Tom Daykin at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel catalogs the increase in downtown and East side housing developments attracting young workers, even those whose jobs are in the 'burbs.
It's an impressive list. The City and the market are betting on urbanity, even in a rough economy.
It
bodes well for entertainment and cultural destinations located there,
for the creative tension that produces new businesses and commerce, and
for the city's planned streetcar system, as younger professionals and residents are among
the very riders at whom urban rail is aimed.
And it's why state and local transportation budgets should be focused on better transit services, rather than new highways to subdivision ghost towns with big lots and houses and mortgages and commutes that retires are abandoning and younger occupants are avoiding.
I remember
staffing a meeting of young urban professionals invited to City Hall by
a business organization during Mayor John Norquist's last term, so
probably in 2003.
Most of the attendees lived downtown,
by choice, and were Milwaukee-area natives who'd worked elsewhere, then
returned, by choice. In other words, the very cohort you want anchoring
the community, sticking around, having families, encouraging their
friends to move here.
Their Number One gripe, the thing they missed most about the places from which they had moved: "Where's the light rail?"
Just another gift to Wisconsin from Wisconsin Mfgrs and Commerce, the people who make it their business to protect their existing lines of businesses--from regulations and competition, that is. They've repeatedly sent the message that they could care less about innovation, new technologies or the future. So the buggy manufacturers, the hair tonic mixers, the corset makers, blacksmiths and ice block delivery companies can continue on. . . . making Wisconsin's economy strong.
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of light rail, but my biggest complaint when looking for a place to live downtown was "Why haven't these old apartments and buildings been updated since around the turn of the previous century?" Cramped micro kitchens (with the original deep sinks) -- and no elevators? Of course, without rail, parking was also often an issue.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the ghost towns? I'm looking to buy a house and really want to know.
ReplyDelete