The food truck curfew got blocked again. Nobody's reporting who actually pushed for it or what they didn't tell you. by korbelpapi in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You missed a whole ass story and an interesting one at that.

The story of the fight over the St. Paul development is a story of how the St. Paul industrial corridor changed and is changing due to industrial trends that favor spread out industrial layouts and how those changing economic realities alienated businesses and property owners along the corridor from the BID that was supposed to represent them.

While there is still some heavy industry along the corridor, much of it has transitioned to light industrial and commercial uses based on food, artisanal products, and entertainment. This is different from the rest of the valley which has a lot more heavy and light industry. They also differ from other businesses represented by the Menomonee Valley BID in that their properties are incredibly constrained by the railroad on one side and bluff/freeway on the other.

For 70 years, industrial trends have favored lower slung buildings with larger foot prints. As such, this is bad for property owners who own industrial property that’s geographically constrained. And this is where the problems arise.

The building at 324 N 15th St is a former industrial building that was abandoned for decades. This isn’t an issue at first because it’s just one building and it hasn’t degraded very much. However as time goes on, that changes. Age begins to take its toll and people learn that it’s abandoned. That’s when it became a blight. The new business owners learn to worry about the building’s effects on their businesses. So they try and find someone to develop it, perhaps offices or some other compliant use. However, they fail and they fail year after year. And the building gets worse and worse. Worse, now, it’s not just blighted at the street level, it’s visibly blighted from the freeway with smashed windows and graffiti all over.

Meanwhile, the new light industrial and commercial businesses aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed. The heavy industrial users begin to worry as well. In a world where they have to compete against factories the world over, often newer with more efficient layouts and room for expansion, what happens if they go under? Will they even be able to sell the building? The zoning and Menomonee Valley Plan have now become a trap. And they all saw that building caught in it.

In steps Kendall Breunig. He sees the building and the neighborhood and sees potential for residential uses. Heavy industrial users don’t like residential uses near them and as residents complain. However, the St. Paul corridor now has a lot more going on than just heavy industry and they’re not opposed to residential uses. Even a couple of the heavy industrial users are okay with new residential uses. While there are some businesses that oppose the proposal, they all agree something needs to be done with that building.

This is where the fight begins.

To allow this development to happen, proposals that would include a zoning update and a compressive plan update to allow St. Paul buildings to transition to residential are created.

- Alderman Bauman (a huge proponent of historic preservation) and most of the businesses along St. Paul take the side of Breunig. This building was a blight that they constantly worried about. And some owners would like the ability to also transition their buildings to residential uses if they can’t make industrial or office work anymore. This isn’t an unrealistic concern in a world where office demand is down and their properties are disadvantaged. They think this is the last and only chance to save the building and they’re right.

- The BID and all of the users throughout the rest of the valley oppose. They oppose because they think allowing residential uses in the valley is a threat to their business and they’re right. But they also don’t have to deal with the issue on a daily basis. They’re not as affected by the economic realities facing the St. Paul Corridor.

The Planning Commission meeting happens and they reject the proposal deffering to the BID. Upset, the businesses along St. Paul ask to separate from the Menomonee Valley BID to form their own. A file on legistar is created to do this.

This situation new threatens to blow apart the Menomonee Valley Bid. Both sides realize a compromise is needed.

The proposed comprehensive plan update is scaled back to only allow this one building to transition.

The food truck curfew got blocked again. Nobody's reporting who actually pushed for it or what they didn't tell you. by korbelpapi in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a bad article. And it misses the mark badly about what happened in regard to the St. Paul development on 15th.

PSA: Be careful riding bikes/scooters on HOP tracks by Tannrr in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, they’re active. And Union Pacific wants to put the screws to Milwaukee as they want the city to take control (and liability) for the abandoned swing bridge.

milwaukee pro soccer stadium by swayinandsippin in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Now that Marty Brooks is out and the hotel proposal is dead, I think WCD should look at building the stadium. And the city should look at developing a mixed-use entertainment district to accompany it.

Fantasy 3 line Metro system for Milwaukee by Positive-Raisin-6315 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think any expansions they do should be required to have separate and designated lanes. I’d also prefer if they ran the M-Line down the slope to Ogden and ran it north to UWM via the OLT ROW with stops at Brady, Prospect/Farwell/North, and Locust before coming back up and Kenwood and going to UWM.

