Mo’s Irish Pub in Wauwatosa, WI intends to demolish two homes to create 48 new parking spots for their patrons.  With the expanded parking lot Mo’s Irish Pub will have 179 parking spots, and although they do serve food it is likely that many of these spots are for pub patrons.  Yup.  One hundred seventy nine parking spots for a pub.  Some residents believe this will make their streets safer, others fear the loss of their neighborhood, the business argues it will keep patrons out of the neighborhood, but most certainly the intent is for this to fuel new growth, to insure more people can drive to the pub.

The pub’s location is certainly very car-oriented, being located on a major suburban arterial, so much so that it almost requires one to drive to it, with the exception of the few homes it borders.  By removing these homes, it reduces the number of patrons that might ever walk to the pub, albeit by just a couple, and increases the likelihood someone will drive to the pub.  It is of course not to say that bars or pubs in walkable neighborhoods don’t have drunk drivers, I’ve seen too many cars going the wrong way down Wells St. at bar time to believe otherwise, but adding 48 new parking spots to a pub isn’t helping the problem.

Mo’s Irish Pub is just a symptom, just one example, and not the root of problem.  Our car culture is to blame.  When cities have zoning that makes it acceptable for an tavern to have 100s of parking spots and actively encourages them to be located outside of walkable areas, when patrons complain of a lack of parking to get to happy hour, when it is acceptable to drive to the tavern what do we expect?

Again legislators are looking at toughening drunk driving laws which they certainly should, but it is time to look at land use patterns, and the anti-transit / pro-automobile bias as part of this problem.  The equation isn’t this simple, but at the same time isn’t all that more complicated than: “car culture + car-oriented location + drinking = drunk driving.”

The Village of West Milwaukee has a population of 4,201 people according to the 2000 census, which translates into 2,059 households.  From January 2006 until September 1st, 2009 the Village of West Milwaukee exported at least 1,880 guns that were used to commit crimes in the City of Milwaukee.

Statistically-speaking, everyday since January 2006 the Village of West Milwaukee has supplied at least one gun used to commit a crime in the City of Milwaukee.

Logistically then, it seems the easiest solution would be to simply build a fence around West Milwaukee, and check for guns at each entry/exit checkpoint.  Obviously that’s a pretty stupid solution for a whole lot of reasons.  However, it would appear that doing so would drastically reduce the amount of gun crime in the City of Milwaukee.  Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.  People want guns, and will seek out a place to buy them.

Statistics and Iron-Curtain-style solutions aside, what is going on in the Village of West Milwaukee?  It turns out that a single gun store known as Badger Guns (and formerly as Badger Outdoors) sells an awful lot of guns.  Selling a lot of guns in and of itself isn’t a problem.  The problem with Badger Guns is how they sell their guns, and who they sell them to.

Of those previously mentioned 1,880 guns, the shooters of those weapons were certainly not all first time criminals.  In fact in a recent operation conducted by the Milwaukee Police Department numerous felons were frequently observed going in and out of the store.  From those observations, MPD was able to seize 12 weapons, and discovered that felons have been using the shooting range at the store for target practice.

Police Chief Edward Flynn had some choice comments on the matter and owner Adam Allan that ran in a Journal Sentinel story that brought the problems with the store to light.

“I had an enough-is-enough moment,” Flynn said. “They know to whom they are selling, they know what is happening with their product, they know citizens in Milwaukee are dying, and they don’t care.”

“(Allan) clearly doesn’t care a damn about the demographics of dead Milwaukeeans,” Flynn said. “To try to wrap himself as a victim of racism is not only absurd, it is obscene.”

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who appears to be just about as big of fan of Badger Guns as Chief Flynn, has offered up straight forward solutions on how Badger Guns can clean up their act.

Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm said Badger can and must do more to prevent illegal gun sales. As the former head of the office’s gun unit, Chisholm has intimate knowledge of the store’s operation.

“All we are asking is that they be professional,” Chisholm said. “Their public service would be to do everything in their professional skill to prevent a sale to someone who will turn around and put that gun on the street to commit violence. They have the skill to do it. I suspect they choose not to do that more than they do.”

