Feature
The Harley-Davidson Museum Celebrates an American Icon
Today's opening of the Harley-Davidson Museum is a truly great day for the City of Milwaukee. The $75 million, 130,000 square foot complex, which was designed by James Biber of Pentagram Architects, celebrates the 105 year history of Harley-Davidson. The complex references both Milwaukee's industrial past and Harley-Davidson's motorcycle style by mixing modern elements and simple lines with an exposed I-Beam skeleton.
Jul 12th, 2008 by Dave Reid
The Economic Value of Immigration
Often times when discussing the economic value of immigration, people consider the impact of having immigrants accept low wages for jobs “ordinary” Americans wish not to do. But what about the dream jobs we all wish for? I’m not talking about professional basketball player and former Milwaukee Buck Yi Jianlian (nor Australian Andrew Bogut). I’m talking about CEOs of growing and profitable companies. CEOs of technology companies.
Jul 12th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
The Game and The Players
Understanding the discussion around Milwaukee transit requires an understanding of who has the keys to unlock the federal funds to improve and expand the existing system. We need to lay some groundwork before any discussion on the actual proposals can start.
Jul 7th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
The Ghazi Company’s EpiCentre Project Involved in Legal Fight
The Ghazi Company's proposed Catalyst project in downtown Milwaukee has been one of the most talked about projects in recent years but issues with The Ghazi Company's EpiCentre project in Charlotte have raised new concerns over the fate of Catalyst.
Jul 7th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Common Council Votes Away Its Dark Shadow?
As few resolutions were returned to committee and only minimal discussions occurred on any individual resolution the highlight of this fairly mundane Common Council meeting was the passing of resolution 080042. This resolution brought forward by Alderman Terry Witkowski will cut off funding of an Alderperson’s transportation allowance if they have a month’s worth of unexcused absences at committee meetings. Alderman Witkowski pointed out that “recent events have cast a dark shadow on the council”, referring to former Alderman Michael McGee‘s legal issues, and clearly the intent of this bill was to rid the Common Council of this “dark shadow”. Unfortunately as Alderwoman Milele Coggs and other member’s attempted to point out this resolution will be more symbolic than effective as former Alderman McGee had been excused properly during his absence. This resolution passed the full Common Council on a narrow vote of 9 to 6.
Jul 2nd, 2008 by Dave Reid
The Series
I had promised a series on transit this week, and it’s still coming. I’ve done a substantial amount more fact checking and research than earlier anticipated, but the first article detailing “The Players” in Milwaukee transit will run Wednesday evening. Thanks for waiting.
Jul 2nd, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Not Just A Myth
In the coming week, I’ll be taking a close look at transit issues. The issues facing transit systems (both existing and potential) in Milwaukee (and the surrounding counties) are rather complex, and I’ll attempt to break every issue down as best as I can. Before diving in to local issues, it’ll be best to understand what’s going on elsewhere. Other cities have seen significant transit-orientad development take place. The transit blog, The Overhead Wire, has a great blog post illustrating this very fact. Starting with Arlington, Virgina (pictured below), The Overhead Wire blog post features a lot of good examples (with photos) of transit-oriented development. Is there potential for this kind of growth in Milwaukee? I’ll examine this and more in the coming week.
Jun 28th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Zoning Committee Approves Multiple Land Sales
Resolution 080271 would authorize the land sale of nineteen City of Milwaukee (RACM) properties to create three mixed-use developments within the Haymarket Square neighborhood. These three development would consist of the Sixth Street Market, Vineyard Place, and Walnut Hill.
