Back in June I became inspired to start the Sprawled Out blog as my community of Franklin, Wisconsin celebrated an announcement by Northwestern Mutual; they would be doubling the size of their campus on 27th Street. This, coupled with the planned Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare Center on the same street, created euphoria among the city's administration and planners. (My district's alderman, Alan Hammelman, even went so far as to write a letter to the community paper expressing surprise at the lack of enthusiasm he perceived among his fellow Franklinites over these developments.)
As I explained in my first post, it looked to me like Franklin was on the very cusp of some fairly momentous decisions related to how 27th Street’s development is addressed. Adding to nest of tangles ahead is the fact that 27th Street acts as the border between Franklin and its neighbor community, Oak Creek. What a tremendous opportunity to observe local and regional planning - - and hopefully, cooperation - - in action.
I decided to use my community as an example of the myriad challenges facing suburban community leaders and planners in an environment where subdivisions and commercial strip malls are seemingly plopped hither and yon at the profit-driven whims of developers with little or no regard to any unifying sense of community. Even before attending a single planning commission meeting, however, I realized that that guiding an expanding community’s growth is anything but easy, and developers are not always simply opportunistic carpet-baggers.
I was pleased to meet so many officials who, whether or not you agree with their viewpoints on city planning, are obviously in it because they sincerely want to help create a better city. Alderman Ken Skowronski, for instance - - who patiently discussed various city planning issues with me under a scorching sun at Franklin’s anniversary celebration, which he helped organize - - has been on the plan commission for 36 years.
I also feel, even now, a continuous sense of wariness towards me and my inquiries. That could be attributable to the tumultuous recent history of Franklin’s city government (which could be a book in itself), but I also realize that you do yourself no favors by talking to some guy researching a book and maintaining a blog - - it’s just another opportunity to be misquoted. (Local politics is not for the faint of heart; my alderman, the above-mentioned Alan Hammelman, is husband of the former alderperson for a neighboring district who was ousted in a recall election related to a quarry controversy.)
It also may not help that I'm not enamored of Franklin's dependence on collector roads and subdivision streets that seem designed to speed up traffic in residential areas - - problems that plague suburbs across the country.
Be that as it may, here's to another 100 blog entries.
The focus has shifted away from 27th Street and toward a development under discussion at the corner of Drexel and Lover’s Lane/Hwy 100. Beginning today I'll take up the concept of a "City Center" or "City Civic Center" as defined by the Franklin plan commission and its integration into a potential commercial development planned by the Mark Carstensen Construction and Development Company.
I've outlined the "City Center Design Overlay District" in BLUE below; Carstensen's proposed "Shops at Wyndham Village" site is outlined in YELLOW.
Given that the name of this blog is "Sprawled Out," can you see the problem that I see? A public hearing on the possible commercial development is scheduled for OCTOBER 31st.
More tomorrow ...
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