Broadway vs Broadway Street

View From My Room Originally uploaded by compujeramey OnMilwaukee.com’s Bobby Tanzilo took a peak at the story behind the naming of Broadway. The street, which a long long time ago used to be known as Main Street, technically has no suffix. Broadway, one of downtown Milwaukee’s main arteries, is not legally followed by Street, Avenue, or Boulevard, it is simply Broadway. Someone in the city marketing department could spend an entire day trying to correct errors on the web where it’s incorrectly listed, but is it worth it? Maybe, maybe not. The fact that the name Broadway stands alone is something that once you know, you don’t forget, and that you aren’t any better or worse off for actually knowing. Consider this my public service announcement of the month, use your new knowledge to impress your friends or seduce your spouse.

Public Works Committee Holds Water Deal

Jeffrey Mantes the Commissioner of Public Works presented the progress of the City Hall Restoration Project. He pointed out that after two and a half years the project is meeting or exceeding the EBE, RPP and apprenticeship goals laid out for the project. Additionally he indicated that the project is targeted to be substantially complete by Thanksgiving 2008. Representatives from SEWRPC presented A Regional Broadband Telecommunications Plan which indicated SEWRPC’s belief that universal high speed broadband in necessary for continued growth within Southeast Wisconsin. SEWRPC set a goal of developing 20 megabit universal access throughout the region and discussed a wireless demonstration project that Kenosha is currently testing. The well presented need and existence of the demonstration project prompted Alderman Robert Bauman to ask the SEWRPC representatives to “march right down to the mayor’s office and set up an appointment”. Two resolutions regarding water sales to neighboring communities pointed out what regional cooperation does and doesn’t look like. First up was resolution 071313 which would of renewed a contract between the City of Milwaukee and the Village of Menomonee Falls for the purchase of water. During the discussion of this contract renewal it was pointed out by Alderman Robert Bauman that an amendment allowing the Village of Menomonee Falls to remove a legal constraint on selling water to neighboring communities without the City of Milwaukee Water Works approval was “giving a benefit for no consideration”. Despite contract terms limiting the amount of water the Village of Menomonee Falls can acquire from the City of Milwaukee Water Works, this amendment would of been a first step in opening the door for the Village of Menomonee Falls to begin selling water to communities outside of the basin. The committee held this resolution as it appeared that this small change in the contract had the potential impact of encouraging sprawl and further decentralizing the region. The second resolution, 071314, was a request by the Village of Elm Grove for the City of Milwaukee Water Works to explore the possibility of selling water to the Village of Elm Grove. Neil Palmer the Village of Elm Grove President suggested they would purchase water at wholesale or even at retail prices. Further he made it clear he would support the City of Milwaukee in a variety regional issue including improved mass transit within the region. This resolution was enthusiastically approved by the committee and will move on to the full Common Council for approval.

Thank You For Shoveling

Kit Hodge emailed me to let me know about a new service called Thank You For Shoveling. As Kit explained to me… As you well know, snow both adds to the charm and creates a lot of frustration in Milwaukee. And by snow, I mean snow removal. Now that it’s the snow season, your readers might be interested in our new, free “Thank you for shoveling” cards, designed to encourage your neighbors to shovel the sidewalks during the winter. It’s easy to curse your neighbors when it takes you ten extra minutes to get to work in the morning because you have to wade through snow or jump over slush. We’re making it easy for people to do something constructive and neighborly about keeping their block shoveled this winter. We’ll send you cards, and all you have to do is drop them in the mailbox of your neighbors who shovel. A little positive reinforcement goes a long way towards making a snow-free and friendlier block. This definitely won’t work for people living in larger buildings controlled by a management company but in mid- and low-rise areas with more homeowners it’s a good solution to the eternal neighborhood problem of sidewalks blocked by snow.

What’s Going On In The Third Ward?

OnMilwaukee.com’s Julie Lawrence has a good review of some of the retail and tavern activity in the Third Ward.