Jun 25th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committtee Votes to Freeze Funds for WestPointe Commons
The final two appointees to Business Improvement District #41 (Downer Ave.) were approved by committee today. Andie Zacher and Brett Grasse were added to the newly expanded board bring the total to seven members. Brett Grass from Lighthouse Development expressed that he has a “vested interest in the shopping district staying vibrant” and that his experience at Lighthouse Development should be of value to the board.. These appointments were approved and will now go before the full Common Council. Also of note was the appointed of first term Alderman Nik Kovac to the Arts Board. He expressed his desire to sit on the Arts Board by saying “I look forward to helping the arts and helping the city at the same time. He conveyed a strong belief that the arts are not only beneficial to the quality of life within the city but also to the economic development of the city. This appointment was approved and will now go before the full Common Council. The last item on the agenda was resolution 080293 which saw a vigorous discussion over the problematic development effort at 27th and Wells St. known as WestPointe Commons. First funded in November 2001 the project has yet to be completed and has spent almost $1 million in public funds. The motion before the committee was to freeze access to public funds until an audit was completed which would determine what went wrong and if the project should go forward. Former Alderman Paul Henningsen spoke on behalf of the project making a passionate appeal to allow the project to continue. He argued that despite its past issues, it is now close to completion and in combination with other projects in the area it could have a catalytic effect. In the end the committee voted to approve the resolution, essentially freezing public funds, which will now go before the full Common Council.
Jun 24th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Bergstrom Automotive Innovating
It is genuinely encouraging to see the Bergstrom Automotive Group deciding to stay in-tune with market trends (read: increasingly high fuel prices) and downsize their Hummer dealership into being part of an existing dealership, instead of a stand-alone unit. What are they replacing the highly-visible dealership with? A GM-certified user-car dealership.
Jun 23rd, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Committee Considers Wells Street Conversion
Resolution 080295, sponsored by Alderman Robert Bauman, is the next in a line of files where he has worked to improve the pedestrian experience within the City of Milwaukee. The resolution would complete the conversion of Wells Street to two-ways which he explained would improve the pedestrian environment by slowing traffic. Additionally he pointed out other benefits of two-way streets including that it will “help in connection with retail and commercial activity on the streets”. The portion had been left uncompleted due to property owner concerns as well as concerns over road configurations that would not of been ideal in connection with existing highway ramps. These ramps have since been removed during the Marquette Interchange reconstruction and are no longer a concern of the Department of Public Works. This file was held to allow for more details regarding cost but it appeared to have broad support on the committee. A second file sponsored by Alderman Bauman was file 080294 which proposed the re-striping of West Saint Paul Ave. to improve safety during winter conditions and access to the Intermodal Station. These changes became needed after West Saint Paul Ave. was recently converted to two-way access. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.
Jun 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Public Works Committee Holds Up Appointments
The reappointment of Jeff Mantes to the position of Commission of the Department of Public Works and the reappointment of Jeff Polenske to the position of City Engineer were held to the call of the chair to start off this meeting. As numerous reappointments have flown through as of late it appears this may be in response to friction the Common Council has had working with the Department of Public Works. Specifically the Common Council has expressed their concern with how DPW handled snow plowing, leaf removal, and various street improvements. File number 080238 is a grouping of numerous assessable public improvements that included items such as street and alley re-construction. Similar files have experienced an ongoing problem whereas approximately half of individual projects are deleted because property owners are unwilling to pay exorbitantly high assessments. This has lead to the slow crumbling of city streets and ever increasing maintenance costs. Alderman Bob Donovon expressed his displeasure at Mayor Tom Barrett‘s unwillingness to replace the current assessment system with a recently proposed vehicle registration fee, by stating “I am hoping that this administration and the alderman in this community have the guts to move forward and do the right thing in changing the way we pay for paving projects.” This file was approved with numerous deletions and will move on to the Common Council for approval. File number 080195 is an ordinance relating to storm water management regulations. Alderman Michael Murphy argued that this resolution is important to because the “leading cause of pollution to our water system is really through non-point water sources” and this resolution targets those sources. Those sources includes streets and parking lots and this resolution address ways to reduce the amount of paved area which improves the grounds ability to absorb storm water. This resolution was passed and will go before the City Plan Commission for approval.
Jun 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