…

Allan said he doesn’t want to have felons in his store.

“I would prefer that they not be here, but unless they put an F on someone’s driver license, I don’t know they have a felony,” he said.

Chisholm countered that Allan could require everyone who enters his store to show ID and be checked in a publicly available database for felony convictions. At a minimum, felons should be run so they cannot be allowed to take target practice at the store, the district attorney said.

If the gun store were a tavern in the City of Milwaukee it likely would have been closed by now.  Frequently all it takes is one shooting and a tavern license is at the very least suspended by the Common Council Licenses Committee.  Ironically, it’s likely that a gun supplied by Badger Guns has been used in at least one shooting that resulted in a bar being closed in Milwaukee. But alas, the store is in the Village of West Milwaukee and here we are.

Adam Allan, who could just as easily have the police off his back by complying with suggestions from Chisholm, appears more content to simply put up inflammatory signs indicating that MPD is the bad guy, instead of his business practices, which from all reports seem to be rather negligent.

The eloquent sign reads "Racist Milwaukee Police Dep is pulling over African Americans leaving this store. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Crime in Milwaukee is an oft-criticized facet of the city by suburban residents, and it’s shameful to see a suburb willing to profit from fueling the fire.  It’s time for Badger Guns to clean up its act, so MPD can continue to work to clean up the streets.

Kudos to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for bringing the situation forward.

This event is free an open to the public.

Hefter Center
3271 N. Lake Dr.
UW-Milwaukee

Conference on History of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area

October 24, 2009
(Schedule as of September 22, 2009)
8:45-9:15 a.m.: Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:15-9:25 a.m.: Introductory Remarks
9:30-11:10 a.m.: Session 1
Approaches to 20th Century Milwaukee History
Discussants/Chairs: John Buenker, Emeritus, UW-Parkside and Clay McShane,
Department of History, Northeastern University
Eric Fure-Slocum, Department of History, St. Olaf College, “Growth and Working-
Class Politics in Milwaukee: Transformations in Mid-20th-Century Policy and
Political Culture”
John M. McCarthy, Department of History, Robert Morris University, “Planning in
Socialist Milwaukee: Local, National, and International Contexts”
Phyllis M. Santacroce, Urban Studies Programs, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
“Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and the Model Cities Program: The State’s Failed Efforts to
Promote Change in the City of Milwaukee”
11:15-12:50 p.m.: Lunch and Poster Session
Poster Session
Christopher Chan, Marquette University, “The Green Sheet: Journalism in
Milwaukee”
Tamara Lange, Sheboygan County Historical Museum, “Milwaukee County Parks
and the Great Depression: A Case Study in Environmental and Economic
Development”
Christina Makos, Marquette University, “University Settlement”
Yance Marti, Independent Scholar, “Growth of Downtown Milwaukee”
Joe Walzer, “The Development and Engagement of Amusement Parks in Milwaukee,
1896-1910”
Ryan Wilhite, History, Indiana University-Indianapolis,“ ‘It’s Your BUSiness’:
Rethinking Mass Transit in Milwaukee”
1:00-2:20 p.m.: SESSION 2—CONCURRENT PANELS

PANEL 1: The Impact of Law
Discussant/Chair: Thomas J. Jablonsky, Department of History, Marquette University
Ellen D. Langill, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
“Ethics, and Entrepreneurship in Early Milwaukee Legal Practice”
Karen W. Moore, Urban Studies Programs, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
“Daniel Hoan, et al v. The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company and the
Wisconsin Railroad Commission: Tracking Legal Contests for Control of
Milwaukee’s Street Railways”
James K. Nelsen, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
“Origins of Milwaukee’s Magnet Schools, 1967-1976”

PANEL 2: The World of Milwaukee Youth
Discussant/Chair: James Marten, Department of History, Marquette University
Joe Austin, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee “African
American Youth in Urban Policy, Policing, and News Reporting in Milwaukee, 1940-
1970”
Gregory Bond, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “What
Will the Gold Dust Twins Do against Green Bay?: Fritz Pollard, Paul Robeson, the
1922 Milwaukee Badgers, and Early Integrated Professional Football in the Cream
City”
Daryl Webb, Department of History, Cardinal Stritch University, “Radicals and
Patriots: Youth Against War in Great Depression Milwaukee”

