Menomonee River Valley

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Milwaukee Post Office To Move Next Door To Airport

In one of the worst kept secrets surrounding the future of downtown Milwaukee, an announcement finally arrived today that the out-of-place and severely dated United States Post Office located on St. Paul Ave, next to the brand spanking new, gorgeous Milwaukee Intermodal Station, is moving south to be closer to the airport in a new, more efficient facility. This is a huge win-win for both areas. First, this should increase commerce surrounding the airport by adding a labor-intensive business near a large retail stretch. Second, it’s obviously going to be a boost for efficiency for moving mail in-and-out of Milwaukee. With a significant amount of mail moving through the air, this should get it sorted and on-and-off planes faster and reduce costs for USPS. In regards to downtown Milwaukee, the Third Ward, and the Menomonee Valley, this is the start of a huge boost that has been a long time coming. The new Milwaukee Intermodal Station that is quickly becoming a well-known gateway to Milwaukee is in a terribly misused and underused area. Eliminating the Post Office and replacing it with nearly any mixed-use building would be a huge boost for the area and trigger development in underused buildings and surface parking lots across the street. The land that Milwaukee’s Central Processing Facility for USPS currently occupies is not only in a great location because of the proximity to the train station, but it sits on the Menomonee River immediately adjacent to where it merges with the Milwaukee River. Any development on the site will certainly seek to reconnect the neighborhood with the river and further foster urban Milwaukee’s image as an area that is increasingly connected with its natural capital. If you want to consider the kind of visual impact replacing the Post Office will have, consider the Harley Museum set to open soon just across the river. Not only has that development triggered another development in the Iron Horse Hotel, but it’s taken a long underused property and made it a legitimate piece of the city again. Replacing the Post Office will not only trigger development north across St. Paul Ave, but will increase the value of the Harley Museum and all of the land along that stretch of the rivers.

May 23rd, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene

Senator Dick Durbin Standing Up For Quality

Milwaukee Intermodal Station Originally uploaded by compujeramey It’s good to see Senator Dick Durbin demanding better service from Union Pacific on the Amtrak route that runs from St. Louis to Chicago. What does this have to do with urban Milwaukee? The expansion and improvement of Amtrak (greater frequency of runs, faster service, ultimately lower prices) is good for Milwaukee’s most urban neighborhoods. The downtown location of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station is great for nearby land values and for access by the greatest number of riders. Easy for us that live here to get out, and for travelers from other cities to get in. The money spent to redevelop the station was worth every penny. So the station is great, but where can we as Milwaukeeans travel to easily through that station? Currently Minneapolis and Chicago are the only easy destinations (and the few small city stops along the way). Transferring to other lines in Chicago is plausible, but service delays and the frequency of runs make it somewhat difficult. If Senator Durbin and the people of Illinois get their way, Union Pacific will improve the conditions on the rail line and Amtrak service will improve. This will increase the ease at which Milwaukeeans can get to St. Louis. More efficient connections to big cities will only drive more people to Milwaukee’s inner-core of great neighborhoods. Better service is both great for business and great for urban residents. Long-term hopefully this will lead to the development of a high-speed rail corridor that includes Milwaukee. The Chicago-St. Louis route provides a great opportunity to test and implement technologies because of the lack of freight travel and the relatively flat terrain. High-gas prices, long security check times at airports, and increasingly more extreme weather conditions will lead more and more people to Amtrak and innovators like Megabus. What can be done to create a better, more efficient service? Improving the Chicago-St. Louis line is a good first step towards building a super-efficient rail network in the fresh coast.

