The debate swirling around the Janet Zweig art project got me thinking about the value of public art to our city and how other cities embrace opportunities to enhance their public places. In Chicago the mix of architecture, and the hustle and bustle is in of itself valuable but public places like Millennium Park and the artwork that fills it add to the overall appeal of city life.

Too often we, as Milwaukeeans, are too quick to assume all the good ideas in Milwaukee are trickling up from Chicago. That Chicago gets the latest trends, fashions, fast food restaurants (see: Sonic), and other soon-to-be-passing fads before we do.

Of course that’s not always the case, with the Quadracci Pavilion being the best example. You of course know that building better for the world renown architect that designed it, Santiago Calatrava.

The Milwaukee Brewers, in an attempt to fight back against the Chicago Cubs fans and their Wrigley Field North signs and shirts, are offering a promotion to send Brewer fans to Wrigley Field in September via Amtrak in hopes of turning it into Miller Park South.

The UWM Center for Urban Initiatives and Research (CUIR) undertook the first comprehensive study on Milwaukee’s “condo boom” to understand who was actually living in the condos stretching from the northern part of Walker’s Point up to North Avenue on the East Side.

It’s absolutely critical to understand the different transit technologies available if one is to understand and evaluate the merits of the various transit proposals for Milwaukee. Technologies include Bus-Rapid Transit (BRT), Express Bus Transit, Electric-Guided Bus, Standard Bus, Street Car, Light Rail and Heavy Rail. This article examines the technologies, largely with regard to how they would be implemented here in Milwaukee.

The title of this post is purely fiction at this point, but is what this writer believes should happen.

Undoubtedly you’ve heard by now that the General Motors factory in my hometown of Janesville is closing. What many (politicians and residents alike) are not considering is the massive trickle down effect this is going to have on the rest of Janesville as a large source literally abandons the city.

Barcamp Milwaukee 2007 Originally uploaded by marcusnelson According to Forbes, Milwaukee is an up-and-coming tech city. They tout the strength of some of the biggest companies in the area, Rockwell Automation and Johnson Controls. What did they overlook? The strength of business brewing activities afoot in the city. BarCampMilwaukee, DrupalCampWisconsin, MilwaukeeDevHouse, Web414, and the KEEN [...]

Milwaukee Intermodal Station Originally uploaded by compujeramey It’s good to see Senator Dick Durbin demanding better service from Union Pacific on the Amtrak route that runs from St. Louis to Chicago. What does this have to do with urban Milwaukee? The expansion and improvement of Amtrak (greater frequency of runs, faster service, ultimately lower prices) [...]

As a follow-up to my post on Chicago’s Green Alley Program, I did some reading on rubber sidewalks they’re building. That led me to how they’re making their bus stops solar powered (we’re talking the three-sided ones, not the poles in the ground). About 100 solar shelters will be installed next year by the company [...]

The city of Chicago, in its continual quest to be at the forefront of the implementation of green features, has launched the Green Alley Program.  In a city with almost 2,000 miles of alleyways, this is a huge step.  Nearly 50 alleys have already been built, with many more to come.  The pavement allows water [...]