Neighborhood Group Pushes Chapter 17
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Although only a few development projects were on this commission meeting’s agenda the most insightful item was the presentation of the UWM Neighborhood Plan by the Universities Neighborhoods Association (UNA).
Jeffrey Jordan presented the groups findings and laid out a few neighborhood issues. The group wants UWM to acknowledge that the “sudden growth of the university” has lead to problems such as overcrowding of the neighborhood. He also stated their desire to see the implementation of Chapter 17 which would penalizes students at UWM for off campus problems. Additionally, UNA wants future dorms to be planned with the neighbors and clearly doesn’t want to see dorms built at the Columbia Hospital site.
Alderman Nik Kovac spoke about UWM”s master planning program and stated that UWM’s plan to expand in Wauwatosa was a “terrible idea”. This update showed the ongoing difficulty of relations on the East Side between UWM and the neighborhood and also highlighted the City of Milwaukee’s efforts to encourage UWM to expand in downtown Milwaukee.
Clearly, these two NIMRODS, one a childish self-absorbed ego-maniac, and the other a self-righteous know-nothing who couldn’t spell objectivity if he had to, deserve each other.
The last comment was for the BREAKWATER article
Perhaps it isn’t the sudden growth of the school that has lead towards overcrowding, but it is the neighborhoods inability to allow any change to meet the growing demands of it’s residents that has caused the overcrowding. By opposing even the most reasonable of developments the neighborhood has caused the overcrowding which they now complain about. I am not saying that the neighborhood should be converted into student housing, but there definitely needs to be some changes so that the neighborhood is better suited to meets it residents needs, as well as the students. If that means allowing for denser development on a few streets then so be it, but the way the neighborhood is stubbornly sticking their head in the sand and point the blame at just UWM right wont solve any problems, and neither will building dorms on the far side of the city. Students want to live near their campus, and if the dorms are to far away they are not going to live in them, no matter how good the bus service is between the campus and dorms.
My personal thoughts are that Oakland Ave would be a nice area to further develop into denser housing with possibly additional store frontages(3-4 story buildings), and that the area between Oakland and UWM could be converted into mid density student housing(4-5 stories tall) with additional green spaces, and recreation areas.
@Matthew So you know in the “Meeting Notes” I generally just try to report what they said. So the representative from UNA used the “crowding” term (maybe I need to tighten that article up a bit), not me.
Personally I believe density is good and that talk of “over crowding” or this blaming of UWM is well wrong. I believe what makes the East Side is the students and actually believe the school should continue to grow.