Feature
Construction Continues Despite Snow
As the city slipped and slid around from multiple inches of snow and ice dumped on it in recent days, construction crews continued building our city. Down on Water St. at The Residences on Water site men scrambled to remove snow from the roof while a crane lifted large beams into place. It appears the ER Post Structural System does allow them to build quickly as had been indicated. In fact fast enough that a line of semi’s sit with their engines running across the street from the site waiting their turn to unload the next beam. Over at the Breakwater site they have been busy as well. A second crane which is the largest crawler crane in the state has recently been assembled and will have a reach of up to 400 feet. The snow may have slowed some work but workers continued building the foundation and with second crane it’s clear that shortly we will see this project begin to rise out of the ground.
Dec 8th, 2007 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee’s Biodiesel Co-op Has Winterized Biofuel
Biodiesel Originally uploaded by GrammarGirl OnMilwaukee.com points to a little known gem in Milwaukee, we have a biodiesel co-op. Not only that, but they have winterized gas for sale. Sadly, my bike does not need gas, but maybe you do? Check on out the Milwaukee Biodiesel Co-op.
Dec 7th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
The Word On The Street (12.6.2007)
From time to time Urban Milwaukee will feature a collection of links we think are worth your time to read. “Neighbors fed up with vandals, lack of patrols” – A story of chaos and vandalism ensuing in a northwestern Milwaukee neighborhood that the police don’t seem to care to fix. If I lived there I would be scared for my life judging by the stories told and the police departments unwillingness to monitor things. “City ranks at bottom of health categories” – This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to you, but being host to most of the people that experience severe socioeconomic problems in this state means the city’s health ranking will be pretty low. In other news, keep your pants on. “Experts say ‘most dangerous city’ rankings’ twist numbers” – Clearly, it’s disgusting how they glorify Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, and company as such dangerous places. Offer a solution, not an insult. “All routes lead to Amtrak Station” – A summary, more or less, of the status of all transit projects in the Milwaukee-area. If you’re short on time just know that the story ends with Scott Walker killing everything in favor of a weak express bus plan. “Developer completes Park East financing” – Mandel Group Inc. has all the money it needs for the first phase of the North End on the site of the former Pfister & Vogel tannery. I’m excited to watch the progress of this and enjoy the results.
Dec 6th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Last Days of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery
Last Days of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery Originally uploaded by compujeramey I updated my Flickr set of photos of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery decontruction/The North End construction. They’re older images, and I still have more to add, but they’re a start for those of you that can’t see it in person. In case you’re wondering the tannery is now more or less gone (there is rubble left). Once the deconstruction workers get done pulling apart all the pieces to be recycled construction will start. I’m going to try and swing by today to get some pictures of their latest progress.
Dec 6th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Portland To Have “Sunday Parkways”, Can Milwaukee Join The Party?
Powells Originally uploaded by compujeramey Portland, Oregon is getting on-board with a program I would love to see Milwaukee jump on in the near future. Slated to happen on June 22 (in conjunction with the International Carfree Conference), Sunday Parkways will offer Portlanders a chance to stroll, pedal, and play on a six-mile loop of streets that will be closed to motor vehicle traffic from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm…. reports BikePortland.org They’re linking the route up with parks and live entertainers, to offer a little more than a unique place to ride your bike. As far as Milwaukee goes, it would be amazing to have a loop available on a Saturday or Sunday during the summer for people to just play in the absence of dangerous cars everywhere. Linking up with parks for entertainment value I think is huge, along with having a view of the lake. A potential route starting at Cathedral Square Park might include heading north on Van Buren Street, east on Brady Street, south on Prospect Ave, and west on Wells or Kilbourn to come back to the starting point. This is really a tool the Third Ward, East Town and West Association’s could use to market their neighborhoods as safe places for both fun and work by drawing people in from other areas who are otherwise intimidated by the speed and noise of the cars on city streets. I would imagine businesses would be behind this and traffic on Saturday or Sunday mornings is next to nonexistent anyway, so it would bring business in, not chase it away. The only thing that I can think of that compares on a scale basis is the Bastille Days Run through downtown with Jazz in the Park going on afterward. Milwaukee needs to convert that to an open day-time event for everyone to enjoy in a non-competitive environment. Any thoughts? Support? Yays or nays? Special thanks to the Streetsblog for pointping the Portland event out to me. I can’t find anything, but I think they have something like this in Manhattan too.
Dec 3rd, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Eight-story building proposed for Riverwalk
Green development proposed for downtown Milwaukee.
Dec 1st, 2007 by Dave Reid
Bronze the Fonz
Henry Winkler Originally uploaded by chelsea tobe Urban Milwaukee and Fresh Coast Ventures, LLC would like to throw their support behind the “Bronze the Fonz” campaign. The urban, pedestrian-friendly location of the statue on the riverwalk will only give Milwaukee visitors one more reason to stay downtown, walk downtown, and spend their money downtown. A couple grumpy art gallery owners in Milwaukee apparently are not seeing how the statue will encourage visitors to “stay downtown, walk downtown, and spend their money downtown”. This would inevitably help their business by increasing foot traffic in the area, but that doesn’t seem to matter to them. Most important to these art gallery owners is the fact that the statue is an icon of mediocre public art. Milwaukee Art Museum Director David Gordon also appears to be upset that the bronze Fonz might interrupt the development of a fancy new public art development coming to Wisconsin Avenue in a few years (of which I can’t seem to actually find any details other than the artist is Janet Zweig,). Fonz-implementers have claimed that the statue will be out of the Wisconsin Avenue sight lines of the Milwaukee Art Museum and new Wisconsin Avenue public art project by being placed on the riverwalk. Good, problem solved. Let’s build this statue. No one is going to make fun of Milwaukee for having this statue and every first time visitor is going to want to see it and get their picture taken with it, just like that “bean” that our neighbor to the south has. Build the statue. It’s only going to help people have one more thing to do in downtown Milwaukee. Игровые Автоматы Онлайн
Nov 30th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Solar Powered Bus Stops As Power Centers?
