Daniel Burnham famously said “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.” Burnham, co-author of the famous 1909 Plan of Chicago, had a vision for a much grander Chicago. What he probably didn’t forsee was Chicagoan’s fulfilling that vision 100 years later by building massive pieces of public art. The latest iteration of Chicago’s fascination with large public art is located across the street from the iconic Harold Washington Library in Pritzker Park just northwest of the intersection State Street and Van Buren Street. What is it? A three-story tall eye balll, dubbed the EYE.

Today, starting at 11 am and running until 3 pm, in Cathedral Square, the East Town Association is holding what is hopefully the first of many Food Cart Fridays.

Milwaukee’s street festivals are fantastic. More so than even the city’s ethnic festivals held at the Henry Maier Festival Grounds, Milwaukee’s street festivals bring together a neighborhood and support the neighborhood’s businesses. Having festival grounds on the lakefront dedicated to public events surely makes Milwaukee a great place to be on summer weekends. It’s the street festivals that offer something truly unique though. The public can party at the Henry Maier Festival Grounds nearly every weekend during the summer, but it’s rare that one can stand in the center of the road on Brady Street enjoying a cold beer from Trocadero or gelato from Peter Scorinto’s Bakery. The use of streets as festival grounds affords attendees a unique perspective of the neighborhood. Unobstructed by the roar of engines, thousands of attendees are free to take leisurely strolls exploring the booths of local artists and sampling the wares of local eateries. Unfortunately though, the party is cut off abruptly at 11 p.m. so the street can be opened for traffic.

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.

On Thursday the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released nearly $80 million of the $8 billion allocated to fund high-speed rail. This is a historic milestone for the build-out of high-speed rail across America as it’s the first time the federal government has released any of the funds to the states.

At the May 4th, 2010 meeting of the Common Council, Alderman Bauman brought forward an item that would allow the City of Milwaukee to enter into a contract with an expert consultant, Jeffery Boothe, for the purpose of facilitating the next steps of the Milwaukee Streetcar project.

Sound familiar? Earlier this year Wells St. was under construction, effectively narrowing the street for a period of time, and the impact on traffic was negligible. Now, another one of the vastly overbuilt streets in Milwaukee is narrowed due to construction, and again the world hasn’t come to an end as traffic has been able to find another route or simply slow down.

Despite work on the Marcus Center parking garage this past summer, there are still ambitious to redevelop the site in the near future. The repairs were done in an effort to keep the garage open until 2013, at which time a decision will be made to redevelop the site or be forced to do extension repairs.

Not for not much longer. In accordance with the City of Milwaukee’s downtown plan over the past decade streets such as Broadway, and Jackson St. have been converted back to two-way traffic improving connectivity and access for all modes of traffic. And now, work has begun on the next piece of this plan, the stretch of E. State St. from Van Buren St. to Market St.

Next Generation Real Estate Inc. recently proposed a $35 million 6-story mixed-use building with 130,000 square feet of class A office space, 270 parking spots, and 17,000 square feet of first floor retail at the southeast corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Broadway.