Milwaukee Brewers Offer Amtrak Promotion
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.
Feb 15th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Governor Doyle, County Executive Walker, Some Explanation is Needed
On Wednesday Governor Doyle announced plans to spend the first $300 million out of $550 million stimulus funds on 63 road construction and repair projects in 30 counties.
Feb 14th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Friday Photos Friday, 13. February 2009
The Edge The North End The North End The North End Convent Hill Demolition
Feb 13th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee’s Stimulus Request
Yesterday the U.S. Senate approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and although it still has conference committee changes to go through prior to arriving on President Obama's desk it's interesting to see what items the City of Milwaukee would like to see funded.
Feb 11th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Historic Preservation is a Good Thing
Historic preservation is a good thing, when for example it is used to restore City Hall or re-purpose the Grain Exchange because it adds value to Milwaukee.
Feb 9th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Weekly Bookmarks – Monday, 09. February 2009
Love Your Bike Party Zoning change creates blank slate for Stritch plans : The Bay View Compass County Board endorses Regional Transit Authority concept : The Bay View Compass Milwaukee County – BizTimes Postal Service facility delayed – JSOnline Real Estate: The Moderne gains more financing – BizTimes Milwaukee Rising » Blog Archive » $100 million proposed for Milwaukee-area transit New developer considers building student housing downtown – JSOnline Stimulus Watch: Keeping an Eye on Economic Recovery Spending, Milwaukee, WI UWM Engineering downtown? Don’t bet on it. – JSOnline Stimulus package could create 74,000 jobs in state – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: MilwaukeeWorld: D’AMATO NAMED SECOND MILWAUKEEAN AS KENOSHA M7 REP — ALSO CHENEY’S PROPERTY TAX White House outlines more details of stimulus plan’s impact on Wisconsin – BizTimes Stimulus money sought to support water projects – JSOnline Leasing Milwaukee’s Water Works – JSOnline Stimulus money sought to support water projects – JSOnline Milwaukee jacks up downtown parking meter fees – BizTimes Stritch project meets environmental worries Apartments aimed at gramps, grandkids – JSOnline Moving forward on transit – JSOnline UWM Engineering downtown? Don’t bet on it. – JSOnline
Feb 9th, 2009 by Dave Reid
County Board Votes for Task Force Recommendations
The proposed Regional Transit Authority recommendations were on the agenda after being delayed at a previous meeting of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. At the previous meeting a task force was created and charged with putting together a positive message from the county supporting regional transportation. Supervisor Pat Jursik explained that despite the task force’s work and positive output the Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee unfortunately rejected the findings. She expressed her displeasure with the committee’s actions saying “I’ve been very depressed the last few days”. She then made a strong plea to deny the committee’s rejection so they could then move to take positive action on the task force’s recommendations. She also referred to a public meeting held on January 13th saying “I was really quite surprised by the consensus of the speakers in terms of regional transit”. The concerns over governance and control popped up again when Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs stated “my concern is the governance issue wasn’t brought up” and that “I think it needs to be strongly said that we do need representation”. Supervisor Chris Larson attempted to quell these concerns saying that “we’re trying to issue our opinions on this” and added that “there’s a coalition building and I think Milwaukee County should be part of it”. He felt Milwaukee County needed to step up as even “the business community is willing to step up”. He was part of the task force that put forward the recommended response. Supervisor Johnny Thomas added his support to the task force recommendations saying “if we don’t get outside of this room we’ll be talking about this for at least another 30 years”. The board took an extended lunch to work out an amendment to the task force recommendations to gain majority support from the board. This amendment added specific governance recommendations, including additional appointees for Milwaukee County and diversity requirements, to the RTA’s configuration. In the end the board rejected the committee’s action and voted positively in support of the task force’s recommendation with the additional amendment in place.
Feb 6th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Friday Photos Friday, 06. February 2009
The Brewery The Brewery The North End The Edge South Water Works
Feb 6th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Who Lives in Milwaukee’s Condos?
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.
Feb 5th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Committee Welcomes New Commissioner
Martin Collins‘ retirement left the Department of Neighborhood Services with a significant leadership gap. Art Dahlberg, from Richmond, VA has been tabbed as the person to replace Mr. Collins as the Commissioner of Neighborhood Services and clearly the committee was cautiously optimistic. He expressed his understanding of the position he’s walking into saying that “I recognize I’m filling some very big shoes here”. Alderman Bob Bauman asked about his philosophy regarding the demolishing of older housing stock and if he felt this was a good or bad choice. Mr. Dahlberg indicated that it was to be used as a last resort saying “it is not a broad solution, it is a fine tool that we have to use”. The committee approved his appointment and it will now go before the full Common Council. Another item of note was the potential city land sale of 3427-3429 West Villard Avenue. This land sale would allow the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation to move forward on a four-story mixed use development that would include the Villard Library moving in to the first floor of the new building. In addition to the library the upper floors would include 47 affordable housing units targeted at “grandfamilies”. The project will be developed by Gorman & Company utilizing low-income housing tax credits and new market tax credits. This item was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.
Feb 4th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Small Changes Coming to Preservation Ordinance
One item of interest was a proposed change to how appeals of Historic Preservation Commission actions were to be handled. Alderman Bob Bauman explained that most issues related to actions by the Historic Preservation Commission are handled by the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee or the Common Council. It was pointed out that during a typical situation the Historic Preservation Commission may deny a demolition permit and then the property owner could appeal to the Common Council whereas in the case of the Transera project the Administrative Review Board stepped in due to what Alderman Bauman characterized as a “a glitch in the HPC ordinance”. Alderman Terry Witkowski supported the measure and added “I’ve been on that board for five years and this is the first time anything from historic preservation came that way,” indicating that this change wouldn’t burden the Common Council with numerous appeals. In response to this legal quirk, Alderman Bauman considered passing legislation to dissolve the board but instead brought forward an amendment to the ordinance. The amendment directed future appeals to the Common Council and restricted who may appeal a decision by the Historic Preservation Commission. This ordinance change was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.
Feb 3rd, 2009 by Dave Reid
City Committee Makes Many Appointments
Soloman Chris Johnson, Welford Sanders, LaMar Franklin, Jo Spear Jr., Carla Cross, President and CEO of Cross Management Services, Inc., and Luc Monsanto, were appointed to Historic King Drive Business Improvement District. When asked about his interest in serving on the board, Jo Spear Jr. responded saying “instead of putting all my back into the district, I want to put all my mind in to it”. Carla Cross pointed out that the BID’s most recent accomplishments included putting up Christmas decorations and displaying of district focused flags. She went on to say that she “would like to work more closely with the Bronzeville team”. Luc Monsanto expressed his excited about being appointed by saying that “people always say this but I’m truly excited to be part of this board”. There were also a series of appointments and reappointments to the East North Avenue Business Improvement District that included the likes of Paul Miller, from Alterra, John Sidoff from Hooligan’s, Jeff Sherman, from OnMilwaukee.com, and Peggy Silvestrini from Beans & Barley,. This group has long participated in the development of the East Side with their businesses and by serving the community. When questioned regarding the new dorms on the East Side Paul Miller responded “the new dorm I think is going to be a great addition” and “I have seen no negative impact”. Jeff Sherman expressed his belief in the East Side saying “the east side is about density, it’s about discovery, it’s about diversity”.
Feb 3rd, 2009 by Dave Reid
