Championing Urban Life In The Cream City



St. Louis

Photos of the St. Louis from our Flickr group

Senator Dick Durbin Standing Up For Quality

Mar 20th, 2008 | By Jeramey Jannene | Category: Amtrak, Chicago, Megabus, Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Other Cities, St. Louis, Transit

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) is good for Milwaukee’s most urban neighborhoods.

The downtown location of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station is great for nearby land values and for access by the greatest number of riders. Easy for us that live here to get out, and for travelers from other cities to get in. The money spent to redevelop the station was worth every penny.

So the station is great, but where can we as Milwaukeeans travel to easily through that station? Currently Minneapolis and Chicago are the only easy destinations (and the few small city stops along the way). Transferring to other lines in Chicago is plausible, but service delays and the frequency of runs make it somewhat difficult.

If Senator Durbin and the people of Illinois get their way, Union Pacific will improve the conditions on the rail line and Amtrak service will improve. This will increase the ease at which Milwaukeeans can get to St. Louis.

More efficient connections to big cities will only drive more people to Milwaukee’s inner-core of great neighborhoods. Better service is both great for business and great for urban residents.

Long-term hopefully this will lead to the development of a high-speed rail corridor that includes Milwaukee. The Chicago-St. Louis route provides a great opportunity to test and implement technologies because of the lack of freight travel and the relatively flat terrain.

High-gas prices, long security check times at airports, and increasingly more extreme weather conditions will lead more and more people to Amtrak and innovators like Megabus. What can be done to create a better, more efficient service? Improving the Chicago-St. Louis line is a good first step towards building a super-efficient rail network in the fresh coast.



Word on the Street (12.21.2007)

Dec 21st, 2007 | By Jeramey Jannene | Category: Copenhagen, Interstate 94, KRM Line, MCTS, Madison, Marquette, Milwaukee Public Library System, New York City, Seattle, St. Louis, Suburbia, UWM

Information from the infosphere…



The Word On The Street (12.6.2007)

Dec 6th, 2007 | By Jeramey Jannene | Category: Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Milwaukee Police Department, Other Cities, Park East, Pfister & Vogel Tannery, St. Louis, The North End

From time to time Urban Milwaukee will feature a collection of links we think are worth your time to read, but don’t merit us spending the time to fully summarize and insert our viewpoints yet.

  • "Neighbors fed up with vandals, lack of patrols" - A story of chaos and vandalism ensuing in a northwestern Milwaukee neighborhood that the police don’t seem to care to fix.  If I lived there I would be scared for my life judging by the stories told and the police departments unwillingness to monitor things.
  • "City ranks at bottom of health categories" - This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to you, but being host to most of the people that experience severe socioeconomic problems in this state means the city’s health ranking will be pretty low.  In other news, keep your pants on.
  • "Experts say ‘most dangerous city’ rankings’ twist numbers" - Clearly, it’s disgusting how they glorify Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, and company as such dangerous places.  Offer a solution, not an insult.
  • "All routes lead to Amtrak Station" - A summary, more or less, of the status of all transit projects in the Milwaukee-area.  If you’re short on time just know that the story ends with Scott Walker killing everything in favor of a weak express bus plan.
  • "Developer completes Park East financing" - Mandel Group Inc. has all the money it needs for the first phase of the North End on the site of the former Pfister & Vogel tannery.  I’m excited to watch the progress of this and enjoy the results.