Bike Parking!

There’s certainly a belief in the U.S. that biking to work is difficult, that there won’t be any place to lock your bike up, or that you’ll be smelly, but the truth is that it can be fun, easy, affordable, and healthy.  Even if it just once this week, give it a try as biking to work might just be the most fun you have all summer.  To make your experience more enjoyable the Bike Federation of Wisconsin has setup morning commuter stations that will be open from 7 to 9 am this week, where you can meet other bicyclists, have some coffee, and grab a doughnut.

Commuter Stations

Downtown: Alterra Foundry, 170 S 1st St.

Central: Sigma Group, Hank Aaron State Trail at 13th & Canal, closes 8:30 a.m.

Eastside: Urban Ecology Center, Riverside Park, Oak Leaf Trail.

Westside: Urban Ecology Center, Washington Park, 1859 N. 40th St.

The week will also feature some signature rides and events to make biking more enjoyable.

Events

Tuesday, June 8th
7:30 – 8:30 a.m., Ride to Work with Mayor Barrett & Press Conference
Meet at 51st & Washington Blvd. to bike to work with Mayor Barrett. Mayoral press conference will follow the ride and be held at the Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway.

Wednesday, June 9th
5-7 p.m., Bike Mechanics Training Program Open House
The Bike Federation of Wisconsin is part of Valid Bike Shop, a bike-mechanic training program for students at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St. (enter on 10th and Clarke). There will be an awards ceremony for student mechanics, tours of the space, and a show-and-tell of the shop’s cargo bike welding project. Additionally, there will be refurbished bikes for sale, and refreshments will be served.

Friday, June 11th
5 p.m., Bike to the Brewers
Meet at Urban Ecology Center in Washington Park (1859 N. 40th St.) or at Alterra Foundry (170 S 1st St.) at 5 p.m. Or meet at 5:15 p.m. at the Sigma Group, 13th and Canal.
The Bike Federation of Wisconsin will be providing food and beer, though participants will need to purchase Brewer tickets on their own.

For more information on these events, or to learn about Bike to Work Week in Milwaukee visit the Bike Federation of Wisconsin website.

• Tight parking rules near Pabst project stir complaints By Tom Daykin
• Morning sun creates a near masterpiece for Miller Lite Ride for the Arts By Tom Held
• Street Eats By Karen Cinpinski
• Parking lots to parks: Designing livable cities By Lester Brown
• Alderman says UWM’s new developments will boost Walker’s Point By mkepoliticsweekly
• KRM rolls closer to construction money By Sean Ryan
• Kinnickinnic River widening forces residents to move By Don Behm
• UW-Milwaukee targets two sites for water school By Sean Ryan
• Miles Driven for Shopping Continues to Climb, But Pace Slows By Stacy Mitchell
• Park Lafayette moves closer to sale; foreclosure suit to be dropped By Tom Daykin
• UWM will develop 2 sites for School of Freshwater Sciences By BizTimes Daily
• Historic streetcar stops destined for Hank Aaron State Trail By Tom Held
• Bike to Work Week By Jordan Lee
• UWM names 2 sites for School of Freshwater Sciences Read more: UWM names 2 sites for School of Freshwater Sciences By The Business Journal of Milwaukee
• UWM Water School plan includes privately funded building By Tom Daykin
• Support for UWM on-campus arena By Don Walker
• UWM Water School announcement coming Thursday By Tom Daykin
• Columbia St. Mary’s hospital to add second green roof By The Business Journal of Milwaukee
• High-speed rail advocates want more By Steve Jagler
• Flood mitigation project will allow future expansion of Falk plant By BizTimes
• Youth Taking the Exit Ramp? By deathbycar.info
• Waukesha mayor demands information on changes to lake water application By Don Behm
• UPAF’s Ride for the Arts gets new starting point By Cailley Hammel
• Rail ideas await their fate in Milwaukee By Larry Sandler
• Watershed benefits of smart growth duplicate transportation benefits, according to recent research By Kaid Benfield
• Think bigger By jsonline.com
• Poverty moves to the suburbs By Matt Hrodey
• Person of the Day: Ryan Lloyd – Owner, Pedal Tavern By Angela Damiani
• “The Neighborhood Project”: Havenwoods | The Milwaukee Asian Market By Adam Carr
• Townhomes funded by Recovery Act to begin construction By milwaukeecourieronline.com
• Ohio’s Third Frontier may offer a model for economic development By jsonline.com
• City’s land-use strategies determine its success By Rocky Marcoux

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.

