I can't remember when I've read a more amusing, yet utter at the same time utterly sad lede:
Even before ground is broken on the expansive upscale shopping mall planned at Pabst Farms, questions are being raised about who will work at the more than 100 stores, cinema, hotel and restaurants there and how those workers will get to far-flung Oconomowoc.
A long time ago, we stopped building communities and started building enclaves. The municipal zoning system has become the handiest tool since Jim Crow in terms of keeping people "in their place" and maintaining a widely separated economic strata. Is it any wonder that "those that have" are losing all sense of empathy for "those who have less" - - - or "those who need more" in terms of basic needs like public transportation?
Public space is all but gone; people are having a hard time mustering empathy for people they never encounter on a lateral basis in daily life (that means interacting with people of a lower economic strata who are not serving you lattes or a chopped salad).
But when we fear a staffing shortage at the Applebee's and Starbucks that serves the local hive of McMansions, then it suddenly becomes imperative that we get some buses running.
Recall the "threat" a local developer "saved" us from on land now set for Shoppes at Wyndham Village; he liked to remind people that it was originally zoned for - -gasp - - affordable multi-family housing, and he saved us from that terrible fate. That's quite a "threat" to cite in a city that's also home to a House of Corrections, a landfill, and a gigantic quarry.
I'll say it again: A long time ago, we stopped building communities and started building enclaves.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Transit to Pabst Farms questioned
Workers at proposed mall need options, officials say
By AMY RINARD
[email protected]Oconomowoc - Even before ground is broken on the expansive upscale shopping mall planned at Pabst Farms, questions are being raised about who will work at the more than 100 stores, cinema, hotel and restaurants there and how those workers will get to far-flung Oconomowoc.
Although it's early in the planning for Pabst Farms Town Centre, city officials and the office of Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas already have indicated to developers that mass transit options should be a key part of planning for the more than 1 million-square-foot mall proposed by General Growth Properties. Developers have said they hope to open the mall in the fall of 2010.
"We've mentioned that it will be an issue for us when the time comes," said Allison Bussler, Vrakas' chief of staff, noting that expanded bus service to Oconomowoc will be needed. "The conversation certainly should be had; it's better to have those discussions early and have a plan."
But Steve Hiniker, executive director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, a land-use planning advocacy group critical of the entire Pabst Farms project, said having to bus in thousands of people from outside the city to work at lower-wage jobs at the mall is the result of a failure to include affordable housing in the mix of land uses in the 1,500-acre development.
"This is textbook bad development," he said.
Since the project began six years ago, Pabst Farms developers have prided themselves on their plans for a high-class, upscale development that now includes industrial and office facilities, the 1 million-square-foot Roundy's distribution center, an elementary school, a YMCA, a retail area, the new Aurora Health Care hospital now under construction and single-family homes.
In the first phase of housing at Pabst Farms, a section of the sprawling project known as Eastlake Village, home and lot packages range from $400,000 to $500,000.
Future housing planned at the development includes 205 single-family homes on half-acre lots selling for between $550,000 and $750,000 and 26 homes on one-acre lots priced between $750,000 and $1 million.
In addition, 144 townhouse-style and side-by-side condominium units are planned, priced from $295,000 to $375,000 each.
Pabst Farms officials did not return calls for comment.
Bob Duffy, the city's director of economic development, said the market has decided the prices of homes at Pabst Farms, and it is to the city's advantage to get the biggest tax base boost possible in new developments. Oconomowoc's older housing stock and apartment units provide more affordable housing alternatives, he said.
Duffy said nearby communities including Ixonia and Watertown in Jefferson County and Ashippun in Dodge County also offer affordable housing, and employees at the new mall are likely to come from the entire area, not just the city.
"That's where we need to talk regionally," he said of the potential mall labor force.
City Administrator Diane Gard said city officials are aware that transportation for mall workers will be a key issue in developing the shopping center.
"The questions are how do they get to work and where do they live?" she said.
Waiting for details
Bussler said county and local officials are waiting for General Growth to submit more details on its business plan, which would include a target area from which mall workers would likely be hired. But she said it is probable that the labor pool would extend to the city of Waukesha and possibly as far away as Milwaukee.
General Growth officials did not return calls for comment.
Recently, officials in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine and Kenosha counties have agreed to discuss creating a regional transit authority to run bus systems and commuter trains in a four-county area, but progress on the talks appeared to have ground to a halt Friday.
There is limited bus service between Milwaukee and Oconomowoc, with several stops in between, provided by Wisconsin Coach Lines under a contract with Waukesha County. The service is designed primarily to accommodate the needs and schedules of business commuters. The current adult bus fare on that route is $3.25 each way, and the buses operate Monday through Friday only.
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