As the US economy continued it slow recovery from the Great Recession, Milwaukee was left with a couple of failed development projects to complete or redefine, a changing real estate market, the opportunity to make small infrastructure changes, and questions about the future of transit.

The Milwaukee Public Library Board of Trustee’s Building and Development Committee met at the East Library on Wednesday night to hear final proposals from the three respondents to the East Library Redevelopment RFP. Following a closed session for deliberations, the Building and Development Committee voted to move the proposal from HSI Properties forward to the full Library Board.

Due in large part to a reduction in state aid starting in 2012, the Milwaukee County Transit System had planned for a massive reduction in service. Thanks to some last minute creative planning by those at MCTS, the vast majority of those cuts are on track to be avoided thanks to the use of CMAQ funds. The CMAQ funds, allocated out of a competitive bidding process, will provide funding to institute “express service” for two years along a number of key corridors which will replace segments of a number of routes. A public meeting, hosted by Supervisors Marina Dimitrijevic, Jason Haas, and Patricia Jursik, on the proposed Bayshore – Airport Express service was recently held to present the service to the community and answer any questions on the upcoming questions.

Wednesday night, Alderman Nik Kovac held a public meeting to allow feedback to be voiced regarding the three proposed alternatives for the redevelopment of the one-story East Library into a mixed-use facility. The meeting was a follow-up to a meeting last November discussing the potential of issuing a request-for-proposal (RFP) for the redevelopment of the East Library site. Attendees at the meeting were provided with an update on the process and allowed to ask questions about the process and proposals. The predictable East Side public meeting questions were aired, but which, if any, of the proposals will be selected?

Last week marked the installation of another on-street bike corral in Milwaukee. The newest on-street bike corral is located at Cafe Hollander on Milwaukee’s East Side.

Portland has 67 on-street bike corrals while Milwaukee now has just 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 used space along Warren St., and just as Alterra’s on-street bike corral removed no regular automobile parking spots, none were removed to install these racks.

Cities such as Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Minneapolis have install on-street bike parking in recent years, and now you can add Milwaukee to the list.

Two small projects, one in East Town and the other on the East Side, are currently taking an existing poor design situation and attempting to activate the street through new designs.

Having an educated populace is good for society, it increases the earning of all workers, it helps to generate wealth and fuels innovation. Subsidized parking doesn’t.

Two controversial development projects received key approvals at the January 19th, 2011 meeting of the Common Council.