MUScoop

MUScoop => The Superbar => Topic started by: Galway Eagle on November 01, 2023, 12:17:16 PM

Title: New Urbanism
Post by: Galway Eagle on November 01, 2023, 12:17:16 PM
Does anybody on here listen to Strong Towns, Not Just Bikes, or any other new urbanist channels/podcasts? It sounds like the strong towns group in Milwaukee is really pushing hard for the removal of 794 and extending a walkable park area.

curious if anyone has any opinions on what it'd take to achieve a mindset change in the US to move away from car dependency.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Skatastrophy on November 01, 2023, 12:56:41 PM
Does anybody on here listen to Strong Towns, Not Just Bikes, or any other new urbanist channels/podcasts? It sounds like the strong towns group in Milwaukee is really pushing hard for the removal of 794 and extending a walkable park area.

curious if anyone has any opinions on what it'd take to achieve a mindset change in the US to move away from car dependency.

Get rid of 794 but I wouldn't get rid of the Hoan Bridge though. That would be a great street with pedestrian and bike infrastructure added.

Reclaim the parking lots around Summerfest grounds for community/commercial space and that would be a bangin area.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole on November 01, 2023, 01:05:26 PM
Yeah you can't get rid of the Hoan Bridge. 

But getting rid of the elevated I-794 makes sense because the elevated freeway is in for major maintenance in the coming couple of decades. I know people think that it would be like the removal of the Park East Freeway, but I-794 carries a lot more traffic. But having it be some sort of surface street I think would be very helpful to the city.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: jficke13 on November 01, 2023, 01:08:09 PM
I don't listen to those podcasts. I have noticed a strain of very weird cars-are-the-root-of-all-evil-and-suffering culture/fandom that runs around twitter and some niches of my social circles. I'm of the mind that we're not going to be able to wave a wand and turn the US into a Taiwan-style environment with no need/reliance on cars and car infrastructure. That being said, people in this country are pretty unhinged about their cars/gigantic trucks. I'm down with removing 794 per some of the kinda renderings and proposals, it seems like a cool stretch for redevelopment.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Sir Lawrence on November 01, 2023, 01:36:48 PM
3,000 folks work in the US Bank building.  NML is renovating what it calls its North Office building bordered by Wells/Mason/Cass/Marshall, bringing 2,000 employees from its Franklin campus.  "The upgrades to the North Office Building would increase the capacity for Northwestern Mutual’s downtown campus to 9,000."

The under construction 44 Floor Couture project will have over 300 apartments.  That is a lot of vehicles coming into a tight area considering the lake  (Lincoln Memorial Drive) preventing access from the east.  I'm all in on developing the area, but where would you dump all the traffic from eastbound I-94?  West of the river?  Right now it's a very efficient traffic conduit.   
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Plaque Lives Matter! on November 01, 2023, 01:46:37 PM
Make Milwaukee a 15 minute city
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Galway Eagle on November 01, 2023, 01:48:25 PM
Make Milwaukee a 15 minute city

everywhere should be a 15 minute city or neighborhood
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Plaque Lives Matter! on November 01, 2023, 01:50:41 PM
everywhere should be a 15 minute city or neighborhood

👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Hards Alumni on November 01, 2023, 02:21:02 PM
Does anybody on here listen to Strong Towns, Not Just Bikes, or any other new urbanist channels/podcasts? It sounds like the strong towns group in Milwaukee is really pushing hard for the removal of 794 and extending a walkable park area.

curious if anyone has any opinions on what it'd take to achieve a mindset change in the US to move away from car dependency.

Yes.  794 should go.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: tower912 on November 01, 2023, 02:34:04 PM
I don't have a dog in this specific fight.   However, the ship has sailed in most cities as far as light rail replacing highways.  My driving experience around the Midwest and East coast says there are a lot of highways where their daily flow far exceeds their original design.   I don't see any easy inexpensive fixes.   

But, man, I would love a bridge from Muskegon to Milwaukee.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Plaque Lives Matter! on November 01, 2023, 02:38:46 PM
I don't have a dog in this specific fight.   However, the ship has sailed in most cities as far as light rail replacing highways.  My driving experience around the Midwest and East coast says there are a lot of highways where their daily flow far exceeds their original design.   I don't see any easy inexpensive fixes.   

But, man, I would love a bridge from Muskegon to Milwaukee.

