Could indoor gardens be in store for The Shops of Grand Avenue future? It could happen if the mall follows in the steps of a similar mall in downtown Cleveland, the Galleria at Erieview.

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.

In March, I explored the idea of rebuilding Grand Avenue Mall into a self-sustaining retail center. One of the things that I didn’t expect to be on the table was simply giving away a retail stall for free. Grand Avenue Mall appears set to do just that now with a business plan competition.

As the retail market struggles nationally and the Shops of Grand Avenue struggles locally, it’s time to ask what retail should be in downtown Milwaukee in the next five years. Is it worth investing public dollars in the form of a TIF in Grand Avenue or other mall-like projects downtown, as has been done in the past? Or should the standard be that all retail must interact with the street?

We attempted to create a map of all the skywalk connections in Milwaukee, including the longest line that runs through The Shops of Grand Avenue.

While from an urbanist’s perspective we still would prefer you choose the sidewalk, here’s a map for those of you looking for other connections. Next up is mapping the empty retail spaces that are on roads paralleling a skywalk route.

Milwaukee is the talk of the internet today, as the major news outlets announce the Fonz statue to the world.  VisitMilwaukee has officially raised the $85,000 needed to build the statue.
I’ve been in support of the statue since I first learned of it because it encourages visitors (who come to Milwaukee for completely unrelated reasons) [...]