MKE Mobile Parklet touches down on Villard Avenue

MILWAUKEE – The Wisconsin Bike Fed and local partner Villard Avenue BID announce the first installation of the MKE Mobile Parklet, an on-street gathering place. A celebration will take place this Thursday, June 16th from 3:30-4:00pm at the Villard Square Library Branch located at 5190 N 35th St in Milwaukee.

This summer the Wisconsin Bike Fed has partnered with two business improvement districts (Villard Avenue BID and Near Westside BID) along with community development group Muskego Way Forward to implement an on-street gathering place, a parklet, that will travel to each partner’s neighborhood districts through the end of October 2022.

The mobile parklet has been conceived out of the need for more emerging business districts, neighborhood groups, and residents who are demanding increased traffic and community safety in the built environment.

Parklets are designed to reclaim spaces that are traditionally allocated for cars and pedestrianize streets. Removing as few as two or three parking spots can open social space for up to 30 people and create more welcoming spaces. Parklets, like traditional city parks, encourage people to slow down, connect with neighbors, and spend more time in their own neighborhoods (usually on foot). This creates positive residual effects for local emerging businesses.

Through its pedestrian advocacy program MKE Walks, the Wisconsin Bike Fed is partnering with the Villard Avenue BID to program the parklet – making it a gathering place for health and wellness activities, community resource events, and pedestrian advocacy programming. MKE Walks plans to initiate similar programming with Near Westside and Muskego Way Forward.

“While many restaurants and cafés have created parklets exclusively for dining in Milwaukee, the cost to design and build a functional long-lasting parklet is exponential,” explains Caressa Givens, Wisconsin Bike Fed Program Manager. “The MKE Mobile Parklet project is truly a labor of love fundraised and supported by the community. For emerging neighborhoods and business corridors this project also aims to alert local leaders. We demand safer more welcoming neighborhoods, and we are asking for help to supplement the cost of these gathering spaces where the need is great.”

Businesses and communities interested in learning more or supporting future efforts may contact Caressa Givens at caressa@wisconsinbikefed.org.

About the Wisconsin Bike Fed:   The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Educational Foundation, Inc. (AKA Wisconsin Bike Fed) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that cultivates, motivates, and unites residents, communities, businesses, and political leaders to move bicycling forward in Wisconsin through education, legislation, and involvement. The Wisconsin Bike Fed is the only statewide organization that advocates for better bicycling for everyone who rides a bike in Wisconsin. We have over 20,000 followers – individuals, families, businesses, and organizations – who support our work to:

•     Advocate for cycling, including having the governor prioritize transportation access and environmental concerns in the recently proposed 2021-23 biennial budget, and having bike shops deemed essential businesses during the pandemic.
•     Provide programs to make bicycling safer and more accessible across the state, particularly in the state’s most populous urban communities of Milwaukee and Madison.
•     Promote Wisconsin as an economic engine for cycling, highlighting scenic trails and emphasizing the many large and small businesses that support bicycling as direct producers, repairers or vendors of bikes and related accessories, as well as the hospitality industry that benefits from cycling. According to the most recent impact study released by the governor’s office in 2020, consumers spent $1.42 billion in 2017 on direct bicycle-related expenditures, bringing funds into our businesses and state budget.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.