June 7, 2010

Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting

June 7, 2010 9:00 am

The Community and Economic Development Committee hears matters relating to community development, block grants, job development, business improvement districts, city public relations, industrial land banks and revenue bonds, emerging business enterprises, recreation, cultural arts and the library system.

The Community and Economic Development Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, [...]

June 8, 2010

Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Meeting

June 8, 2010 9:00 am

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee reviews issues relating to city development, zoning, historic preservation, incremental tax financing, building codes and housing projects.

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, City Hall, unless otherwise noted.[...]

June 9, 2010

Milwaukee County: Committee on Transporation, Public Works and Transit

June 9, 2010 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 [...]

June 12, 2010

Gathering Waters Festival

June 12, 2010 11:00 am to
7:00 pm

Lakeshore State Park
June 12, 2010 – 11am to 7pm
A National Get Outdoors Day Event
Off the freshwater coast of Summerfest and Discovery World

FREE Event Including:

REI Paddle Sports Demos for Canoeing & Kayaking
DNR FIsh and Fly Fishing Clinics – We Supply the Poles
Bike Village
Boat and Bike Rides
Kite Flying
Wellness, Freshwater and Energy Exhibits
Healthy Lawn and Garden Demos
Park Passport [...]

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 Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee reviews issues relating to city development, zoning, historic preservation, incremental tax financing, building codes and housing projects.

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

Agenda

The Community and Economic Development Committee hears matters relating to community development, block grants, job development, business improvement districts, city public relations, industrial land banks and revenue bonds, emerging business enterprises, recreation, cultural arts and the library system.

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

Agenda

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Green Metropolis by David Owen

Author David Owen, makes a strong argument, and one that flies in the face of many activities and technologies that are traditionally labeled as ‘green’ in Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability. Instead he argues that truly living green is living dense.  In his own words his argument is that “living closer to one’s daily destinations, Manhattan-style, reduces vehicle miles traveled, makes transit and walking feasible as forms of transportation, increases the efficiency of energy production and consumption, limits the need to build superfluous infrastructure, and cuts the demand for such environmentally doomed extravagances as riding lawnmowers and household irrigation systems.”

Taking the debate further he challenges the conventional view of environmentalism, taking on the ideas that includes the protection and creation of large green spaces, local food production, and high-tech solutions such as solar panels and wind turbines arguing that “in terms of sustainability, dense cities have far more to teach us than solar-powered mountainside cabins or quaint old New England towns.”  He takes it a step further arguing that large urban parks essentially sprawl out cities, and “inhibit many of the activities they are intended to encourage.”

Not to leave out the energy industry he goes on to attack the ‘drill baby drill‘ belief that pumping more oil will help the U.S. become ‘energy-independent’ calling it a “fantasy.”  He points out that even the wildest of speculation suggest the U.S. has 112 billion barrels left, although it is more likely to be around 30 billion, which because of our extreme automobile dependency and sprawling lifestyle isn’t an inexhaustible supply.  That even when using this 112 billion barrels number were the U.S. to switch away from importing oil this supply would exhaust itself in less than 15 years, and in a significantly shorter time frame if the true number is 30 billion as predicted.

While challenging the more traditional views of environmentalism, and taking on the U.S. energy he makes a compelling argument that the truest form of green living is the result of density.

The Congress for the New Urbanism held its 18th annual meeting this year in Atlanta under the title “RX for Healthy Places” (RX referring to the medical terminology for a prescription).  The title highlights the impact our built environment has on how we conduct our daily lives and how these patterns have a great effect on human health.

