If you read what I write here at OnMilwaukee.com and/or follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know I love Milwaukee and spend a lot of time pointing out the many beautiful features of our town.
But it ain't all wine and roses, as you know. A few weeks ago, I looked at missed opportunities, ugly spaces and other problem spots east of the river. This time, I go west.
1. Not even Downtown parkers seem to like it
A couple decades ago, this space had life. There was a vintage hotel, a Marc's Big Boy, for awhile there was The Starship rock and roll club. Sure, there was a wig shop, too, and the block wasn't in tip-top shape, but you could've said that about lots of places. Then it all went bye-bye and was replaced by a surface parking lot that never even looks vaguely full. This photo was taken late morning on a Wednesday workday. Couldn't we have kept the building stock – imagine the great condos, apartments or remodeled hotel in the old Randolph – and found some other place to park the dozen and a half cars here? A remnant of the Henry Maier idea that blocks could be razed in the absence of a plan. It "could be put in parking until the proper reuse were established," the former mayor might say, as he did in the late 1960s, referring to the block that is now Pere Marquette Park.
2. Keep moving, nothing to see here
In the East Town edition I bemoaned the fact that there's no life on Clybourn Street east of the river. Well, other than some office windows peering out the back of We Energies' building, there's not much going on west of the river, either. It looks like one long on-ramp to I-94 west.
3. MacArthur Square
Perhaps my memory fails me but wasn't there a pedestrian ramp up here from 7th Street, other than the one at the south end? If there was, it's gone. No great loss, because although it seems to be doing good business in terms of underground parking, up above, MacArthur Square is a deadsville. There's bits of "caution" tape fluttering in the breeze, dead tree limbs scattered hither and thither, bits of trash and a couple old fountains that are now fetid ponds occupied by geese and seagulls and their accompanying feces and feathers. The one thing missing up here is human beings.
4. Former Greyhound station and environs
The station itself, which takes up a major chunk of the block northeast of 7th and Michigan has been dormant for years. Kitty corner, there's Butch's Steak House, but it's surrounded by weedy open fields leading to the freeway on-ramp (which recently was full of John Deere farm equipment!). Plenty of room for something useful and attractive here.
5. Come on in, but not here
This sign pretty much sums up the philosophy of Grand Avenue since it opened in 1982. Almost from the start and almost without exception (there have been a few), the mall turned its back on Wisconsin Avenue and the side streets. Is it any surprise Milwaukee turned its back on the mall?
6. If you don't build it, they definitely won't come
Folks have suggested a Target, the mayor attempted to woo Kohl's, there's been talk of a new arena here. Though there's been plenty of Park East development east of the river and even a smattering west (I took this photo from the top of the Moderne, and you can see Bartolotta's HQ down there), this corridor is an open wound that continues to slice Downtown off from the north. Develop it right and Haymarket Square, too, becomes a hive of development.
7. Whose idea was that?
Presumably designed by an architect who does a lot of work in the corrections sector.
8. Bring back bowling
Plankinton Arcade has been one of Milwaukee's most stunning public spaces for nearly a century. It's still a beaut – inside and out – designed by Chicago's Holabird and Roche. It's a shame that folks thought slicing and dicing it was the solution to tough financial times. Create a space for TJ Maxx in the mall across 2nd Street and restore the arcade. Put the bowling alleys back, bring in bars and restaurants and vibrant businesses willing to swing their doors open to Wisconsin Avenue, 2nd Street and Plankinton Avenue.
9. Hamster tubes
I don't love skywalks, but I get why they're relevant for many in our climate and I use them occasionally. If we're going to live with them, can we please find a way to make them a little more pleasant and engaging, maybe some artwork, some vendors, something? Jeez, even a hamster cage has toys in it alongside the Habitrail.
10. Yeah, this one again
See here.
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.