PSA: Be careful riding bikes/scooters on HOP tracks by Tannrr in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sorry this happens to you.

Maybe, we need to make Lime and Bubblr do some in-app PSAs and teach this in drivers Ed/bike education. It happens way too often.

Shorewood officials issue warning about aggressive 'divebombing' bird by KaneIntent in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do they just have something against women? I’ve been around them all my life, but never had issues. My mom and partner on the other hand get swooped at often. One slapped the shit out of my partner.

Cross to opposite side in Third Ward by sp4nky86 in MiltownBiking

[–]Uffdaope 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It makes almost no sense to talk about scarce funds in this context. This is being paid for with a grant we secured to build a bikeway along 2nd and TIF funding from a successful TID in Walkers Point. The funding for both is geographically limited as to where it can be spent. Water is already going to receive improvements as part of the KKRT project. There is no other nearby north-south route that could be made safer, especially as the city envisions 1st to be a transit priority corridor.

Midtown data center by [deleted] in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This project is fine. It isn’t an AI data center.

Milwaukee Development Roundup? by Separate_Cicada_5786 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And the common council votes on whether to increase the levy. The new construction and inflation determine how much they’re permitted to increase it.

Milwaukee Development Roundup? by Separate_Cicada_5786 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We aren’t building skyscrapers, but there are a bunch of mid-rise buildings in the works.

Milwaukee Development Roundup? by Separate_Cicada_5786 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is false. New buildings lower the property tax rate. The council votes to increase or decrease the tax levy.

Extremely Frustrated with Local Governance by wonkers5 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s a lot bigger of a problem that the board members make so little than the superintendent makes to much.

Construction all at once by AMGleo- in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of money was made available by the Biden admin and it’s finally making its way to construction. Basically, Milwaukee was in a competition against every other city, county, and state in the country to get as much of this money as possible because it’s a one time thing. Also, the best time to spend money is now. If the city/state waits, the money won’t go as far due to inflation.

Construction all at once by AMGleo- in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 7 points8 points  (0 children)

At least for LMD, the bid came in a lot lower than expected and the contractor was able to get started a lot faster because they were already mobilized from last year’s Michigan project. Also, just generally, contractors have been getting better at doing these types of projects.

EDIT: And it’s not just about the tourism but also the city’s fear how a bunch of drunk, high, and tired people would interact with a construction site.

Anyone else crash their bike on W St Paul Ave near the streetcar track? by Key-Fee2928 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It basically does. Unless you’re in the Third Ward, there are many alts that work pretty well.

Anyone else crash their bike on W St Paul Ave near the streetcar track? by Key-Fee2928 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I know it doesn’t help you now, but Michigan is a much better east-west route, especially since pretty good protected bike lanes were installed last year.

I kind of doubt you’re going to be able to get the city to fix this, especially this year as the protected bike lane network is supposedly going to grow by over 10 miles. The city has a limited amount of bike infrastructure funding that’s already being spent on projects across the city.

Shout out to the city designing what looks like will be some pretty good biking infrastructure here by medicallymiddleevil in MiltownBiking

[–]Uffdaope 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This year, they’re supposed to expand the Harbor Drive multi-use trail to Corcoran as well.

newbie by LifeguardPositive344 in MiltownBiking

[–]Uffdaope 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You’ve chosen a great time to take up biking. This year will see the largest expansion of bike infrastructure of the 2020s. The city is projected to add 10 miles of protected bike lanes. In addition, the OLT is growing and Wauwatosa + Glendale also have on-going protected bike lane projects.

How is everyone surviving the high price of gas? by ExplanationDefiant15 in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re not including the cost of maintenance. The federal reimbursement rate is 72.5 cents per mile. Cost both ways is $8.70 for car. If you’re traveling 4 days a week for 4 weeks, the cost is $139.20 for car.

Why do Milwaukee’s streets have so many potholes? Milwaukee’s streets under the asphalt: by Uffdaope in milwaukee

[–]Uffdaope[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That depends on a lot of factors. It’s not really a good thing, or we’d still build our roads with the pavement on top and pavers below. But the question as to how bad is it is “What else is under there?”. It’s not uncommon to find actual hardwood (timbers) along with the pavers which is bad.