I could be biased but Light rail that operates within the slower local roads and then in the median of busier roads really helps, especially commuter convenience. I park and ride all the time to skip traffic. Would be really cool if Milwaukee had a downtown to airport rail connection that's not the administrative pain of amtrak.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: tower912 on November 01, 2023, 02:43:43 PM
I understand that and agree to an extent.  My 400k metropolitan area would never support that.   In a perfect world, Milwaukee would have light rail like spokes on a wheel with a loop 20 miles out connecting the outer burbs.   Then a line serving Madison and one going up the coast to GB.   Alas, neither the will nor the $ is there.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Galway Eagle on November 01, 2023, 02:44:27 PM
I understand that and agree to an extent.  My 400k metropolitan area would never support that.   In a perfect world, Milwaukee would have light rail like spokes on a wheel with a loop 20 miles out connecting the outer burbs.   Then a line serving Madison and one going up the coast to GB.   Alas, neither the will nor the $ is there.

Isnt Grand Rapids bigger than Pittsburgh? They have a great light rail network
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: tower912 on November 01, 2023, 02:47:26 PM
Pittsburgh 300k, GR 200k.   GR Metro is around 400k.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Galway Eagle on November 01, 2023, 02:52:13 PM
Pittsburgh 300k, GR 200k.   GR Metro is around 400k.

Ah i see, thanks.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: #UnleashSean on November 01, 2023, 03:07:22 PM
3,000 folks work in the US Bank building.  NML is renovating what it calls its North Office building bordered by Wells/Mason/Cass/Marshall, bringing 2,000 employees from its Franklin campus.  "The upgrades to the North Office Building would increase the capacity for Northwestern Mutual’s downtown campus to 9,000."

The under construction 44 Floor Couture project will have over 300 apartments.  That is a lot of vehicles coming into a tight area considering the lake  (Lincoln Memorial Drive) preventing access from the east.  I'm all in on developing the area, but where would you dump all the traffic from eastbound I-94?  West of the river?  Right now it's a very efficient traffic conduit.

Office jobs are going to be dead in a decade.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole on November 01, 2023, 03:10:09 PM
Office jobs are going to be dead in a decade.

Yeah I don’t think so.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: #UnleashSean on November 01, 2023, 03:11:20 PM
Yeah I don’t think so.

Let's find out what happens in 2033
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Goose on November 01, 2023, 03:13:11 PM
Sir

I do not venture down to US Bank building often anymore, but it sure seems quiet to me when I do. How many people do you think are back to USB building on a daily basis. I am guessing Baird, Foley and others are getting folks back to the office, but it definitely does not have a pre-pandemic feel to me.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: lawdog77 on November 01, 2023, 03:15:31 PM
Office jobs are going to be dead in a decade.
Predicting another pandemic?
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: JWags85 on November 01, 2023, 04:04:43 PM
Predicting another pandemic?

No I’m sure just another acolyte of the “offices don’t accomplish anything, everyone is WAY better at work at home, and thinking otherwise is stealing people’s lives and time”

It’s amazing how post COVID everyone’s commute magically became 1-2 hours minimum, which conveniently fueled the loudest of the anti-office voices
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Sir Lawrence on November 01, 2023, 04:10:10 PM
Sir

I do not venture down to US Bank building often anymore, but it sure seems quiet to me when I do. How many people do you think are back to USB building on a daily basis. I am guessing Baird, Foley and others are getting folks back to the office, but it definitely does not have a pre-pandemic feel to me.

Baird is back and taking over more floors.  Foley does seem quiet.  Some of the Baird groups must have a mix of in office and WFH.  Fridays are quieter in the building. 
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Goose on November 01, 2023, 05:14:26 PM
Sir

Thanks for the update. We four blocks to the west on Wisconsin Ave and 7 people in a four story building. We had a tenant take two floors in 2021 and expected 20+ on a daily basis anx I do not think they ever had more than four on a given day. Thankful I am not the owner of this joint.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Jockey on November 01, 2023, 05:21:11 PM
No I’m sure just another acolyte of the “offices don’t accomplish anything, everyone is WAY better at work at home, and thinking otherwise is stealing people’s lives and time”

It’s amazing how post COVID everyone’s commute magically became 1-2 hours minimum, which conveniently fueled the loudest of the anti-office voices

Promotions are hard to come by when the bosses don’t even know who you are.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: mu_hilltopper on November 05, 2023, 07:45:05 AM
None of the scenarios have the removal of the Hoan as an option.  Not sure where that idea was started.