2:30-3:50 p.m.: SESSION 3—CONCURRENT PANELS

PANEL 1: Religion in Milwaukee History
Discussant/Chair: Genevieve G. McBride, Department of History, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jason Hostutler, Department of History, Mount Mary College, “The Catholic Church
as a Spearhead of Urban Development in Milwaukee”
Michael D. Jacobs, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Baraboo, “Anti-
Catholic Agitation in Milwaukee in the Early 1850s”
John C. Savagian, Department of History, Alverno College, “Assassination in the
Church: How Bolsheviks, Dashnaks, and an Archbishop’s Murder Created Crisis and
Schism among Metropolitan-Milwaukee Armenians”

PANEL 2: The New Milwaukee
Discussant/Chair: Gregory S. Jay, Cultures and Communities, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee
Stephen Byers, Department of Journalism, Marquette University, “Making Their
Voices Heard: The Rich History of Milwaukee’s Ethnic Press”
Gregory Carman, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
“African American Suburbanization in Milwaukee”
Mark Speltz, Independent Scholar, “Marching on Milwaukee: Photography and
Civil Rights in the North”
Chia Youyee Vang, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
“Unexpected Settlers: Hmong in Milwaukee”
4:00-5:10 p.m.: KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Ann Durkin Keating, Professor, Department of History, North Central College
“A Call to Regionalism: Integrating City and Suburbs into Urban History”
5:10-6:15 p.m.: Closing Remarks and Reception

Urban Milwaukee’s Upcoming Events & Meetings Calendar should help you keep up to date on important events effecting our neighborhoods, the City of Milwaukee, and our region.

September 29, 2009

UWM Master Plan Public Meeting

September 29, 2009 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

UWM Union, Wisconsin Room.

The UWM Union is located at 2200 E. Kenilworth Blvd.

September 30, 2009

UWM Master Plan Public Meeting

September 30, 2009 8:30 am to 10:00 am

UWM Union, Wisconsin Room.

The UWM Union is located at 2200 E. Kenilworth Blvd.

8:30 am – 10 am, Wednesday, September 30

UWM Union, Wisconsin Room.

The UWM Union is located at 2200 E. Kenilworth Blvd.

6:30 pm – 8 pm, Tuesday, September 29

UWM Union, Wisconsin Room.

The UWM Union is located at 2200 E. Kenilworth Blvd.

WisDOT and Governor Doyle announced a substantial rail investment yesterday, it wasn’t the oft-discussed KRM commuter rail line, but instead a serious upgrade to the aging railroad infrastructure that Wisconsin’s railroads and businesses depend on.

The biennial budget that was passed this summer substantially increased the investment the state will make in repairing and restoring rail lines.

None of the projects are going to immediately impact the Milwaukee area in any noticeable way (besides creating jobs for a lot of Milwaukee-based Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, WSOR, employees).  The long-term impact of upgrading the state’s railroad infrastructure will be significant.  Upgrading track sections that are nearly 100 years old (an era of much smaller rail cars) will allow for greater speed and reliability, which translates into cheaper shipping costs, fewer trucks on the highway, less congestion, and less wasted fuel.  As Milwaukee is well served by numerous rail lines, this will only serve to make the city of Milwaukee an even more attractive place to do business.

The last budget included funding of $22 million, so edging above $30 million is a sizable 36% increase in funding.  Something that WSOR asked for, and now plans to immediately move on.

WSOR went as far as to produce a short documentary exhibiting their problems with the conditions of rails in Wisconsin.

The press release and more information can be found on the WisDOT website.  Information on the exact grants and loans to be provided has been made available.

Governor Jim Doyle today announced ten state awards totaling $30,596,082 that will be used to construct freight rail-related facilities, and preserve and upgrade rail infrastructure as part of overall efforts to support job growth and Wisconsin’s agricultural economy.