By far the most important speech came from Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).   Mr. Donovan announced that “For the first time in the history of federal grant competitions, I want to announce today that HUD will be using location-efficiency to score our grant applications”.  Donovan told the more than 1,000 attendees of the annual gathering of the leading national group promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions “Using the LEED-ND green neighborhood rating system CNU developed in partnership with the National Resources Defense Council and Green Building Council, it’s time that federal dollars stopped encouraging sprawl and started lowering the barriers to the kind of sustainable development our country needs and our communities want.”

In conjunction with this announcement, urban transportation and in particular bicycles were important topics at the CNU this year.  David Byrne, former singer for the music group the “Talking Heads” spoke about his experiences as a bicycle tourist in many cities around the world.  His words were followed by a session titled “Developing a Manifesto to Spread the Biking Revolution to More Big American Cities”.  The group concluded that as fuel prices continue to rise cities will need to accommodate not only bicycles, but smaller motorized vehicles like scooters and Segways as well.

Interconnected transportation networks were the subject of many sessions.  The definition of networks extends from everything as simple as adequate sidewalks to complex multi-modal transportation stations.  These interconnected systems promote walking, either to a final destination or a transit stop, as a viable mode of getting around while greatly improving people’s health.  Several sessions focused on these topics including: Health and Transportation, Retrofitting Suburbia, Great American Grid, Transportation Networks / Initiative Workshop, Project for Transportation Reform Meeting and Thinking about Intercity Passenger Rail, High Speed Rail and Urbanism.

Another major theme of the 18th Annual Congress was Agricultural Urbanism, a very relevant topic to local pioneers like Growing Power, Inc.  Reducing the distance food needs to travel to consumers will reduce the environmental impacts and costs of food.  So, the New Urbanist’s have been thinking of how to incorporate urban farming physically and socially into urban areas.  Their system proposes appropriate levels of agriculture for different urban densities.  Ranging from small window planters in the most densely populated areas to agrarian villages where cooperative farming can take place.

Next year’s congress in Madison is going to be titled “Growing Local” and will feature local Wisconsin farmers and scholars. I think New Urbanists are going to be very surprised by the parallel between the small farming communities that developed naturally in Wisconsin and the New Urbanism’s theoretical agrarian villages. As we showcase Wisconsin’s attributes to people from all over the world and they learn from our experiences, we should be asking how we can learn from others urban experiences. Remembering that living smaller, closer and more efficiently are the keys to a sustainable future.

Guest post by: Matthew Trussoni

Matthew Trussoni, PhD, PE, RA is currently an Assistant Professor in and an alumnus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Architectural Engineering Department. After graduating MSOE he attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. where he completed a dual master’s degrees program in the School of Architecture in 2005 earning the degrees of Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Design. In 2009 he earned his Ph.D. in civil (structural) engineering in the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department. His professional experience has encompassed both architecture and engineering as he is a Registered Architect and Professional Engineer in the State of Florida.

The single greatest week of eating in Milwaukee starts tomorrow. The fifth edition of Downtown Dining Week will kick off on June 3rd and run through June 10th. Lunch meals are available for $10, and dinner is available for $20 (or $30 at a handful of places) at numerous downtown restaurants. If you’re looking to sample a lot downtown eateries, this is your week. All meals are three courses.

Please remember to tip your servers, as food heaven for you is frequently food hell for them.

Where will you eat?

Participating Restaurants

* denotes $30 dinner

• Benihana
• Bistro 333
• Buca di Beppo
• Butch’s Old Casino Steak House
• Cafe Calatrava
• Cafe at the Pfister
• Capital Grille*
• Charro Tacos & Tequila
• Club Charlies
• Coquette Cafe
• Eagan’s On Water
• Indulge
• Joey Buona’s Restaurant
• Karl Ratzsch’s
• Kil@wat
• Knick
• Libiamo
• Louise’s
• Mader’s*
• Mason Street Grill*
• Milwaukee ChopHouse*
• Mi•Key’s*
• Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern*
• Osteria del Mondo*
• Palms Bistro*
• Red Accordion
• RipTide Seafood Bar & Grill
• Riverfront Pizzeria
• Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
• Sabor*
• Sake Tumi
• Swig
• Third Ward Caffe*
• Tulip
• Umami Moto*
• Ward’s House of Prime*
• Water Buffalo
• Zarletti