedestrians. The streets should be defined, and therefore designed, as much by their social and environmental context, as their transportation function or road classification. The residents of the surrounding residential neighbourhoods, whether it be students, young professions, families or seniors living in the area use the businesses and services along the two streets. Improving the public realm and increasing the ability and safety of walking and cycling will improve the neighbourhood for the residents
• Ensure built form respects the mainstreets character: Just as future private sector developments need to be compatible with the existing built form of the two corridors that reflects a mainstreet development style, all public realm improvements and new developments must be done with a clear understanding of the context and character of the area where they are going. This includes implementing public realm improvements that protect and enhance the surrounding mainstreet character and heritage resources.