This past weekend I took part in the United Performing Arts Fund’s 29th annual Miller Lite Ride for the Arts, it was great to see thousands of people show up bright and early to take part in the ride.  This event brought together two goals, supporting the arts and promoting more bike riding, that fit perfectly with the creation of a vibrant city.  The day of the ride was cold, and it rained part of the way through, but the experience of seeing so much of Milwaukee at a pace where you can actually take it in got me thinking.   First, it was abundantly apparent that Milwaukee’s roads are truly in bad shape.  Secondly, it was interesting that the ride didn’t require the closing of many streets, basically just part of Water St., and that the amount of car traffic along the route was minimal.  This was interesting as the possibility of closing streets on Sundays to allow for other activities and events apparently without disrupting any significant amount of traffic appeared possible.  This potential to close streets on Sundays reminded me that in Milwaukee we have a variety of great street festivals and events, but one car-free event that has yet to arrive in Milwaukee is a Ciclovía.

Whereas most of Milwaukee’s events are a often a good excuse to fill up on Miller Lite, a Ciclovía closes down sections of road stretching for miles to be used exclusively for bicyclists and pedestrians to ride or walk.  A Ciclovía could further the ability for residents to enjoy the weather, and the city in a healthy and enjoyable manner.  Other U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, El Paso, and Portland are leading the way by taking back the streets, and encouraging people to enjoy the city again.  The U.S. events are called Sunday Streets, Sunday Parkways, and Summer Streets, but the concept and the design of these events are all based on a Ciclovía .  Much like neighborhoods street festivals that show off the district, a series of Sunday Street events could show off different parts of the city and allow for community to occur.  Further, these events would not only show off areas, but actually could be used to bring together different parts of the city in a shared event.  To get a sample of what an event would be like I’ve included a video of New York City’s Summer Streets.

There will be a meeting on Friday, June 12th at 2:00 p.m. at The Good Life, 1935 North Water Street to update businesses in the area on the progress of the Humboldt Bridge project. Please share this information with others that might be interested.

The production of renewable energy continues to move forward in the Midwest as new projects are proposed and government adjusts to make construction of new developments easier. The most noteworthy is the planned 39 acre urban solar power plant in the City of Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood.

The site selected for the solar power plant is a heavily contaminated brownfield on Chicago’s south side.  The site has been unused for 30 years, and even after remediation wouldn’t be suitable for recreational use.  Judging from other reports, all that stands between the plan and its implementation is the approval of a $48 million stimulus loan from the U.S Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program Office to cover up to 80% of the project costs.

This 10-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) facility, featuring 32,800 solar panels that will produce enough clean energy to fulfill the annual requirements of 1,200 to 1,500 homes, will displace approximately 31.2 million pounds of greenhouse emissions annually (the equivalent of taking more than 2,500 cars off the road or planting more than 3,200 acres of forest).

View Chicago Solar Power Plant in a larger map

Also of interest, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Thomas Content has a good rundown of what progress has been made regarding wind power in Wisconsin, and what obstacles are holding its development.  From a high level things appear pretty good…

By many accounts it was a banner year for the state. Record development of wind power took place, with the opening of four large wind-power projects by companies including We Energies, Invenergy and Wisconsin Power & Light Co.

Eight times as much wind power is being generated today as there was a little more than a year ago. But electricity from the wind still accounts for only about 5% of the state’s power supply.

But there are significant challenges.  A couple key takeaways from the article…

• State Senator Jeff Plale (D-Milwaukee) and State Representative Jim Soletski (D-Green Bay) are lead sponsors of a bill to set up uniform siting standards for all wind farms that would be built in the state.  To put things in perspective, the last project that was approved by a local government happened in March of 2007.
• The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been difficult to work with in order to obtain permits to move the parts throughout Wisconsin.  According to Port of Milwaukee marketing director Betty Nowak this has led to an direct decrease in the volume of wind-power parts coming through the port.  These issues have since been resolved. I would guess this is why WisDOT has been so feverishly expanding freeways around Milwaukee ( for the Zoo Interchange, and for I-94 to the state line), but judging by how Bucryus and Joy Global continue to produce massive mining equipment in Milwaukee, this can’t be the case.
• Wisconsin is behind marketing itself to wind power companies.

