Is Busy Good - 27th & Howard Milwaukee
Not my usual cup of tea today - today I am criticizing a booming commercial district!
Last week I was shopping in the area at South 27th Street between Oaklahoma and Howard Avenue in Milwaukee. There is so much traffic going everywhich way it is crazy just trying to drive through, much less stop at one of the 6 million stores along this stretch. I swear every single store you could imagine is packed in here! But the area looks horrible, is overrun and feels outdated. If I were revitalizing a neighborhood this is the last thing I would want! Who would want to live there? All that shopping and traffic doesn't seem to have helped the residential neighborhood at all. Perhaps it has indirectly, in that several neighborhoods probably do their shopping here (I'd speculate a decent draw from Lincoln Avenue, Bayview, Cudahy, and others).
Imagine if something like this happened in the City at, say, 27th street and Wisconsin Avenue. Sure there would be more shopping for Marquette students and the Concordia neighborhood. But, I don't think mega-shopping is what is needed. What the city needs is their localized shopping needs to be met, along with some well targeted commercial draws to pull people from outside the neighborhood. Something like Roots, Ben Cycle, Marine Land Pets, or Soche (which, btw, keeps very busy despite the horrible service I received there! Maybe I'll become a critic next?). You don't want 50,000 people every day, but you do need a reason for people to come to you!
What do you suppose the city is doing with the massive tax revenue being received here? Maybe it could be used to give the area a better look and feel and traffic flow to help support the residential neighborhood surrounding it.
Last week I was shopping in the area at South 27th Street between Oaklahoma and Howard Avenue in Milwaukee. There is so much traffic going everywhich way it is crazy just trying to drive through, much less stop at one of the 6 million stores along this stretch. I swear every single store you could imagine is packed in here! But the area looks horrible, is overrun and feels outdated. If I were revitalizing a neighborhood this is the last thing I would want! Who would want to live there? All that shopping and traffic doesn't seem to have helped the residential neighborhood at all. Perhaps it has indirectly, in that several neighborhoods probably do their shopping here (I'd speculate a decent draw from Lincoln Avenue, Bayview, Cudahy, and others).
Imagine if something like this happened in the City at, say, 27th street and Wisconsin Avenue. Sure there would be more shopping for Marquette students and the Concordia neighborhood. But, I don't think mega-shopping is what is needed. What the city needs is their localized shopping needs to be met, along with some well targeted commercial draws to pull people from outside the neighborhood. Something like Roots, Ben Cycle, Marine Land Pets, or Soche (which, btw, keeps very busy despite the horrible service I received there! Maybe I'll become a critic next?). You don't want 50,000 people every day, but you do need a reason for people to come to you!
What do you suppose the city is doing with the massive tax revenue being received here? Maybe it could be used to give the area a better look and feel and traffic flow to help support the residential neighborhood surrounding it.
posted by Pete | 11:15:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home