Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

Flickr set of signs on "old 41"

WI, Milwaukee County-U. S. 41(Old) Sleepy Hollow Motel, originally uploaded by Alan C of Marion,IN.

"Alan C." writes:

I took a quick business trip to Wisconsin and managed to get off the interstate south of Milwaukee and find old U.S. 41, now designated WI 241. This was the first sign I ran into and the best of the bunch. I guess they wanted everyone to know that there was NO VACANCY by painting the NO onto the sign.

Click the image to see more from the set.

Boomgaard: "We've heard from only one side, the blogger community and the people who comment on the blogs"

Ted Grintjes evidently doesn't read Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columns or see the video they posted, or listen to talk radio.

What a botched job. Horrendous and expensive - - and this debacle comes from a member of the Franklin Citizens for Responsible Government (Grintjes was the group's spokesman in 2003).

Ah, the Franklin Citizens for Responsible Government. Here's a little background on that group from  the 12/17/06 Journal Sentinel:

Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership emerged in March 2003, saying it intended to recall [Basil] Ryan and anyone else members saw as blocking the city's economic development efforts. Over the next year, the group replaced four of the six sitting aldermen with one of its founding members - Ald. Steve Olson - and three others sympathetic to its agenda. Olson later distanced himself from the group.

The group made what turned out to be false or exaggerated claims against opponents in fliers, claiming in one case that the candidate knew a sex-offender home was being planned for Franklin and that the candidate did nothing to fight a landfill expansion whose height would "exceed the Empire State Building."

"It was 'take the office at all costs.' That was the tactic they used," said former Ald. Don Dorsan, who lost to Olson and complained to the district attorney's office that the group had knowingly distributed false information about him.

Sounds like a great bunch of fellas.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Regional News Briefs section.

Group awaits feedback on 'Boomgaard' name

Franklin - A controversial plan to christen the area along S. 27th St. in Franklin and Oak Creek as the Boomgaard District is on hold while the committee that chose the moniker gets more feedback from local residents and businesses.

Ted Grintjes, who chairs the S. 27th St. Steering Committee, said Wednesday that a final decision on the name could take 120 days or more.

"We've heard from only one side, the blogger community and the people who comment on the blogs," Grintjes said of the negative reception the name has received since it was announced. "And we'd really like to hear from the business community and residents."

The name Boomgaard, which is Dutch for orchard, plays on the city's environmental and cultural history, but it has been pilloried by critics as pretentious and a bad fit for the two communities.

The committee decided to suspend action on the name Tuesday night after the mayors of Oak Creek and Franklin sent it back for reconsideration.

Joint 27th Street Steering Committee Meeting 4pm today

Thanks to Franklin alderman Steve Olson, I was made aware that there's a Joint 27th Street Steering Committee Meeting scheduled for 4 pm today. It's at Oak Creek City Hall and includes a citizen comment period.

4 pm? That should encourage citizen participation, huh? I can't get there, but I'll get a tape.

On the agenda: A $29,254.24 "marketing, branding, positioning, and public relations" payment to HTNB Corporation - - an engineering firm. They are the conduit through which we pay Zizzo Group.

Why do it this way? Ask Ted Grintjes. And this bill is ONLY for the period between Feb. 23rd and March 28th of this year.

Here's another question someone should ask: How much does Ted Grintjes think it costs to buy and reserve a group of internet domain names?

Boomgaard!

Man on the street Boomgaard video: SURPRISE! Nobody like the name ...

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jim Stingl asked some folks around town what the think of "Boomgaard District" as a name for the 27th Street area (click HERE for video feed).

The Zizzo Group and 27th Street honcho Ted Grintjes must be bursting with pride.

Wait until we talk about the money we spent for that silly name ....

27th Street Corridor gains a name that no one will use

So, it's time for Oak Creek and Franklin to name the 27th Street corridor something more interesting than "the 27th Street corridor."

Given the colorful and varied history of the 27th Street corridor (touched upon in a FranklinNow story), I have to say I expected something much, much more evocative than.... THE BOOMGAARD DISTRICT.

That's "creativity by committee" for you. Blech. I can see the twee little logo already. When will we stop naming developments and subdivisions after the natural features that have been plowed under to construct them?

So much for effective branding.

UPDATE: If IKEA made those concrete blockades around the Green Zone in Baghdad, they would be called Boomgaards.

From FranklinNOW.com:

27th Street Corridor gains a name
By Julie Becker

As 27th Street continues to evolve in Oak Creek and Franklin, the two communities hope the joint development will become known as the "Boomgaard District."

Both the Oak Creek and Franklin common councils have endorsed the name, as its origin - boomgaard is Dutch for "orchard" - represents the area's agricultural economic history, according to a news release issued today by Zizzo Group Advertising and Public Relations.

Officials also selected the name based on its uniqueness, stating it brings to mind thoughts of progress, momentum and positive energy, and embodies an environmentally friendly vision for the six-mile corridor.

"The Boomgaard District name is as unique as the collaborative efforts between Franklin and Oak Creek," Oak Creek Mayor Richard Bolender said in the release. "The uniqueness of the name will set this development apart from others not only regionally, but nationally."

