Tens of thousands of people descended upon Downtown Milwaukee this weekend. It was an action packed weekend: Marquette, the Wave, UWM hoops, "The Lion King," "Body Worlds," Valentine's Day dining and more.
But (there's always a "but"), why were so many crosswalks unshoveled and dangerous? Come on, property owners. This is your deal, your responsibility and your butt if someone slips.
Case in point, the south east corner of Plankinton and Wells was a mess.
Sure it was a rainy, icy mix all weekend and, stating the obvious, we've had our share of snow. But, crosswalks must be shoveled and re-shoveled once the plows come by. I personally witnessed two wheelchairs get stuck in the above corner.
I'm not a stand on the sidelines and do nothing kind of guy, so I tried to remove some of the ice and snow myself. Yet, the ice proved too thick for my kick it away methods. But, an ice pick and / or plow could have easily cleaned up this corner. Are you reading, Mr. Property Owner?
Downtown needs to work for pedestrians, in all seasons. This means, property owners must chop their ice and shovel their snow!
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