It's 1.3 miles from the lake to the Marquette interchange.  794 is a very efficient way to get people around at ~60mph.    This alternative removes about 1.3 miles of freeway and replaces it with a boulevard .. future average speeds would be ~20mph with stoplights, so instead of taking 1.5 minutes, it'll take ~4.

The argument for keeping it as-is, is that it's efficient and speedy, and the motoring public love it.   

The argument for the boulevard is that it's cheaper, opens development, and a few minutes more travel isn't that burdensome.

It's obvious what's going to happen.  794 is coming down.  There will be uproar and letter writing campaigns, but in the end none of that will matter.   The urbanists will get their way.

I'm calling it now:  #donedeal
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Uncle Rico on November 05, 2023, 08:14:56 AM
None of the scenarios have the removal of the Hoan as an option.  Not sure where that idea was started.

It's 1.3 miles from the lake to the Marquette interchange.  794 is a very efficient way to get people around at ~60mph.    This alternative removes about 1.3 miles of freeway and replaces it with a boulevard .. future average speeds would be ~20mph with stoplights, so instead of taking 1.5 minutes, it'll take ~4.

The argument for keeping it as-is, is that it's efficient and speedy, and the motoring public love it.   

The argument for the boulevard is that it's cheaper, opens development, and a few minutes more travel isn't that burdensome.

It's obvious what's going to happen.  794 is coming down.  There will be uproar and letter writing campaigns, but in the end none of that will matter.   The urbanists will get their way.

I'm calling it now:  #donedeal

Whatever baby boomers don’t want done, that’s the option I would choose.  #owntheboomers
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole on November 05, 2023, 08:26:56 AM
None of the scenarios have the removal of the Hoan as an option.  Not sure where that idea was started.

It's 1.3 miles from the lake to the Marquette interchange.  794 is a very efficient way to get people around at ~60mph.    This alternative removes about 1.3 miles of freeway and replaces it with a boulevard .. future average speeds would be ~20mph with stoplights, so instead of taking 1.5 minutes, it'll take ~4.

The argument for keeping it as-is, is that it's efficient and speedy, and the motoring public love it.   

The argument for the boulevard is that it's cheaper, opens development, and a few minutes more travel isn't that burdensome.

It's obvious what's going to happen.  794 is coming down.  There will be uproar and letter writing campaigns, but in the end none of that will matter.   The urbanists will get their way.

I'm calling it now:  #donedeal



Agreed on all counts.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Dr. Blackheart on November 05, 2023, 09:58:44 AM
After the World Series earthquake, SF tore down The Embarcadero Freeway. It opened up the city to the bay and with it incredible development. I feel this would be the same. 

Now if MKE could do this with a traffic plan it might be successful. Why do they have to have a timed red light at every corner, including on Sunday AMs? Smart technology, urban planners!
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: The Lens on November 05, 2023, 10:00:23 AM
Heard NM's CEO speak on this recently.  He did bring up the issue of the bridges on St. Paul, Clybourn, Michigan etc.

It's a decent point. I think if you suspend bridge raising during rush hour, it's no brainer. 
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: Hards Alumni on November 06, 2023, 06:49:12 AM
After the World Series earthquake, SF tore down The Embarcadero Freeway. It opened up the city to the bay and with it incredible development. I feel this would be the same. 

Now if MKE could do this with a traffic plan it might be successful. Why do they have to have a timed red light at every corner, including on Sunday AMs? Smart technology, urban planners!

+1.  There is a real opportunity to remove an expensive expressway that is an eyesore and make the city smarter. 
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: MU82 on November 06, 2023, 06:55:43 AM
Kohl's opened a new store right downtown.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2023/11/03/kohls-opens-downtown-milwaukee-store-in-time-for-holiday-shopping-season/71412027007/
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole on November 06, 2023, 07:36:20 AM
Kohl's opened a new store right downtown.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2023/11/03/kohls-opens-downtown-milwaukee-store-in-time-for-holiday-shopping-season/71412027007/


Strange location away from their core demographic. I don't think there are many 45 year old soccer moms downtown.
Title: Re: New Urbanism
Post by: lawdog77 on November 06, 2023, 07:37:10 AM

Strange location away from their core demographic. I don't think there are many 45 year old soccer moms downtown.
Do they sell Stevie Mitchell jerseys?