As a follow-up to my post on Chicago’s Green Alley Program, I did some reading on rubber sidewalks they’re building. That led me to how they’re making their bus stops solar powered (we’re talking the three-sided ones, not the poles in the ground). About 100 solar shelters will be installed next year by the company that has the contract for shelter advertising. The installation will save the city an estimated $20,000 in electricity costs every year, according to Heramb. I don’t know if they’ve considered this, but what if you turned these solar powered bus stops into a decentralized grid of power centers? Why stop at just powering the light at the bus stop? Why not power all the street lights on the block? Why not power the new electronic parking meter LUKE too? Imagine all Department of Public Works property throughout the city of Milwaukee being powered by a money-saving distributed network of solar panels on top of MCTS bus stops. I would imagine Milwaukee could save a lot of money doing this and improving on an idea started by our friends to the south.
Nov 29th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Chicago Leading The Way in Green Alleys
The city of Chicago, in its continual quest to be at the forefront of the implementation of green features, has launched the Green Alley Program. In a city with almost 2,000 miles of alleyways, this is a huge step. Nearly 50 alleys have already been built, with many more to come. The pavement allows water to drain into the water table instead of puddling and running to the sewer system. This obviously reduces the strain on the sewer systems, but there are other benefits to the program. The pavement reflects more heat, reducing the urban heat island affect that plagues urban areas in the summer. Dark-sky lighting fixtures are also installed that are not only more energy efficient, but eliminate the waste of light shining into the sky all night long. This keeps the alleys well-lit, while at the same reducing the light pollution that comes with life in a big city. Costs will continue to drop as more of the porous pavement is produced by cement companies and more of the dark-sky lighting fixtures are installed. The Chicago Green Alley Program properly bundles a series of efficiency and environmental improvements that are helping fuel a renewal in the quality of urban life. While programs like this go largely unnoticed now, down the road they’re going to be part of the decision process when you choose where you want to live (not the program itself, but the results). Cities that invest now are only adding to their bottom lines long-term, through both a probable reduction in costs and an increased tax base in neighbors that have the improvements. MSOE has a permeable pavement parking lot, which aside from being good for keeping water out of the sewer system keeps the surface of the lot a lot more dry during the rain and therefore a lot more pleasurable and safer to walk on (no puddles or slick spots). Permeable pavement is one of those things that the first time you see it in action, you wonder why it isn’t required in new buildings. It would be a true shame if Milwaukee does not adopt this same program in the next year or so, especially for a city that faces sewage discharges into Lake Michigan on a regular basis during periods of high rain. Milwaukee would be wise to at the very least make permeable pavement a requirement in all new construction in the Park East neighborhood. Special thanks to Jason Varone at the NYC-centric Streetsblog for drawing my attention to this development.
Nov 29th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Alderman Michael D’Amato not running for re-election
During his 12 years in office Alderman Michael D’Amato played a large role in encouraging new development in Milwaukee. More recently in his role as Chairman of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee he oversaw countless proposals, and more often than not was supportive of development projects. During this past year he struggled with Eastside residents to over approval of New Land Enterprise’s Downer Ave. development and although the project is moving forward, the city is now being sued. And at the same time he pushed policy and the Department of City Development in a failed attempt at obtaining a TIF to help fund RSC & Associates proposed Park East development. Despite what was probably a frustrating year for Alderman Michael D’Amato, the news he won’t be running for re-election comes as a surprise. Without knowing D’Amato’s future plans or his reasons for not running again it, is still safe to say it will be difficult to replace his experience and dedication.
Nov 27th, 2007 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee Intermodal Station
Milwaukee Intermodal Station Originally uploaded by compujeramey I walked down to the new Intermodal Station (in the rain mind you) to snag some photos. The results can be found on my Flickr set tracking construction of the station. The power with which the building lights up the area is super impressive and ultra important to the continued evolution of downtown Milwaukee towards a 24/7 neighborhood.
Nov 25th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Milwaukee Intermodal Station re-opening signals new start
The new Milwaukee Intermodal Station officially re-opens on Monday November 26th and it exemplifies the good that can come about when Milwaukee’s leaders take a stand and push for something better. The original plan was opposed by mayor Tom Barrett and Alderman Bob Bauman as they felt it wouldn’t do anything to change perception of transit or the station. The old station had been referred to as “scary”, “dark”, and even “Communist,” whereas the new station lights up the night, welcomes you to Milwaukee and gives you the feeling things are changing in this city. The new building’s combination of transit modes adds additional benefits and is the starting point for improved transit service in Milwaukee. First much like the old Amtrak station the old Greyhound depot was not inviting and so Greyhound gains the added bonus of being housed in an inviting space which could improve ridership. Secondly this shared space should allow for better connection between the various modes of transportation. Finally two additional transit systems under consideration would be centered around the Milwaukee Intermodal Station further improving transit options in Milwaukee. Photos Milwaukee Intermodal Station Articles Milwaukee Intermodal Station sets grand opening Amtrak, Greyhound now at same location Latest Amtrak station design a clear winner Editorial: Just simply refreshing
Nov 23rd, 2007 by Dave Reid
