Eyes on Milwaukee
Milwaukee Streetcar Approved
After years of debate, streetcar will finally move forward. Final engineering will begin immediately, and construction by the end of the year.
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After years of debate, streetcar will finally move forward. Final engineering will begin immediately, and construction by the end of the year. Back to the full article.
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Finally!
Well, glad that’s finally settled. Now all the bickering can stop, right?
Why is everyone laughing?
I don’t get a vote in the race for Mayor, so I hope Milwaukee see’s the project through. Otherwise we’ll be known as the place to get like new rail vehicles (because you just know the first thing Mayors Donovan and Davis would do is cancel this thing mid-construction).
About time. If anything, this circus orchestrated by Bob Donovan has proven that he doesn’t haven’t nearly the support he thought he did. I hope this is the beginning of the end of Bob’s, Joe Davis’ and (especially) Tony “Bones” Zeilinski’s careers.
Dave, actually once the real numbers come out and we all see the proof of Tom Barrett’s lies, I hope this is the beginning of the end of HIS career. He has lied repeatedly to support this idiocy and is neglecting the city so that he can have his shiny new toy and give OUR money to his rich development buddies. TIF money is money that would otherwise go towards things like police and fire departments, MPS, road repair, etc. At a time when crime (including murder) is rivalling Chicago, roads are in worse shape than ever before, and MPS graduates are pathetically undereducated is absolutely the wrong time to waste so much money on a problem that could easily be solved by far less expensive means. This is gross irresponsibility on the part of the mayor, and I hope it wakes people up and costs him the career he very much does not deserve.
Do we know what the operating pattern will be? Initially it was just a simple end to end line (from essentially 4th/St. Paul to Prospect/Ogden). Now, though, there are essentially 3 legs.
It’s nice to see that in Milwaukee, progress trumps politics!
Ha! I really can’t stop laughing at this line:
“Donovan also pleaded for civility following the issue, noting that Bauman has closed his office door, which obstructs Donovan’s ability to get quickly to the coffee machine.”
Milwaukee will soon have a necessary fundamental component of any vibrant urban area. Any inference that suggests NOT building the system equals an increase in police an fire service, increases in public school performance, increases in road quality, and decreases in violent crime are completely off-base. These are real issues, why would anyone think by not building this system all of these issues go away? Nothing would change, nothing will be different than it is today. The money to spend to improve all of these issues doesn’t exist if the project doesn’t move forward, that is why nothing changes if the project doesn’t move forward. If anything it funds the future of these issues when the TIF expires, as a true investment does. TIF’s occur regularly in many cities, these are no different. I’m not sure why this topic isn’t so aggressively debated for every TIF. I will go back to my first sentence to simply state why am in support of the system approved today.
No, TIF is a way to tie bonding to a specific project and connect that bonding to the value generated by the investment. If anything, it’s a better guarantee that the debt will be repaid.
http://city.milwaukee.gov/TaxIncrementalFinancing.htm
http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityDCD/business/TIF/pdfs/TIFExplanation.pdf
Alternatives would’ve been to put this entirely on the property tax or the sales tax, but those are constrained by the state.
To all those who offer up the the diversion argument: Are you really asking for more money for the examples you cite (schools, roads, firemen, etc). If you are, let you representative know and they’ll be happy to raise your taxes. Do all of those entities want or need more money? Sure, but part of responsible governing is balancing current operations with future investments. If cities don’t invest in themselves, they die.
Rich – That’s about as succinct and focused a rebuttal that I’ve heard to those presenting the diversion argument. Very well said.
Sadly, some 16,000 people have been lead to believe otherwise. I hope the Mayor and other elected officials pro-actively stay on message for the next 30 days. It’s important for those who’ve been completely mislead to hear the facts.
Wow… Lets start putting up payphones now! The freeway could have been expanded through downtown for this price. Poor decision Milwaukee, keep yourself in the red! This reminds me of the monorail episode from The Simpsons.
@Chris, I’m not so certain that the petition collectors are being forthright. As of the last streetcar vote, 18 days ago,
Kliesmet told “FOX6 News nearly 17,000 signatures have been collected.” http://fox6now.com/2015/01/26/citizens-for-responsible-government-considering-suing-city-of-milwaukee-over-proposed-streetcar/
While its possible they haven’t collected a single signature since 1/23/15, its more likely that they have been fudging the numbers whenever it seems useful.
Gary……. not that big of a deal. It’s simply improved infrastructure for residents. I have to assume you’re joking about freeways through downtown-we have plenty of those. Time will tell on the streetcars, but I think we’ll all have our own measures for success. I think they’ll do great, especially as they’re expanded and integrated with the bus system.
@Gary Sinise It’s facile to support your insinuation that Milwaukee indulges in profligate spending with a cartoon show. If you consider the relevant facts, instead of some bizarre association you managed to make between reality and fiction, you would know that Milwaukee’s fiscal history demonstrates extremely prudent governance, especially in comparison to the State of Wisconsin.
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/07/23/murphys-law-is-milwaukee-the-next-detroit/
@Gary, if I had my way, I’d tear down the freeway east of the 43, and make Tosa to Delafield and Whitefish Bay to Port Washington a toll road.
Streetcars are indeed a sign of progress, where currently the advanced mode of transportation is a horse and cart.
The winners in this are the streetcar manufacturer, contractors, and the banks who will borrow millions to the city for cost overruns.
Surely fixing up the countless areas more deserving of TIF funds will be the low priority for the next five years when these streetcars are out clogging traffic and causing accidents.
Urban Milwaukee will not be gentrifying anytime soon with these visionaries at the helm. High taxes, high crime rates, poor schools, but the poor kids out on Teutonia will see this and will weap tears of joy for all the good it will do them.
Incredibly thorough breakdown of the streetcar proposal and the specifics it will entail. Thanks sincerely for sharing.