When I think about Milwaukee, one of the first things that pops into my head (from a positive standpoint) is the 10+ miles of shoreline, courtesy of Lake Michigan. While driving down said lakefront, via Lincoln Memorial Drive, all I see, for the 3 miles from The Calatrava to Lake Park Bistro (especially in the winter), is desolation. Oh, there’s McKinley Marina, Alterra Coffee, and the Northpoint Snack Shack, but other than that, its snow-covered flat space with an occasional tennis court thrown in. What a freakin’ travesty. Not only do we pollute one of Wisconsin’s greatest natural resources during heavy storms in the summer, we fight, tooth and nail, any sort of development, and the ability to create a world-class destination for Southeastern Wisconsin residents, and beyond.
What to do, what to do?!?! The first order of business is to raze the tennis courts on Lincoln Memorial Drive and E. Lafayette Hill Road and bid out, to a handful of developers, the ability to develop a commercial property in the same vain as Trocadero, Cafe Hollander, and Brocach (ie: a restaurant/bar overlooking the lake/marina year round). Then I’d go north and take a look at the Bradford Beach House. Now, this venture has been tweaked within the last 3 years or so, but (and this is a common theme) the DNR won’t allow “true” restaurants on Lake Michigan – there in lies the problem(s). The DNR is a joke, and this type of barrier to progress is exactly why. They are the “leaders” in blocking development, and in my opinion, their time has come. The Governor and the State of Wisconsin need to wake up and realize that this entity is hurting more than they are helping and they need to be stopped. Can you imagine going to lunch at a restaurant (overlooking the marina/Lake Michigan), on E. Lafayette Hill Road, than walking across the street to a pub in Veterans Park for a drink or two, followed by a walk down a vibrant Lincoln Memorial Drive to Summerfest, or a walk through the Art Museum/Calatrava? NOW all you have is the ability to grab a quick coffee (quick being a relative term considering Alterra is the only commercial property around the area, so it’s always packed), then jumping back into your car, find another parking spot around the Art Museum, then drive home – sound like a destination to you? As for other development, there are acres of land north of Bradford Beach (Northpoint Tower area, Lake Park Bistro/Lake Park Golf Course) that could be reviewed and zoned for commercial use, but I will leave that to your imagination….
Bottomline, things need to change. Milwaukee is dying a slow death and our outright refusal to utilize and market our lakefront, commercially, is contributing greatly to that death. The thought or belief that parks and green space retain, or better yet, attract people to your city is a complete and utter myth. What attracts people to your city is vibrancy, coupled with a sense of safety. Having a lakefront that is highlighted, solely, by a coffee shop in the middle of Lincoln Memorial Drive does little to nothing to create excitement. You want people to visit your city, you want people to feel compelled to spend money in your city, and you can only do that by giving them a compelling reason to come to your city. And to clarify, I’m not strictly talking about conventions, and people from outside the state, I’m talking more about those people who have left the city for one reason or another, or those that have lived in the far west, north and south suburbs so long, making a trip into Milwaukee is the exception rather than the rule. I have family and friends that do not live in Milwaukee County, and have absolutely no inclination to come into Milwaukee. The shortsightedness of the City of Milwaukee has given surrounding cities the opportunity to build up their downtown areas (see downtown Waukesha), giving Milwaukee less and less people to frequent restaurants, shops, bars, even parks…..Leaders, whether they be public or private, need to constantly look at their product and come up with the most effective way of promoting their product, utilizing all tools available. Milwaukee’s greatest tool to attract residents (new and old), visitors, and businesses is the lakefront. To ignore that fact is to allow your “business” (and in this case the City of Milwaukee is the business) to fail. Saying that, I also challenge non-Milwaukeeans to take up this fight as well, because if Milwaukee fails, so does the state. Whether you like it or not, Milwaukee is the largest city in this state and if you, as a state, let your largest “customer” crumble, so goes the rest of the state.
Our desire, heck obsession, to follow the policies of 1950′s government will create a Detroit in Wisconsin and I fear, within the next 15-20 years, Milwaukee will be an afterthought. We will be a city without a sports team (yes, once the Bucks leave, the Brewers will not be far behind), our arts community will be whittled down to nothing, any sort of commercial development will be a pipe dream and the downtown area will become a wasteland. These factors, amongst others, will cause more and more people to migrate farther out of the city, delving us further into obscurity. It WILL happen if we continue on this path of apathy around our lakefront, but it can be reversed if we choose to be proactive in and around our lakefront instead of kowtowing to the DNR and others.