Mar 20th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene

The Valley Is Linking Up With The Silver City Neighborhood

Hank Aaron State Trail 5K Run/Walk Originally uploaded by carrier Yet another sign that logic is prevailing and the city of Milwaukee is improving, the Menomonee Valley Partners have announced the construction of a pedestrian tunnel and bridge to link up the Menomonee Valley with the bordering Silver City neighborhood to the south. While the sides of the valley are not unreasonably steep, they’re lined with pedestrian barriers. On the north side of the valley you have Interstate 94 blocking access for pedestrians, and on the south side you have the Menomonee River and railroad tracks. Jobs exist in the valley and more are coming, but getting people that don’t own cars to the jobs has been a challenge so far. Previous attempts included the idea of attaching an elevator to the 35th Street viaduct that crosses the valley and having people use the small staircases attached to the 35th and 27th Street viaducts. While the idea of a massive elevator sounds exciting, it doesn’t seem logical to have people standing out on the middle of a bridge in the winter waiting for an elevator when they could be walking along a path on the valley floor. In short, this is the information you need to know about why this development makes sense… “For the people who are living in the neighborhood right around the (Menomonee) Valley to access the jobs or recreational value of the valley, it’s about a three-mile walk,” said Menomonee Valley Partners Executive Director Laura Bray. “This will make it less than two blocks.” Linking central city residents with jobs through public/private development partnerships is just one of the many reasons that I believe that urban Milwaukee is on the right track. You can see this kind of “intelligent design” with developments like the 6th Street Viaduct, the Canal Street extension, and perhaps most impressively the Marsupial Bridge under the Holton Ave Viaduct. Construction won’t actually start until 2009, which is unfortunate, but the connection will undoubtedly be of benefit to both ends of the connection. CSA Commercial is renovating a building on the Silver City neighborhood-side of the tunnel to be turned into an office building, which will help kick-start development in the area.

Dec 15th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene

Photo Gallery

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 To Open November 26th

Milwaukee Intermodal Station Originally uploaded by pear52 The Milwaukee Intermodal Station grand opening will be Monday, November 26th. While you probably have visited the station during the reconstruction phase, the 26th will mark the first day that the station will be free of construction equipment. If you haven’t stopped by Milwaukee’s newest and nicest gateway to the city, make time to. It’s an amazing improvement. free slots

Nov 20th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene

Could The Potawatomi Casino Help Pay For Light Rail in Milwaukee?

My new Palace Expansion Originally uploaded by marcosparco Here’s a radical thought, let’s leverage casinos to build a transit system in Milwaukee. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer (as reposted by the biglittler blog here), Atlantic City casinos are getting together to fund the operating deficit of express train service between New York City and their boardwalk to appeal to 25-34 year olds who don’t like sitting in traffic. The casinos are contracting with NJ Transit to operate the trains. Read more… Could Milwaukee leverage the Potawatomi Casino in the Menomonee Valley to grease the wheels on funding for a light rail system? Connecting the casino with the new Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Miller Park, the companies in the Menomonee Valley, State Fair Park, and the new UWM campus on the County Grounds (along with the Zoo) would provide a smooth route that connects many major landmarks and a decent amount of jobs. The rest of the central city (the folks who need the system the most) should still be connected with a route that runs up Fond du Lac Avenue from the Intermodal Station (thereby linking up almost all of downtown). Much like Michael Cudahy’s vision.

Nov 19th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene

Chimney Park

Hank Aaron State Trail Originally uploaded by repowers The Milwaukee Streets blog written by Robert Powers has an excellent post up about the successful development of Chimney Park in the Menomonee Valley from the site of the old Milwaukee Road railyard. One of the most interesting aspects of the development of Chimney Park is the attention that was paid to leaving the two chimneys to stand by themselves surrounded by wetlands. Sure, on a more distant level there are all kinds of new, clean-looking industrial developments in the valley, but the chimneys appear in stark contrast to their immediate surroundings of ponds and wild grass. Future generations of Milwaukeeans will see a clean, green valley and will be forced to ask their parents what it was like when the valley was filled with factories pumping smoke out their smokestacks. Three cheers for the Menomonee Valley Partners for leading the successful redevelopment of a previously-blighted area.

Oct 22nd, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene

Another Firm To Join The Party in the Valley

Derse Inc., one of the country’s largest exhibition display companies, plans to move to Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley from Wauwatosa, and add jobs to its growing work force. Derse, 1234 N. 62nd St., plans to lease a 160,000-square-foot building to be developed by HSI Development Partners LLC, the companies announced Thursday. Read more… While not a true part of the densely populated urban landscape of Milwaukee, the Menomonee Valley constitutes Milwaukee’s leading industrial area that is dedicated to sustainable and community-minded development. Compared to industrial parks of the past, the area is filled with bike trails, attractive buildings, and natural landscaping.

Oct 6th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene

Milwaukee Intermodel Station To Open Before Thanksgiving

The revamped train station is on schedule and budget and will open the day before Thanksgiving. Just in time to give everyone riding the Greyhound bus, Megabus, or Amtrak train a look at the new station before it opens. Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole got this one right, a beautiful station will greet visitors to the city and there won’t even be any snickering about budget overruns or the time it took to complete the station.

Sep 17th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene

Plenty of Horne