Featured Photographer, Daniel Adams. Around the Neighborhood – Layton Boulevard West
Milwaukee Fix
Milwaukee Fix
Milwaukee Fix
Milwaukee Fix
Milwaukee Fix
The streetcar as it meets Broadway in the Third Ward.
The Milwaukee Common Council voted to approved the Milwaukee Streetcar today, moving it forward to Final Engineering. The Common Council will have to approve operating funding as construction draws to a close. The streetcar is expected to begin operating in late 2014.
The project passed on a 10 to 5 vote with Alderman Bohl, Donovan, Davis, Dudzik, and Murphy voting against.
Food Truck Friday
Food Truck Friday
Food Truck Friday
Food Truck Friday
Food Truck Friday
Sublime 324 E. Mason St.
We’re throwing a party to celebrate our third full year of coverage, and hopefully we will be celebrating the Common Council’s passing of the Milwaukee Streetcar project! We would love for our readers to come join us in this celebration. The fun starts at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26th at Sublime. Sublime has generously offered a drink special of half off everything except top-shelf drinks and shots.
Sublime is located at 324 E. Mason Street, next to Karl Ratzsch’s. We’ll be there all night, so don’t worry if you can’t make it out early.
Please join us as Milwaukee moves forward.
The North End Phase II
At yesterday’s meeting of the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee meeting Mandel Group’s efforts to acquire financing for the next phase of The North End were recommended for approval. The $4.6 million city loan was approved as part of the second amendment to the Park East TID No 48 has a term of 18 years and a 5.5% fixed interest rate. The second phase will include two buildings, a 55-unit building and a 100-unit building, both one-story taller than the previous buildings. The 55-unit apartment building will complete the block face along Pleasant St. and frame a new public square. The 100-unit building will be constructed along a new street that will run along the Milwaukee River. As the project is being partially funded by WHEDA with $26.18 million (was originally $24 million) in variable rate tax-exempt bonds 80% of the apartments will be offered at market rates while 20% will be reserved as affordable housing units. Additionally, $2.2 million of previously approved TIF funds will be used during this phase to construct the dockwall, the riverwalk, a public square, and a new street. This file will now go before the full Common Council for approval
Tom Daykin has an article on the approval as well, City Loan for North End Phase II Recommended for Approval at committee.
A rendering of the streetcar at the intersection of Van Buren and Wells in downtown Milwaukee.
Yesterday, Alderman Donovan called for a referendum to be held before moving forward with the Milwaukee Streetcar project. A referendum that wouldn’t be held until the Spring primaries on February 21st, 2012. Making a proposal such as this reminds us that there wasn’t a referendum for the Hoan Bridge reconstruction, the I-94 expansion, or the $810 million (not including utility relocation costs) Marquette Interchange project. Locally in Alderman Donovan’s district, there wasn’t a referendum for National Avenue’s recent streetscaping project between S. 27th St. (Layton Blvd.) and S. 35th St. Finally, when the $300 Milwaukee Connector guided bus proposal came up for a vote there were no calls for referendum from Alderman Donovan, in fact he voted in a straight up and down vote, on the losing side. But now a smaller, $64 million project, is too big to vote on? It appears that the standard for its approval is being set higher than for other infrastructure projects, and that the only criteria being used to call for a referendum is that the Milwaukee Streetcar project just might have support of the majority of the Common Council and the Mayor’s office.
Despite Alderman Donovan’s claim that this is about ‘letting the voters decide’, that isn’t the impact his proposal will have. Citizens may argue that we should have our own vote, and there is certainly a time and place for referendums, while other members of the Common Council may see this as a way to avoid voting on a difficult issue. Other citizens and maybe even some elected officials might see this as a way to change the route to an inner-city location or to use the money to improve bus service. But that isn’t what this vote is about. It is about derailing the Milwaukee Streetcar.
Holding this vote, next year, would jeopardized the current funding. Milwaukee has had these funds available for transit improvements since 1991, but never before has the potential for the funds to be rescinding been any higher. It would also insure that Milwaukee misses out on its chance to obtaining TIGER 3 funding and possibly a Livability grant that could become available later this year. These funds could pay for route extensions to the North, South, and West. Moving the Milwaukee Streetcar project forward this month is Milwaukee’s best chance to see this kind of service expanded throughout the city. Waiting until next year serves only one purpose, to derail the Milwaukee Streetcar.
So if you want to see the Milwaukee Streetcar come to Bay View, Bronzeville, Sherman Park, or Lindsay Heights now is the time to support the effort. Please once again use the form below to pledge your support for the Milwaukee Streetcar Project.
Nomad's On-Street Bike Corral
Portland has 67 on-street bike corrals, while Milwaukee now has two. With the latest being installed this past week at the Nomad on the Lower East Side. The Nomad’s new bike corral is located in an unused space along Warren St., and just as Alterra’s on-street bike corral, its installation removed no automobile parking spots. In fact this installation added a net of sixteen (it added nine bike racks, while one rack was removed from the sidewalk) new parking spots for customers of the Nomad and surrounding businesses, albeit bicycle parking spots.
Unlike Alterra’s bike corral, which in addition to its intended functional use acts as a piece of public art, this rack is simple and to the point. Parking your bicycle here is secure, common, and provided. The design of this installation (additional border markings yet to be installed) is more typical of the design seen in cities such as Portland and Minneapolis, and we would expect to see this design installed around Milwaukee as new businesses choose to incorporate on-street bike corrals into their business plan.
It is our understanding that Milwaukee’s third bike corral is in the works, so as soon as it is installed we’ll let you know. Additionally, we wanted to know from you, where might you think a new on-street bike corral could work? Let us know via email or the comments below.
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