It’s Official, Fonz Funding Complete

Milwaukee is the talk of the internet today, as the major news outlets announce the Fonz statue to the world.  Visit Milwaukee has officially raised the $85,000 needed to build the statue. I’ve been in support of the statue since I first learned of it because it encourages visitors (who come to Milwaukee for completely unrelated reasons) to stay downtown, walk downtown, and spend their money downtown. One more thing for Milwaukee visitors to do. Mary Louise Schumacher is still opposed to the statue because it’s too trivial. The Associated Press has an article that sums up what is happening, and even mentions Brenner leaving town. The best part of the entire thing is that Henry Winkler and company held a press conference to announce the completed funding in front of the Culver’s at the Shops of Grand Avenue. Couldn’t they find a slightly better location?

Smart Cars Hitting The Street

The Smart Car fortwo, arguably the smallest car on the market at 8-feet-long (the Prius is 14.6-feet-long), has hit the US market for the first time this month.  Streetsblog has a shot of one parked sideways amongst the rest of the cars on the street in NYC. While I’m in no way in favor of cars, Milwaukee is far from ready to be a car-free paradise.  Sure certain neighborhoods are far better than others, but without a car certain people would struggle to get around, especially in the winter.  We, as those who want to live a low cost, environmentally-friendly car-free lifestyle, need to walk before we run and getting smaller, quieter, and more fuel-efficient is one component of that. In to the picture steps the low-cost Smart Car, finally available on the US market.  While not more fuel-efficient than the Toyota Prius, it’s smaller and cheaper.  For urbanites that need a car infrequently the Smart Car might be the perfect match.  It’s easy to park, quiet (neighborhood friendly), and gets pretty good gas mileage at nearly 40 miles a gallon.  The car has a suggested retail price of just under $12,000. An electric model is on the way, which is more attractive from an environmental standpoint, but will contain a $35,000 price, which might be too much for the average consumer to stomach. As far as space goes inside the vehicle, I road in one in Germany and found it plenty comfortable, more so than say climbing in and out of a small pickup truck. I won’t complain if all my neighbors replace their cars with Smart Cars.  Just think of the asphalt we could save.  More bike lanes anyone?

Job Openings at Miller Park

When new stadiums are built we hear rumors of all these jobs they’re going to bring to a community.  Often enough it’s hard to tell if those jobs are actually created. On Friday afternoon, you’ll be able to actually apply for those jobs in a job fair at Miller Park from 4 – 7.  They’ll be doing it again on Saturday morning.  And if you can’t make either of those days, it looks like the Brewers will allow you to apply online.  OnMilwaukee.com has all the details.

Fonz Wins, Brenner Leaving Town

Lake Michigan Under Fire

Our beloved Lake Michigan is in trouble.  In the last year alone “the small fish” that sustain the big salmon and trout had their numbers cut in half.  Thanks to a growing number of mussels that are able to live at deep depths and rob the water of energy (the plankton), the ecosystem is under fire. But fear not, Jim Doyle is coming to the rescue (how about that for a change).  The state of Wisconsin will spend $6 million to build an experimental ballast water treatment system for the state’s Great Lakes ports, most importantly Milwaukee.  As you hopefully know, most of the invasive species in Lake Michigan today enter through the discharged ballast water of ships.  Wisconsin and the United States have been slow to pass legislation regulating this discharging, which can be largely prevented by discharging the ballast water in the open ocean. This system will hopefully serve as the catalyst for a movement by all Great Lakes ports to finally do something about allowing ballast water to be discharged.

