Mass transit took a step forward in Milwaukee yesterday.

First, we soft-launched our Milwaukee Streetcar t-shirts.  You can buy one on our (beta) store for $15.

Second, Governor Jim Doyle held a well-attended press conference with a handful of State Senators and local politicians at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station to announce a new regional transit authority plan. The Wisconsin State Legislature will take up the bill once the fall session commences.  Doyle has published a handful of details outlining key principles.  It appears there is support from Senator’s such as John Lehman, who didn’t endorse the previous proposal Doyle put forth in his budget.

We’ll have more coverage once the actual bill emerges.

So says Jill Capicchioni, of the Historic Brewers Hill Association, in an email to the neighborhood mailing list.  The “process” that Jill is intent on putting a wrench in is the proposed move of the State Department of Health Services from the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center, 1220 W. Vliet St., to a remodeled space at 2151 N. King Drive.  This proposed move has quickly come under fire from neighborhood residents, for all sorts of reasons, and it doesn’t appear that this is a necessary move, as the current building was remodeled in 2004 at a cost of $12 million which makes this move questionable at best, and a waste of taxpayer dollars at worst.

But here’s the problem.  What is the wrench that Jill is suggesting to be used to stop this proposal?  Historic Preservation.

In her email she suggests that someone files a request for historic designation of the proposed building at 2151 N. King Drive in what is a transparent attempt to derail the process.  It is quite clear from her email that Jill’s intentions have nothing to do with historic preservation.  There have been far too many examples of when Milwaukee’s historic preservation laws have been twisted to block development projects, such as the Hide House, and the Palomar project, unfortunately the tactic is catching on.

From: brewershill@yahoogroups.com [mailto:brewershill@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of j###########
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 11:39 AM
To: brewershill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Brewers Hill- Help regarding DHS relocation – Historic Preservation

Regarding the relocation of the State Department of Health
Services (DHS) from 1220 W. Vliet Street to
2151 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.

We can put a wrench in the process by requesting that the buliding at 2151 N Dr. Martin Luther King Drive be grated temoporary Historic Designation by the City.
In order to do this we need help with filling out the form.
We need someone to volunteer to help with filling out the section of the document regarding the “significance of the structure”
See the following link:
http://www.mkedcd. org/build/ pdfs/EAppHistDes ig.pdf

We need to file this form ASAP so please email me if you can help!

Jill Capicchioni
414-###-####

When these tactics are used, it muddles the debate, and draws into question one’s motivations.  Unfortunately this exemplifies an ongoing, often seen, regularly scheduled problem, that is turning Milwaukee’s historic preservation laws into a sham.  Historic preservation laws aren’t supposed to be a “wrench,” to keep those people out, protect a view, preserve the status quo, stop a high-rise, or ensure a union deal, but instead to protect a significant piece of architectural work or history.  These tactics hurts real preservation efforts, and devalue the process.  Enough already.

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 9, 2009

Milwaukee County: Committee on Transporation, Public Works and Transit

September 9, 2009 9:00 am

The mission of the Department of Public Works, including the construction and maintenance of county highways, bridges and public structures are the responsibility of this Committee. Members discuss all matters pertaining to the policy of mass transit and the Milwaukee County Transit System, including fares, service routes and capital improvements. The Committee discusses all matters [...]

September 10, 2009

Public Works Committee Meeting

September 10, 2009 9:00 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.[...]

September 11, 2009

S. 2nd Street Public Meeting

September 11, 2009 10:00 am

There will be a public meeting and presentation pertaining to the 2010 streetscaping effort to improve S. 2nd Street in the Walker’s Point area.

The meeting will be held Friday., September 11, 2009 at the Comedy Sportz place at 420 S. 1 St. at 10:00AM.

Please join Alderman Witkowiak and others from the City there to discuss [...]

The mission of the Department of Public Works, including the construction and maintenance of county highways, bridges and public structures are the responsibility of this Committee. Members discuss all matters pertaining to the policy of mass transit and the Milwaukee County Transit System, including fares, service routes and capital improvements. The Committee discusses all matters under its jurisdiction pertaining to railroads and public utilities in the county.

Meets at 9:00 A.M. on the 3rd Wednesday before the County Board Meeting

Agenda

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.

Public Works Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, City Hall, unless otherwise noted.

Agenda

The UWM School of Freshwater Sciences will not continue their plans to build a new headquarters for the school on the lakefront site that formerly housed Pieces of Eight restaurant.  We had supported the location choice, but that location choice was certainly controversial.  Seeking a less controversial site to house the cornerstone piece of something so valuable to Milwaukee’s future is a wise move.

The UWM Real Estate Foundation is withdrawing its proposal to use the former Pieces of Eight restaurant site on Milwaukee’s lakefront as alocation for the headquarters for the newly created University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.  David Gilbert, President of the UWM Foundation, announced that rather than pursuing the Pieces of Eight site, the Real Estate Foundation would begin a search for other suitable locations in the region that could meet the needs of UWM and its water industry partners.  “Transforming Southeastern Wisconsin into the water technology capital of the world is an initiative that has the potential to unite this region in what could be the largest economic development initiative we have ever seen.  We cannot risk the success of this initiative over siting issues,” Gilbert said.

Assisting UWM in the site search will be community and water industry leaders including Julia Taylor, President of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Richard Meeusen, CEO of Badger Meter.

UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago said he fully supported the decision to explore new options for housing the headquarters for the university’s School of Freshwater Sciences, the first school of its kind in the United States.  According to Santiago, the university is committed to building the broadest public support possible for the Freshwater Sciences program.  “While there is near unanimous support for expanding our region’s investment in freshwater research, the Pieces of Eight site was limiting in terms of space and the university’s control over the design of the facility.  It has become clear that the proposal to showcase freshwater research and industries at the Pieces of Eight site could end up being divisive.  Too much is at stake for us to risk losing the momentum we have established for  UWM’s Growth Agenda and for making Southeast Wisconsin the world headquarters for freshwater research and related industrial development”.

Meeusen, who is co-chair of the Milwaukee 7 Water Council, agreed. “Although many, many people endorsed the idea of building a new freshwater facility at the Pieces of Eight site,  a prolonged fight over that location is not in the best interests of our region.  We should be united in our efforts to capitalize on the tremendous advantage we enjoy with our freshwater resources and the businesses built around those resources”.

The process of identifying potential locations for UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences will begin immediately.

For those who said this was a done deal, this decision by the UWM Real Estate Foundation is a clear indicator that rational debate gets you much further than ranting without all the facts.  A more civil and well-informed public debate on issues from opponents in the future would be welcome.

To UWM, godspeed in finding an iconic home for a school too important to fail.

Photos from the 1st Annual Rubber Duck Regatta benefiting the Red Cross.

Rubber Duck Regatta Start

Rubber Duck Race

Rubber Ducks Being Poured Into Milwaukee River

Rubber Ducks

Rubber Duck Regatta – Milwaukee River

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Patrick McIlheran recently took a swing at my Hoan Bridge article, Hoan Bridge: Tear Down Another Freeway in Milwaukee?.  While getting things wrong about the article, such as missing that I would maintain the highway as a spur out of the Marquette Interchange that would land east of the Milwaukee River, he did manage to get one point spot on.

“… it reduces the Lake Parkway into a conduit useful only for reaching downtown.”

Yes, my plan did take the existing, iconic Hoan Bridge and drop it to the ground as a conduit to downtown.  Patrick reports that 2/3′s of the cars on the Hoan Bridge actually use it for just that.  That’s 66% of the drivers using it just how I proposed to keep it.  With a polling number like that, a referendum among Hoan drivers for my plan looks like it would win in a landslide.

What do the other cars do?  Well they possibly go slightly west to Marquette or the Menomonee Valley, or they drive across some of the most expensive real estate in the state to reach Waukesha County.  According to Patrick’s stat, that’s 1/3 of the trips across the Hoan and 794 that likely start in a suburb of Milwaukee, go right through downtown Milwaukee, and end up in somewhere west of Milwaukee, like Waukesha County.

Now if you draw a line on a map from Cudahy to Waukesha you’ll notice it doesn’t go through downtown Milwaukee. Also, if you look at a photo of downtown Milwaukee you’ll notice there are big buildings, signifying amongst many other things, that the land is valuable.  However, the land immediately adjacent to the freeway is used for parking as the buildings turn their back on the concrete wall. My plan would replace the east-west freeway with a boulevard that would allow this land to be developed similar to the land immediately north and south of it (a large boost the Park East didn’t have). At the same time, my plan would still ensure quick and easy access to downtown jobs.

What my plan didn’t do was maintain the “Milwaukee bypass” that connects the southern suburbs with Waukesha County through downtown Milwaukee.  We have some different “suggestions” for that, including extending Interstate 894 east through St. Francis and Cudahy to reach the Lakefront Parkway.  That will still maintain what suburban commuters feel is critical freeway access to the western world.  I’ll explore possible routes for that in a future article.

Between being paranoid about a roundabout, changing my plans to eliminate the western part of 794 downtown, and spelling my name wrong again (Jeramey, not Jeremy), Patrick makes a few really good points.  Sixty-six percent of riders would not have their commute impaired, as the bridge would guide them their ultimate destination.  It will be nice for the City of Milwaukee to add to its tax base instead of serve as a bypass (something the Public Policy Forum probably thinks is a good thing after the study they recently released).  And my favorite…

“One hates to break it to the urbanists: The center of Milwaukee is not the center of the universe.”

To which my only response can be yes, that’s true, but why are you so determined to have people drive through it then?

Photo courtesy of Trek Bikes

Ride the Drive?  Just seventy miles to the west, a successful car-free day, often referred to as a Ciclovía, or in the U.S. Sunday Streets, brought thousands of people out of their homes, and into the street to enjoy their city.  At its simplest one of these events, closes off a few miles of city streets to automobile traffic for the day, much like a street festival does, but larger and it doesn’t focus on food, beer, and music.  Street vendors will setup along the street, there could be a space for dancing and exercise, a touch of live music, maybe some bicycle education, but really it is a street festival for bicyclists, walkers, joggers, rollerbladers , and anyone else who wants to see their city from a new point of view.  Simply, it is an event where families, children, and all residents can enjoy the city, breath a bit of cleaner air, and get a little exercise in the process.

Events like these always raise concerns such as, “how will I get around if the street is closed?”, “or will this hurt my business?” but afterwards the biggest concern is “when will the city hold the next car-free day?”  Often enough, streets in downtown Milwaukee on a Sunday are quite empty of significant automobile traffic, possibly because of Milwaukee’s vibrant Saturday night, and every year streets are shutdown for days on end for festivals like Bastille Days, so it ought to be possible for one Sunday during the Summer to close down a few streets, and open them up to people.

Madison had Ride the Drive, how about Roll Down Water, Bike Brady, Stroll State, Bike the Hoan, or quite simply Sunday Streets for Milwaukee?