The City Plan Commission (CPC) is the City’s official planning body established under State statute and is responsible for master planning activities. The CPC advises the Common Council on a variety of land development issues including zoning map changes, revisions in the zoning ordinance, subdivision approvals, business improvement districts, street and alley vacations, public land disposition and acquisition, new streets and the approval of development plans in certain overlay districts.

City Plan Commission (CPC) meetings start at 1:30 p.m. and are held in the First Floor Boardroom at the Department of City Development, 809 North Broadway, unless otherwise noted.

Agenda

The Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) administers Milwaukee’s historic preservation ordinance, adopted in 1981, which provides certain kinds of legal protection for buildings or sites that have been declared historic by the Common Council. The HPC is responsible for designating historic landmarks and historic districts and for approving Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) for permission to alter historic buildings.

The HPC meets monthly on Mondays in City Hall, Room 301A, 200 E. Wells Street at 3:00 P.M. unless otherwise indicated.

Agenda

Streetcar Rail Reappearing in Milwaukee

South Water Works

Corcoran Lofts

Corcoran Lofts

Hometown Site

PhotoCampMilwaukee is a BarCamp-like event fully focused on photography. It’s an ad-hoc “un-conference” for people who love photography to get together and teach what they know, and learn what they don’t. It’s about sharing in an open environment. Everyone has experience to share, and getting everyone together in one place, for a full day, seems like a great way to do it. You don’t have to be a great photographer to attend, you just have to bring your passion for photography. The event will be free (thanks to our sponsors) and the only entrance fee is your participation.

Event Location:
Bucketworks
1340 N Sixth Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212

Learn more

“treat streets as valuable public places, rather than utilitarian corridors”
-Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Transportation

The first thing most people see of Milwaukee’s streets is the vast wasteland of potholes that mark each and everyone of them.  I’d wager a guess that most people see this as a problem, I do too, but I also see this as an opportunity.  It is an opportunity because in the near future these streets will be rebuilt, and when these streets are rebuilt it is a chance to complete our streets.

To complete a street means that it is time to stop looking at streets as automobile sewers and recognize that streets are really for people, that streets are public spaces.  This doesn’t mean streets should become pedestrian malls or filled with speed bumps or humps, but that with small changes a street can be improved so that it becomes an appealing environment for people to walk along, for people to bike on, and for business to operate on.  To accomplish these goals a few simple design features are utilized in a complete street design.  These features include improvements such as narrow street widths, wide sidewalks, street trees, curb bump outs, two-way traffic, curb-separated bike lanes, enhanced crosswalk materials, and other streetscape improvements.

To get a better idea of how these enhancements can be used to a improve a street take a look at this interactive graphic by GOOD magazine.

In the coming days I hope to share my thoughts on a few streets that with improvements could help rebuild our city.

Despite last ditch efforts by Alderman Dudzik to hold the project in committee, which would have effectively killed the project, Janet Zweig’s public art project was approved at today’s Common Council meeting with an overwhelming majority.  How things can change in such a short time.  As of the last Public Work Committee meeting it sure looked like this project was going to fall to Milwaukee’s “We’re not Chicago” syndrome.  Meaning so often our leaders and our residents thinking the best we can do is hope to fill a few pot holes, and that anything beyond that is overreaching for Milwaukee.

But I don’t buy into that discussion.  As I’ve tried to indicate in my previous posts on this topic this debate has really been about something larger than the specific proposal.  It was about, do we as a city care about our public spaces?  Do we want to embrace creativity?  Will we reach further?  At least in today’s case, as far embracing art and improving public spaces Milwaukee said “Yes.”

Now I do wonder, when it comes to expanded mass transit, and reclaiming our streets will Milwaukee again say “Yes?”

The debate swirling around the Janet Zweig art project got me thinking about the value of public art to our city and how other cities embrace opportunities to enhance their public places.  In Chicago the mix of architecture, and the hustle and bustle is in of itself valuable but public places like Millennium Park and the artwork that fills it add to the overall appeal of city life.

The most well know piece of public art work in Chicago’s Millennium Park is surely Cloud Gate, which is more commonly referred to as “The Bean.”  The way it distorts the view, creating a seamless connection between reflection and reality has adults acting like kids, and kids well being kids.  It fascinates people of all ages, it brings a little joy to people, and by doing so, it sets a tone.  By creating this fun and creative tone it encourages people to stop and enjoy, the work, the park, and the city.

Another intriguing work in Millennium Park, The Crown Fountain, is the large waterfalls with the video images that occasionally spout water.  These clearly draw and entertain a crowd, but what statement, purpose, or meaning beyond entertainment they have isn’t immediately apparent.  Nor does the work strike you as especially “high-tech” or even complicated.  But the work draws you in, gathers a crowd, spurs laughter, and creates a fun environment for all ages.  See this work isn’t the most famous draw to Millennium Park, or even the most creative but it adds another twist to Chicago.

Janet Zweig’s work might not standout physically like either of these works, but the point remains the same.  To entertain, to draw people in, and to add a touch of enjoyment to the environment.  This encourages people to linger a little longer, to take a picture of our city, to stop and grab a coffee, to get a brat from a street vendor, or just say something positive about Milwaukee.  Each of these are again minor and might seem insignificant but as the little benefits add up they in totality create a uniquely vibrant place.  Quite simply, public art is one of the the unique twists that help make a city, a city.  Hopefully Zweig’s, all be it small, project will be given the opportunity to add a new twist to Milwaukee.

If you haven’t seen Chicago’s Cloud Gate or The Crown Fountain I’ve added a gallery below:

April 14, 2009

Special Public Works Committee Meeting

April 14, 2009 8:00 am

The Public Works Committee is responsible for physical services provided by the city such as street and alley maintenance, waste collection, disposal and recycling, sewer, water and flood control projects, assessments, public buildings, land and waterways.

This Special Public Works Committee meetings starts at 8:00 a.m. and is being held in the Room 301-B, City Hall. [...]

Common Council Meeting

April 14, 2009 9:00 am

City Hall
200 East Wells St.
Common Council Chambers
Milwaukee, WI 53202 [..]

April 18, 2009

Southbranch Creek Clean-up

April 18, 2009 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Join the River Revitalization Foundation on Saturday April 18th from 9 to noon for the annual Southbranch Creek river clean-up in the Village of Brown Deer, and stay afterward for a guided site tour and treat!

Location: 8360 N Teutonia Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53209; Parking available @ American Family Insurance: Brian Guerin Agency 8330 N Teutonia [...]

Join the River Revitalization Foundation on Saturday April 18th from 9 to noon for the annual Southbranch Creek river clean-up in the Village of Brown Deer, and stay afterward for a guided site tour and treat!

Location: 8360 N Teutonia Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53209; Parking available @ American Family Insurance: Brian Guerin Agency 8330 N Teutonia Ave. Brown Deer, WI 53209.

Contact: Andrew Kurth @ 414.271.8000 x 2 or kurt0113@gmail.com