Three Unrelated Persons Per Residence

One of the often-overlooked rules for residences in Milwaukee is that no more than three unrelated persons may live together. I’ve never heard a good reason for why the rule is in place or how one can get around the rule (outside of simply ignoring it like many landlords do). DailyReporter.com finally gave me an answer to all of my questions.  It turns out that it’s mainly a financial issue for keeping the rule on the books.  Reducing the number of occupants per residence limits the potential income of a landlord and helps slow any burning desires they have to buy up the entire block with the income from packing 5 people (probably students) into a house, and turning the neighborhood into a slum lord’s paradise. This rule has the greatest affect in the areas surrounding universities in the city, primarily UW-Milwaukee. There is of course always the factor that 4 or 5 college students together in one residence can cause trouble, but the prevailing reason for the rule seems to be the financial factor. To get around the rule you can simply claim someone you’re living with is your cousin, but Alderman D’Amato is leading the charge to tighten that loophole by requiring residents be first cousins, and not simply cousins to get around the requirement.

2008 Downtown Planning Process Begins

The Department of City Development recently held a Downtown Plan Update Kick-Off event introducing the upcoming planning process that will set the stage for Downtown Milwaukee’s development for the next ten years. As part of the kickoff DCD released the Downtown Plan Update Report which pointed out the successes of the 1999 Downtown Plan such as the revamped Intermodal Station, the removing of the Park East Freeway, the Riverwalk expansion and the Milwaukee Public Market. The report also pointed out ongoing issues that still need to be addressed such as the abundance of surface lots, the lack of affordable rental and condominium units, and the need for further pedestrian improvements. The 1999 Downtown Plan proved how effective this process is in improving the City but the time has come to update it for the next ten years. Continuing on these efforts the City is beginning work on the 2008 Downtown Plan. As part of this planning process the city is conducting an online survey asking residents for their input into the process. If you have thoughts on what will help Downtown Milwaukee’s continued growth you can participate in the survey by completing the Downtown Plan Community Survey.

Old World 3rd Street Getting New Facelift

Old World 3rd St just west of the Milwaukee River is going to be home to a new restaurant or two and another tavern.  I’ll break them down location by location. Robert Ruvin, who has yet to start construction on any of his nearby developments, will have a new high-end restaurant opening in his Third Street Pier building in March. Kincaid’s Fish, Chip and Steak House will occupy the space previously occupied by the Third Street Pier restaurant and give you everything the title indicates for a pretty penny. A development that is drawing opposition from other businesses on the street is Bootleggers.  A sister tavern of another two-story tavern in downtown Minneapolis, the place will feature live bands, a dance floor, and an outdoor patio.  Other tavern owners on the street voiced their concern through their lawyer who said that Bootleggers will bring “price wars, cheap liquor and bad behavior on the street.”  Alderman Bob Bauman supported giving Bootleggers a liquor license, but has expressed concern about the establishment’s potential to be disorderly.  Coming to the aid of Bootleggers, the Minneapolis Police Department submitted a letter of recommendation.  Both a dance and tavern license were ultimately issued at the January 15th Common Council meeting, meaning the tavern’s opening is all but for-sure. Bootleggers hopes to be open by June. The most interesting of the developments is the Milwaukee Brat House.  Led by entrepreneur Jack Schaefer, the Brat House will be an old-world German tavern and hopes to be open by March.  The tavern will serve food at both lunch and dinner. Why is this so interesting?  Because it continues the trend of turning West Town into Little Munich.  A place where Germans can come to and feel right at home, and where Wisconsinites can go to celebrate their heritage.  To start things off right on Old World 3rd Street is the Old German Beer Hall and Mader’s Restaurant.  Over at The Brewery (the Pabst Brewery redevelopment project) there is the proposed Hofbrauhaus Milwaukee in the old Blue Ribbon Hall. Another reason to be excited about the Milwaukee Brat House is that finally you’ll have a place to take your family and friends to enjoy a delicious bratwurst.  Sure, you can get a brat at a lot of places around Milwaukee, but the brat is just an after thought on the menu.  I don’t want to go to a big fancy restaurant to get a bratwurst, I want to go sit at a table somewhere and look at a menu that is dominated by the notion of the bratwurst.  Plain and simple, feed me delicious meat. I can’t wait to try out the new places on Old World Third Street, some before others as my wallet allows.