The three sister communities of Lakeview, Port Credit, and Clarkson each share a common connecting road. Together our communities have created a new model for development along a complex roadway. This concept posits that there are seven ways to view a road. The more complex the road, the more of the seven descriptive layers need be addressed in order to better understand the complex nature of the road usage. Some roads are described mainly according to a few of the layers, but complex roads like Lakeshore need to be considered from at least seven perspectives (layers).

- Engagement and Policy layer
- Waterfront Corridor
- Green Corridor
- Transportation Corridor
- Neighbourhood Corridor
- Cultural/Heritage Corridor
- Economic Corridor
The layers are as follows:
- Engagement and Policy layer: – The base layer whereby all other layers reside. This is the public policy layer, which sets out the public guidelines for development uses along the route. i.e. Area Plans, Zoning, Infrastructure, Community Engagement, and Politics.
- Waterfront Corridor: Recognizing that Lakeshore Road follows the shoreline and is physically integral to the waterfront along it’s entire length.
- Green Corridor: Recognizing that the road has a relationship with complex natural systems in terms of flora and fauna, waterways, environmental aesthetics.
- Transportation Corridor: Lakeshore Road is also a major transportation route, for both inter-municipal and local traffic. Along it’s route, pedestrians, bicycles, cars, trucks, and buses move at various speeds and volumes and at various times of the day/week.
- Neighbourhood Corridor: Lakeshore Road connects communities and establishes a main street which anchors and defines the community centre and periphery. Its houses and focuses community activities and character.
- Cultural/Heritage Corridor: Lakeshore Road is one of the oldest routes in Ontario. From it’s prehistoric origins as a trail to today’s major street, Lakeshore Road has seen much of the history of the area. To consider the road outside of it’s historical role is to miss much of the character of the road and the communities it passes through.
- Economic Corridor: The Economic corridor recognizes that the road is a source for wealth and financial activity. When all six of the other layers in the model are considered and addressed, then a healthy Economic layer should become easier to establish and recognize. Public policy then is adjusted to maintain the health of each of the road use layers. Healthy and complex layers establish the conditions for the economic and social success of the route.
Waterfront Intensification and Neighborhoods
Issue of block developments vs. single lot ownership and smaller scale redevelopment – How can we preserve neighbourhoods yet achieve the infill needed to sympathetically complete the mainstreet commercial gaps along Lakeshore Road? We have 3 nodes along the corridor – how is the historical context of each village maintained when the node concept seems to be geared to a ‘transportation/density algorithm’, while we are still thinking “village”
Waterfront and Environment
Our tree canopy, our streams and river (and wetlands), our air quality, etc. are all integral to the sense of “village” we seek to maintain – how can we ensure a healthy community? LEEDS buildings are not enough – the natural infrastructure which wraps the Corridor needs to be maintained, and the road itself not clogged with polluting, idling cars. How can our brown fields be used? Can we use more permeable pavings?
Established Guidelines and Community Engagement
Can we create a “Lakeshore College” of stakeholders to maintain collective oversight of issues all along the Lakeshore corridor? Do the Clarkson Village Study, the Lakeview and Port Credit Local Area Plans all make the same statement about the Lakeshore Corridor? They do! (this discussion is so timely!) They say that the corridor should be walkable, safe for the children and the elderly and be a community street rather than a highway. It encourages us to get out of our cars. As for parking, what are the impacts of maintaining/increasing lay-by parking vs. moving to a parking garage/underground parking model?
Multi-Modal Transportation
The Lakeshore corridor is finite in its capacity, so what can we do to increase attractions, activities and density along the Corridor and still be able to move? If the decision is to be a mainstreet and not a highway (as confirmed in the Lakeview and PC Local Area Plans) are there some destinations not suitable for this mainstreet environment? How can the Road be reconfigured? What destinations would appeal to transit users, cyclists, pedestrians who share the street.
Retail and Economic Development
Big box vs. smaller independent retailers and the impact on our tax base, employment and existing retailers whose rents are skyrocketing in response to trends towards block busting developments and the higher rents in the new ground floor builds. What about off-mainstreet retail – too much dilution?