Summerfest recently announced plans to acquire additional land in the Third Ward for more parking. Unfortunately, this is the last thing the Third Ward needs as there’s literally an ocean of parking spots that sit empty for the vast majority of the day. This idea seems to be unnecessary, unwise, and detrimental to the neighborhood.

A variety of infrastructure improvements can be utilized to build a quality city, big items such as well designed parks, and little things such as eliminating unnecessary curb cuts can all play a role. Recently, the City of Milwaukee has been moving forward with street improvements such as the “complete street” reconstruction of S. 2nd Street in Walker’s Point which is scheduled for construction this summer, and the conversion of one-way streets to two-way streets such as the E. State Street project currently under construction, but there is more that can be done to enhance streets in Milwaukee to build a better city.

Regardless of what neighborhood it is, the development of new apartments is a growing trend in Milwaukee. Currently there are two prominent projects vying for City of Milwaukee financial support in one form or another, the Bookends and The Moderne. Outside of the two proposed towers there are numerous other projects at various stages around urban Milwaukee.

On Friday, Mayor Barrett unveiled three streetcar routes under study to the attendees of UEDA’s Community Development Summit.

The Mayor walked through the three possible routes and numerous possible future extensions. He broke down how successful systems in cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Tacoma have started with routes similar in length to the proposed for the Milwaukee Streetcar system (2 to 3 miles).

The debate over the reconstruction of the Hoan Bridge is one that has ignited controversy in Milwaukee for almost a full year now. Southsiders under the direction of Supervisor Patricia Jursik have united around the Save the Hoan Coalition. Meanwhile, Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman has presented a differing vision for the future of the Hoan with eight principles that should be followed in any reconstruction effort. There is an awful lot of confusion around the issue, and the manner in which WisDOT has handled it is far from their usual course. This article examines the potential source of the debate, and a potential outcome that is a win-win scenario for both the City of Milwaukee taxbase, and southside and suburban commuters.

Milwaukee Talkie, the blog of the Public Policy Forum, examined the urban retail market and how to best utilize the hiring of Deanna Inniss as a business recruiter by BID #21, Milwaukee’s Downtown Business Improvement District. They noted that one large thing wasn’t on her task list, the inside of Grand Avenue Mall.

Great cities have great street food. It is plays a role in the activation, the vibrancy, of the street life. The vendors themselves play a role in encouraging and supporting this vitality by becoming a part of the culture, and the community. The “Hot Dog Guy,” who has operated on the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and Water St. for many years, created a bit of a spectacle on the street, a line thirty people deep formed, he banged away preparing their food, and there was constant chatter on the street.

Normally we would greet you on Monday with an urban advocacy piece, but we were a little too busy enjoying all that urban Milwaukee had to offer this weekend. While normally just one of these events would pass as a big entertainment attraction across every other Wisconsin city, urban Milwaukee had at least eight organized and noteworthy events going on this weekend.

On July 3rd, 2009 the world did not end, but numerous public meetings in the year prior would lead you to believe it would. Why? July 3rd is the day that the suburban population of Greater Milwaukee drives en masse to the downtown lakefront to watch the US Bank Fireworks. They, as well as numerous Milwaukee residents, park their cars anywhere they can find from UWM to Walker’s Point. Without a doubt, July 3rd is the single most intensive day for street parking in Milwaukee.

If accent lighting on the interstate isn’t the perfect definition of lipstick on a pig, I don’t know what is. That said I’m not opposed to it. In fact, I think dressing the Marquette Interchange for the prom was a positive step forward. There is, however, only one thing I wish would have happened differently.