Photo Gallery
Urban Vancouver, a Model for Milwaukee?
Lacking the back-to-back skyscrapers of New York of Chicago, its smaller-scale urbanity is a marvel that Milwaukee could emulate.
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Lacking the back-to-back skyscrapers of New York of Chicago, its smaller-scale urbanity is a marvel that Milwaukee could emulate. Back to the full article.
Photos - Page 6
I believe Milwaukee needs to continue down the path of increased densities. Milwaukee is a dense, walkable city but too many missing teeth. In addition, we need to focus on connections. Why does every development need to be apart from everything else? Museums, Miller Park, new arena, etc. Rather than kowtowing to the local power brokers, the Mayor and DCD should be out front leading the charge for interconnecteddness. It should be a priority. I think Gary Gruneau, Marcus and Gimble care and do a lot for the city, but they shouldn’t be the ones dictating everything downtown. Downtown is a big mess largely due to their lack of long term vision and local civic leadership that is inexplicably intimidated by them.I believe we could use 40-50 thousand more people between Brady to National and west to 27th Street. Density creates energy which in turn draws more people, services and retail.
I don’t think Vancouver has any freeways. I’ve heard the Canadian Federal government doesn’t fund urban freeways, so provinces must pay for their own freeways. Some areas (like Toronto) have freeways and tollways, while others (like Vancouver) don’t. Contrast this to the US system where states build freeways so as not to lose “free” federal money. (Yes, there is MUCH more “free” federal money in play for freeways than for streetcar lines.)
Vancouver is an example of how freeways are not needed for a successful metropolitan area.
A little more Vancouver in Milwaukee would be great.
I would start by hiring a city planner to run the city planning department.
I agree Thomas. If we do have a head City Planner, they sure do keep a low profile. I think we’re stuck with the freeways we have but please… no more. Milwaukee knows how to do neighborhoods. There isn’t a Great Lakes city that does them better. In fact, I would extend that to the entire Midwest, including, am I really going to say it, yes Minneapolis and Madison. I love our neighborhoods and scale. However, we can be much more dense and we should design for the pedestrian. I addition, we need to get over our fear of investment west of the river. I love what Rick Barrett did by developing the Moderne in Westown. Does anyone know what the vision for downtown is west of the river? We can’t let property owners, managers and power brokers dictate. We need a comprehensive plan driven by the city.
Finally, I like what’s happening on King Drive, but there is not enough demand to fill up all those store fronts. Ultimately, a traffic generating development will have to be built off North Avenue near the freeway interchange. I also think the city should package Holton Street up for development between North and and the Resevior. Amazing views and great neighborhoods to the east and west. The street just looks so rough.
Vancouver’s Green City Agenda (http://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/a-bright-green-future.aspx) asks for tall buildings to be set back from the street by pedestrian scaled development. Pedestrian scaled development encourages Jane Jacob’s ‘eyes on the street’ as well as a human scale to walking between roads filled with cars and buildings. It is a zoning code agreed upon by the city that enhances public space, pedestrian activity and sensitive increase in density. It is quite different from the business of parceling out land to the highest bidder for new buildings. It is the work of a sustainable progressive city planner capturing the imagination of the public and private sector to work together for the good of the city and its populace and its specific location and environment.
You have just scratched the surface of Vancouver. Dig deeper and you will see what life is like at that particular city. For example, can you afford living there? What is the culture like? What do the people living there feel about their city? What are the upsides and downsides?
Walter,
Of course I have just scratched the surface. My photo gallery is merely my observations of being their four days. I did talk to a number of people, but I by no means can assure it to be a fair cross section of the city.
What do you think of Vancouver?
Thanks Linda. I assumed as much was the case with the zoning code, but hadn’t researched it extensively yet.
How is it different than parceling out land to the highest bidder though? It seems to be just a zoning code that produces substantial public and private benefit by better defining what is desired.
But how much money will it take!??!?! How many choo choos does the left need to build before we figure it out!
Enough lefty experiments like Vancouver! Show them a real city like Orlando or Dallas or Long Beach!!!!!!!111
Orlando is a real city?
Vancouver is a great city. I have traveled there over the past 30 years and have seen it progress to a model of urban development. One major improvement is that Vancouver transformed industrial waterfront into vibrant residential and commercial neighborhoods. Milwaukee doesn’t have a plan for its inner harbor, a great asset waiting to be redeveloped. Currently our inner harbor is the home of an ugly sewage treatment facility (hard to move, but why so ugly?), a scrap salvage yard, piles of salt, loading areas for a limited shipping season of primarily low-value commodities, boat storage warehouses, a butt-ugly Hoan Bridge/freeway, and other land uses that employ few, and are not the best use of prime waterfront property.
The mayor and the city apparently are not capable of, and don’t have the vision or drive, to make big plans and see them to fruition. There are no plans or vision that I know of for Milwaukee’s inner harbor area. Rebuilding the elevated I-794 freeway through downtown and rebuilding the Hoan Bridge are dumb ideas that will scar that part of the city for another 40 years. The mayor talked about replacing the Hoan Bridge with a more urban, non-freeway thoroughfare, he got some resistance from entrenched parties, and then he quit. Another obstacle is the local longshoremen’s union. From what I have read, they represent very few jobs, but they have political clout. Milwaukee needs leadership with a vision, drive, and persistence.
@Bill,
The city does have plans for the inner harbor.
Thank you David. Apparently the plan is not very prominent. I searched for it and found the following from the ReFreshMKE plan- “The City of Milwaukee’s involvement in the Inner Harbor effort began in 2010, when the Common Council adopted a redevelopment plan for the area in and around the Inner Harbor Study Area. That plan is essentially a zoning plan, which recommends changes to the zoning of some of the properties and reaffirms the zoning of others. That plan protects the current industrial uses at the Port of Milwaukee and provides a better transition between areas with heavy industrial use and the nearby residential neighborhoods. ”
Is that the current plan?
Thanks