Windsor was once a beautiful, leafy suburb, and that inner beauty still exists.
Mathabo Bekimbia-Tchoffo, the precinct manager at Windsor Community Support Service (WCSS), believes there is still hope for Windsor to become the beautiful suburb it once was. Despite the challenges that have accumulated over the years, the bones of a great neighbourhood remain. A tree-lined street, a central location, and a community that has refused to give up on where it lives.

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She explained that the proof of what is possible is already visible in Windsor West. According to Bekimbia-Tchoffo, 80% of the dilapidated buildings, illegal scrapyards, hijacked properties, and drug dens that once defined the area’s decline are gone. “Much of this transformation is thanks to developers who identified Windsor’s potential when others looked away, and organisations that bought up the problem buildings and converted them into modern residential developments. That investment has had a ripple effect, and our local landlords are inspired by what they see around them. They have begun maintaining their own properties. The area looks better, it feels better, and it is getting better.”

She said that Windsor West is fighting to reclaim its former glory, but that fight is made significantly harder by municipal neglect. She highlighted a swimming pool that was once a public asset and community gathering point, which has now been hijacked by vagrants for years. It has become a genuine danger to the surrounding community. “A local investor cleaned it up and bricked off every entry point. Vagrants broke back in and now occupy it in large numbers. What was once a recreational facility has become a settlement, and the city has done nothing meaningful to address it. While private individuals and developers pour effort and money into Windsor’s recovery, the municipality’s abandoned properties are actively working against it.”

Windsor East tells its own story. It is largely a peaceful, quiet area, but it carries one concentrated problem. The notorious stretch of Beatrice Street between Earls Avenue and Princess Avenue is where the suburb’s challenges are at their most visible. Illegal street vendors, businesses that contribute nothing to the area, and the Buffalo Court building and famous Courtyard, which still stands.

The commercial strip, for all its dysfunction, holds real potential. Bekimbia-Tchoffo believes that with the right investors, it could become Windsor’s business hub, similar to Linden’s 4th Avenue or Parkhurst’s coffee shops, salons, and restaurants. A destination rather than a deterrent. “We are also facing a growing influx of displaced people and waste pickers, redirected to Windsor as surrounding suburbs fence off their public green spaces.”

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Through all of this, WCSS continues to show up and clean parts of the area. The community also refuse to back down as they put on the fight with regular clean ups, but as the area is facing overcrowding, illegal dumping remains a big challenge. “The improvement is real and visible. Our team is committed to keeping Windsor clean, and Pikitup is playing its part by collecting garbage along the main streets daily. Windsor is not a slum. It is an area that is rising. The developments happening is real. The confidence of the financial sector is beginning to reflect that banks and financial institutions have backed some of Windsor’s property developers, providing financing that has helped turn problem buildings into modern, liveable spaces.”

She added that when institutions that assess risk for a living choose to invest in Windsor, that is not charity; it is a vote of confidence in the suburb’s future. “What is missing is not the will of the people who live here, nor the belief of those who finance development here, but the by-law enforcement, the municipal upkeep, and the civic partnership that Windsor has long deserved and been denied.”

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