Wasting no time, the Department of Public Works has already began work on the conversion of Wells Street to a two-way street throughout downtown.

Walking from downtown to the Historic Third Ward can be an uncomfortable experience. I-794 and the sea of surface parking lots on Water St., Broadway, and Milwaukee St. create an isolated and intimidating dead spot that deters pedestrians from walking between the two districts.

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.

Downtown Milwaukee is blessed with four full-service, affordable fitness centers. The Wisconsin Athletic Club, Downtown YMCA, Bally Total Fitness, and newcomer Gold’s Gym most of which are located along the Wisconsin Avenue corridor that is the heart of the central business district. They vary in size and services, but all are large gyms that provide personal training services. Given that downtown is well served by three full-service gyms, is there a market for a small, no-frills 24-hour gym?

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

At yesterday’s meeting of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Jackson Street Management LLC won an appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission’s ruling regarding their request to demolish five buildings within the East Side Commercial Historic District to make way for a new Marriott Hotel.

Godfrey & Kahn could soon anchor a 22-story class A office tower, known as Washington Square, in downtown Milwaukee.

Gold’s Gym will soon open at 731 N. Water Street, a building that has been empty for 22 years. The gym will occupy five out of eight floors in the building, which was originally built as an annex to the Daniel Burnham designed First Wisconsin National Bank building next door at 735 N. Water Street. As part of the opening of Gold’s Gym, both of the First Wisconsin National Bank buildings will be rebranded as The City Center at 735.

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?

Although, the renovation of the first floor of Colby Abbot, located at 759 N. Milwaukee St., building is taking a little longer than expected, the change is a welcome improvement to Milwaukee St. Over the weekend the four pop-up stores taking part in the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival Retail Emporium began opening up.