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.
Milwaukee Intermodal Station Trainshed
Our belief that 2010 could have been the Year of the Park East, came up a bit short, and unfortunately it wasn’t the only project that was derailed in 2010. The Rainier Properties II LLC’s office and movie theater proposal hasn’t budged. The CommonBond project, an apartment proposal on RSC’s Park East land, failed to receive WHEDA tax credits so it stalled. In fact nothing actually broke ground in the Park East, and most Park East proposals have gone quiet during this past year.
That said there were a couple of significant advances in the Park East. First, The Moderne finally received financing, and although it has yet to officially break ground, site preparation started this past week. Secondly, The North End Phase II project received a funding agreement from WHEDA, though it is still working with the City of Milwaukee to complete the project’s financing. Finally, MSOE proposed the building of a parking garage/athletic facility in the Park East which seems to be on the fast track. So with an improving economy it looks possible that the Park East project will be able to get back on track in 2011.
Unfortunately, 2010 ended up being the year of high-speed rail, just not in Milwaukee. Governor Walker ran a campaign that featured shutting down the high-speed rail upgrade and extension project as a key plank in his platform, and once elected he got his wish. As a direct result the funds were reallocated from Wisconsin to a multitude of other states, costing Wisconsin, and Milwaukee in particular, jobs, tourism, and improved transportation options. Legally required upgrades to the Milwaukee Intermodal Station are now delayed and possibly unfunded. The funding for freight tracks that were to be upgraded to allow trains to travel at speeds higher than 10 MPH was also lost. Finally, instead of 125 new central city jobs, Talgo will likely only keep 60 here in Milwaukee.
Clearly, 2010 wasn’t the year of the Park East, though certain projects did move forward, unfortunately for Milwaukee it turned out to be a year of anti-urban rhetoric that cost us much more than the pennies a year high-speed rail service would have cost Wisconsin.
Beerline B Apartments
Beerline B Apartments
Beerline B Apartments
Beerline B Apartments
Beerline B Apartments
The Wealth of Cities
Milwaukee’s former Mayor, John Norquist, in his 1998 book The Wealth of Cities writes up the impacts of U.S. policies on our cities, lays out his foundational beliefs that today form a key plank of the New Urbanism movement, and shares his insight into how he believes cities should be governed.
Covering a bit of history the book explores how a variety of public policies have negatively impacted cities and encouraged the rise of, as he calls it, “the mediocre suburb.” One such example that he points to is how zoning regulations have negatively impacted density in cities, and in turn decreased the number of affordable housing units available in a city. FHA mortgage insurance and home loan programs are another example of public policy that has had a negative impact on cities. He gives the history of how these policies have subsidized single-family home development and suburban sprawl, furthering the decline of the core.
Known for his efforts to remove the Park East Freeway spur (the book was written well before the freeway was removed in Milwaukee), and as a critic of freeway expansion, it is only appropriate that he takes an entire chapter to provide background history regarding freeways in the U.S. In particular he covers how freeways, or as he says U.S. Autobahns, have done damage to the very cities they were supposed to improve. He covers the negative impacts to health and air quality brought on by proximity to freeways, how freeways have divided neighborhoods (sometimes by physically cutting them in half), and how they have blighted urban areas. He uses the removal of the San Francisco’s Embarcadero Freeway and its redevelopment in to a boulevard as a model for other cities to follow. The removal played a significant role in the improvement of the quality of life for the citizens of San Francisco, without significantly impacting congestion.
Beyond the typical urbanist discussions, he touches on his own personal beliefs and concepts in regards to city governance. As a self-proclaimed “New Democrat” he writes about his long list of cost-saving budget measures, such as avoiding the use of one-time grants as they, in his opinion, lead to future budget holes. The choice school voucher system is another area which he covers, comparing it to the G.I. Bill and Pell Grants, arguing that those programs haven’t hurt public universities, so therefore the choice system should be supported because improving education is vital to a city’s future. The Broken Windows Theory of policing is yet another non-traditional urbanist area that he touches on, arguing that public safety is key to the success of any city, and this model of policing is a strong way to deliver safety. Straying into national politics, he even points out the value of immigration to our cities, saying “Cities are the soil in which commerce grows. One ingredient vital to such growth is people. Immigration has always been a source of strength for cities.”
Often New Urbanism is viewed as a discussion of merely the built environment, and that is a primary focus, but as his writing shows urbanism is about much more than buildings.
New Milwaukee County Transit System Bus
Starting this past summer, new buses hit the streets in Milwaukee County. Now that they have been out on the road for a few months, it’s likely that the “new car” (bus) smell has worn off. How do you feel about them now?
In my personal experience the new buses are a welcome improvement, but not a game changer. The seating arrangement isn’t any different, but the interior lacks the extremely-dated brown design pattern from the older buses. From the perspective of a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk, the new buses aren’t nearly as loud as the old ones as they pass. Most significantly, they don’t rattle on the inside like many of the old ones, delivering a much quieter riding experience.
The down side is that they’re just a marginal improvement. The new buses are an improvement necessitated by time. They deliver a better riding experience to existing riders, but it’s hard to see them attracting a significant number of non-riders out of their cars. The new MCTS buses are an incremental improvement.
Taking a more long-term view of the new buses (especially given that a new County Executive will enter office in 2011), they should be an asset to build upon in the future. If MCTS moves to publicly available real-time tracking of bus locations as they intend to, new buses will help assist in potentially attracting more choice riders. Assuming that someday MCTS is given a dedicated funding source, the new buses should encourage more ridership than their much older counterparts when service is restored to previously cut routes.
I’m thankful there are newer, quieter buses to ride, but the new buses unfortunately don’t have the power to restore routes that have been cut in the past couple of years or lower fares that have risen steadily in the past ten years. MCTS deserves accolades for leveraging available stimulus dollars to purchase a large portion of the new buses, as they’re managing to find ways to improve the system with the deck stacked against them.
What are you thoughts on the new buses? Love them? Hate them? Do they cause you to ride more?
Previous Generation MCTS Bus
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, [...]
Inspired by the success of Green Drinks Milwaukee. The idea is to get folks together to talk about sustainability, to network and build momentum for the sea change in sustainable consciousness that is on its way!
Buy your own lunch and/or beverages, and get in there and meet people! No RSVP necessary and feel free to [...]
The Capital Improvement Committee is tasked to develop, maintain, and update a long-term capital improvements program for the City’s construction and maintenance of its infrastructure and facilities.
It is made up of the Commissioner of Public Works; the Department of Administration – Budget and Management Director; the Comptroller; the chair of the Public Works Committee; the [...]
City Hall
200 East Wells St.
Common Council Chambers
Milwaukee, WI 53202
The Capital Improvement Committee is tasked to develop, maintain, and update a long-term capital improvements program for the City’s construction and maintenance of its infrastructure and facilities.
It is made up of the Commissioner of Public Works; the Department of Administration – Budget and Management Director; the Comptroller; the chair of the Public Works Committee; the chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee; the Common Council President; and a public member appointed by the Mayor. All except the public member may name an alternate. The public member is subject to Common Council confirmation to a three-year term. The President of the Common Council names the chair of the committee.
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