“Freight rail plays a critical role in Wisconsin’s transportation system, moving some 150 million tons of commodities every year,” Governor Doyle said.  “These grants and loans will help retain jobs and spur economic growth in many rural communities while strengthening our agricultural economy.”

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is administering three loan awards totaling $3,382,944 through the Freight Railroad Infrastructure Improvement Program (FRIIP).  A revolving loan program, FRIIP awards are provided to private industries, railroads, and local governments to improve rail infrastructure, highway/grade crossings, and to construct new rail-served facilities – with the overall goal to boost economic development and jobs.  As FRIIP loans are repaid, the dollars are used to help fund new projects.  Most of the work on the recently approved FRIIP loan projects will begin this fall and continue in the spring of 2010.

Seven grant awards totaling $27,213,138 are being distributed through the state’s Freight Railroad Preservation Program (FRPP).  FRPP grants cover up to 80 percent of the cost of projects designed to preserve rail service or rehabilitate fixed facilities on publicly owned rail lines.  Award recipients provide the 20 percent local share.

Since the FRIIP program was approved by the Legislature in 1993, WisDOT has provided 93 loans through the program totaling over $100 million.  Another $78 million in FRPP grants have been awarded to local governments and railroads since 1993.  Twelve freight railroads operate in Wisconsin on a system of over 3,600 route miles of track and handle some 2.5 million rail cars each year.

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel reports in his article, Census says: more bikes on the road in Milwaukee, that “The number of Milwaukee workers who bicycled to their jobs more than doubled from 2006 to 2008, and now accounts for more than 1% of the total commuter traffic.”  What’s significant about the 1% ridership is that it has a doubled recently, and is actually above the U.S. national average of .5%, so progress is being made.  Although, still small, it is a start.

Of course there will be some who say “one percent who cares” or “why spend money on such a small number of people.”  But encouraging more ridership is good for Milwaukee as it can, in the long run, reduce congestion and parking needs, improve the health of our residents, and raise the quality of life for all of our residents, not just bicyclists.  To see these ridership numbers continue to rise it is important to recognize that to some extent it is the infrastructure priorities that sets the mode choice.

Cities around the world have been able to obtain higher ridership numbers by overtime implementing small incremental infrastructure improvements.  For example, Portland has seen its ridership numbers top 5.9% (or more), and Copenhagen has hit heights of 37%.  Here in Milwaukee the addition of new bike lanes, bike racks on buses, and a variety of awareness programs have all contributed to this increased ridership, but as these other cities have shown much more can be done.

In the area of infrastructure there are a variety of options that could be invested in to further increase Milwaukee’s ridership numbers.

• Bike Racks.  The addition of a second bike staple wherever the city has an existing one would go a long way to alleviate concerns of securely locking ones bike once they have arrived at a destination.
• On-Street Bike Parking.  This should be offered as an option to business owners that want additional bike parking, but don’t want to use up sidewalk space.
• Cycletracks.  A cycletrack physically separates bike traffic from automobile traffic on the street.  Although this design raises concerns among some riders,cycletracks have been widely successful in attracting ridership in cities such as Copenhagen, and now New York City.
• Bike Boulevards.  This improvement simply reconfigures neighborhood streets to discourage automobile traffic, while at the same time reducing stop signs to facilitate bike access.
• Bike Lanes.  The painting of bike lanes is a low cost measure that helps bicyclists stake a claim to the road, and at the very least indicates to drivers the presence of bicyclists.
• Bike Trails.  In some areas of Milwaukee bike trails act as arterial streets and facilitate long distance travel.  Additionally, these trails create a safe and fun environment for new riders to get their bike legs.
• Complete Streets.  By designing a street for pedestrians, while including bike lanes, the end result is slower automobile traffic and a safer more enjoyable experience for riders.
• Bike-Sharing.  Bike-sharing systems allow people to securely rent, or borrow, a bike and return it to another station within the city.  Systems like these can introduce new riders to the possibility of using a bike for a short trip.

Do you have any other suggestions?