How does all of this affect Milwaukee? Besides the obvious change to a more sustainable of source of power, which will result in cleaner air for Milwaukee residents, there are numerous other pieces to this puzzle.  One already mentioned is the use of the port, a higher port utilization means more jobs.  On top of that, Wisconsin has for a long-time been involved in the manufacturing supply chain.  Despite that an incredible number of those jobs are gone for one reason or another, the capacity for such production still exists.  With the size and timing of such projects creating a rather large incentive to make the parts locally, Wisconsin and Milwaukee in particularly could benefit from the increased use of wind turbines for power.

The development of an urban solar power plant is something to also watch closely.  If it works on a Chicago brownfield, I can imagine it would work equally as well on a Milwaukee brownfield (or factory rooftop).

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has had his new police district boundaries approved by the Common Council Public Safety Committee.  The new boundaries will have the most significant affects on the East and South sides of Milwaukee.

A looming issue with the construction of the new UWM dorm on the Hometown site on North Avenue was that it it will sit on the dividing line of the first and fifth districts.  Concerns were raised at the public meetings preceding the approval of the dorm that policing may be an issue in the area.  The new boundaries should eliminate any potential communication issues by placing officers near the new dorm in the same district.

The existing UWM Riverview Residence Hall will be now be in District 5, which will encompass all of the Riverwest, Brewers Hill, and Harambee neighborhoods as well as a few more neighborhoods to the northwest.  While the existing Riverview Residence Hall was originally on the North Avenue dividing line as well, it did not draw the same concerns from neighbors as no one lives south of the dorm until you hit Commerce Street and the Beerline B neighborhood.

Old Districts

New Districts

Larry Sandler at the Journal Sentinel has more information on the South Side redistricting.

Discovery World

Discovery World

Discovery World

Lakeshore State Park

Miller Park

The stage is in place.  The vendors are setting up.  Metro Market is soon to be buzzing with shoppers.  Friends and neighbors are preparing to skip out of work a little early, run home grab the chairs, a bottle of something, and head to Cathedral Square.  Yes, it’s opening night at Jazz in the Park, kinda.  Because that is how it use to work.  Today used to be one of my favorite days of the year, but as East Town has yet to back off their position of no longer allowing alcoholic carry-ins into the festival, things aren’t quite in order for the start of festival season.

I know this seems like a pretty minor issue, that’s hardly newsworthy, but to many Milwaukee residents this new policy reduces a great East Town event.  In fact there’s been talk on various Milwaukee email lists of boycotting Jazz in the Park until the rules regarding carry-ins are changed and I’ve joked about holding alternatives events, but the truth is the party will go on, just not in quite the same manner.  Really, who hasn’t snuck a flask into a football game or hidden a beer in their jacket, so surly people will find a way to continue to bring their own.  A local liquor store is even selling a product called Pocket Shots with Jazz in the Park specifically in mind, but this misses the point because this event isn’t a football game.

The point isn’t that people can drink or not, they still can.  It is about the random gatherings that occur over a bottle of wine or twelve pack of Miller, and the characters that make it unique and interesting.  I think of Downtown Diamond Dave and his “Brooklyn cooler,” a Walgreen’s bag, twelve pack of beer, and some ice.  Or the monster martini glass guy, who’d wander the square sipping on his martini.  I think of the experiences had and relationships built without out a plan, without effort, simply by reaching in the cooler and saying “want a beer?”  Yes, there will still be music, and there will of course still be people sitting out, but until State Rep. Leon D. Young’s (D-Milwaukee) legislation makes it to Governor Doyle’s desk, it’s likely that many will head straight for Taylor’s skipping the park all together, and that’s a shame.

Hear major decision-makers debate the future of passenger rail, highway expansion, the port of Milwaukee and Mitchell Field in light of stressed state and local budgets and commuters’ continuing search for the best way to get to work.

Confirmed panelists:

* Milw. County Executive Scott Walker
* Milw. Mayor Tom Barrett
* State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine and a member of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee
* State Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale and a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee

The WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com forum, which will take place on June 10 at Discovery World in Milwaukee, begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. Breakfast begins at 7:15 a.m.

The event is open to the public, and the price is $30 per person. But WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com subscribers, the UW-Milwaukee community, and members of MMAC and Discovery World will be able to attend for $20 per person. The price includes the breakfast buffet but not parking.

Click here or Call Debra Jordan (414) 287-4127 or djordan@mmac.org to register.