WIS27 LLC’s proposal to develop a 64,000 SF office building at the corner of 27th Street and Wisconsin Avenue was approved by the Milwaukee Common Council today. WIS27 will purchase the vacant lot from the city for $1, and intends to lease the new building to the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

Alderman Bob Bauman, who represents downtown and the near west side, has put forth a proposal to relocate the Milwaukee Police Department headquarters and municipal courts to southeast corner of 27th Street and Wisconsin Avenue. As part of that proposal the MPD District 1 station would be relocated to W. Wisconsin Avenue between 6th Street and the Milwaukee River and the former MPD headquarters would be redeveloped.

In 1992, Marquette proposed closing Wisconsin Avenue to vehicular traffic between North 11th and North 16th streets, as well as North 12th and North 13th streets between Wisconsin Avenue and Wells Street. Closing a section of Wisconsin Avenue was intended to make the campus safer and more attractive, and it certainly would have had a big impact on the university and city, but would it have been positive?

Milwaukee is lucky to have a number of higher education institutions in its most urban neighborhoods. The four most premiere institutions are Marquette in Avenues West, MIAD in the Historic Third Ward, MSOE in East Town, and UWM on the Upper East Side. The schools vary drastically in size, but each help define the neighborhood they occupy. Despite any criticism that might be leveled against them, they each have made significant investments in the City of Milwaukee. They each generate a sizable amount of pedestrian traffic that makes the neighborhoods they call home more vibrant. Each in their own way, they serve as a key drivers in making Milwaukee an engaging and dynamic city. But as their respective students know, what matters at the end of the day is the grade you get. Given the resources available to each school, how well are they contributing to the neighborhoods they occupy and Milwaukee’s urban core?

Cities across the country are in the process of constructing or exploring ways to turn freeways into public space. The most notable example of this freeway-to-park transition is Boston’s Big Dig project, which turned the elevated Central Artery freeway (Interstate 93) into a 3.5-mile tunnel and replaced it with the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Boston project was incredibly expensive, but it’s hard to imagine downtown Boston and The North End with a freeway dividing them today. Turning freeways into parks appears to be a wise solution when a city’s central business district (many of which are encircled in freeways) run out of land that can be easily developed or when the freeway serves as a barrier between two successful urban neighborhoods. Would it be wise to implement such an idea in Milwaukee?

The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Marquette University and Milwaukee School of Engineering announced that the universities are collaborating on seven energy technology research projects. These projects are being conducted as part of the Southeastern Wisconsin Energy Technology Research Center, which ties the universities together with local companies, such as Rockwell Automation and WE Energies, to conduct research in the area of energy technology. The initial projects involves green concepts and advanced technologies such as wind turbines, Li-Ion Batteries, CO2 recycling and sequestration via algae, and nanowire thermoelectric materials.

Despite the economic slow down and the perception that all development in Milwaukee occurs on the East Side or in the Third Ward, other parts of the city have their share of activity.

Often times when discussing the economic value of immigration, people consider the impact of having immigrants accept low wages for jobs “ordinary” Americans wish not to do.

But what about the dream jobs we all wish for? I’m not talking about professional basketball player and former Milwaukee Buck Yi Jianlian (nor Australian Andrew Bogut). I’m talking about CEOs of growing and profitable companies. CEOs of technology companies.

One of the often-overlooked rules for residences in Milwaukee is that no more than three unrelated persons may live together. I’ve never heard a good reason for why the rule is in place or how one can get around the rule (outside of simply ignoring it like many landlords do). DailyReporter.com finally gave me an [...]

Information from the infosphere… Seattle mayor Greg Nickels is working on a plan that will encourage all city employees to use public transportation, by giving the free transit passes.  Milwaukee should get behind this. The Daily Reporter has a good look at the issues affecting the 27th Street ramp off of Interstate 94. Thrivent Financial [...]