On this Arbor Day 2022, Mayor Cavalier Johnson joined folks from the City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office and the Sherman Park Community Association on North 45th and Center Streets to proclaim Sherman Park as Milwaukee’s second Eco-Neighborhood.
Lindsay Heights was the first to earn this distinction in 2019.
The proclamation recognizes neighborhoods for their work to focus multiple “eco-activities” in a single area so that it might inspire residence to be more ecologically minded and help make an impact.
The Environmental Collaboration Office put together ne Eco-Neighborhood Toolkit – which can be found online at milwaukee.gov/EcoNeighborhoods – so that community activists and organizers can help promote ecologically minded behaviors and activities.
For an are to be named an Eco-Neighborhood, it must put together a four-person team of community members to serve as Sustainability Ambassadors and over the course of one year, complete three neighborhood beautification projects (such as rain barrel or rain garden installations), host two Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (ME2) information sessions and organize three sustainable events (details are in the toolkit).
At the event Mayor Johnson explained how being an Eco-Neighborhood can bring about environmental change but also deepen connections among neighbors and he challenged other Milwaukee neighborhoods to earn the distinction.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