The name was selected after extensive research and discussion by the Zizzo Group and Joint South 27th Street Steering Committee, which unanimously recommended the councils adopt it.

Why site design matters (and why "landscaping ratio" does not)

The world of strip malls. A nice, 68-degree day; behold the treacherous route between buying an audio adapter plug at the 27th Street Radio Shack and walking(!) to a Jimmy John's subway shop that's a mere 120 yards away.

Ah - but there are PATCHES OF GRASS, so the site is probably well within "minimum landscaping ratio" requirements.

A community built for vehicles.

UPDATE:

Contrast the pedestrian-killing scene above with the walker-friendly (though grass-free) crossing below:

Strange roads, and "Why do Conservatives become Socialists when it comes to highway spending?"

This week I took my inaugural drive down 31st Street, which now connects Drexel and Rawson - - a few hundred feet from 27th Street, which does the same; brilliant. Other than its use as a back-way out for Northwestern Mutual's new parking ramp, the road is fairly useless at this point (it'll undoubtedly help once the YMCA gets built, though; the road will seem much less superfluous at that point).

And it's wiiiiide. On a positive note: sidewalks begin at the Northwestern Mutual entrance and run to Rawson.

(Click the picture below to go to a collection of 31st Street photos on Flickr)

31st Street, Franklin WI, originally uploaded by johnruexp.

Meanwhile, the very next north-south connection from Drexel to Rawson doesn't come for another mile west on 51st street, reinforcing Drexel's status as an overused collector road with no gridwork connections to tame traffic.

GoogleMaps is a bit out of date; 31st goes all the way through. But nothing else does.

Poor planning. And expensive; 31st street comes out of the city budget as part of the incentive package to Northwestern Mutual when they - - evidently - - hinted that they were getting offers from other cities as they were contemplating building their addition and might just vacate that big building.

Weird roads like 31st Street make this quote all the more relevant (and makes you almost sure that this guy has been to Franklin):

A city's internal transportation system - the layout of its streets and roads, the layout of streetcar systems and subways - determines the character of the city, how its citizens live and work. It has less to do with the direct engines of wealth creation. Build subways and people will live in dense neighborhoods and walk to corner stores; build broad suburban streets and they will live in subdivisions and drive to the Wal-Mart.
-Alex Marshall (How Cities Work)

Recently, Marshall asked the nonmusical question: Why Do Conservatives Become Socialists When It Comes To Highway Spending? at Governing.com.

(Via The Political Environment.)

See also this perspective on the question from the UK (hence the spelling): "Why are roads favoured by the right and trains by socialists?"

An excerpt:

What is it about roads that attracts the Right? Surely they must, by now, realise that the freedom afforded by the car is illusory, since, as usage rises, the extra societal costs of more people getting on to the road outweigh by far the benefits. And the simplistic view that roadbuilding is the answer has been widely discredited. There is a gaping intellectual gap in the Right's thinking which environmentalists and public transport supporters should be more adept at exploiting.

 

 

After a long drought: Franklin YMCA news

I've been driving by the "Coming Soon" sign for about four years. Suddenly, two updates from FranklinNow.com's John Neville:

The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare announced today an expanded partnership that involves the creation of a Healthy Lifestyle Village at the proposed YMCA on South 27th Street, just south of Rawson Avenue in Franklin.

The YMCA also announced a $1 million naming gift from Terry and Mary Briscoe toward the capital campaign.

The Briscoe Family YMCA will feature a state-of-the-art wellness center with indoor track, multiple-lane swimming pool, group exercise studios, adult and family locker rooms, and a child care center within a 45,000-square-foot building. Land for the facility was donated by Northwestern Mutual.

The Healthy Lifestyle Village is a "destination campus," where people can learn, plan and take action to improve their health and quality of life. The first Healthy Lifestyle Village in the region is being built in Brown Deer at the YMCA Schroeder Branch. It's slated to open in spring, 2009.

Specifics of the Healthy Lifestyle Village in Franklin are still under development pending approval from the YMCA Boards of Directors. The facility is targeted to open in late 2009.

Oak Creek-Franklin: Water battle now in court

In nearly every meeting that I attend wherein Oak Creek is discussed (most often in relationship to Oak Creek-Franklin cooperative efforts on behalf of 27th Street), someone will mutter under their breath about the "water issue." An uneasy peace - - it's always there, just under the surface.

And now the dispute enters the courts.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Franklin files suit to get $303,000 from Oak Creek

By MARIE ROHDE
mrohde@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Feb. 14, 2008

Franklin has gone to court against its neighbor, Oak Creek, in the latest salvo in an ongoing war over water.

According to a lawsuit filed this week:

Franklin began buying water from Oak Creek for one subdivision under a 30-year contract beginning in 1973. A similar agreement was reached in 1979 for another subdivision.

In 1994, Franklin agreed to buy all of its water from Oak Creek. As a part of that agreement, the earlier contracts were amended to expire in October 2003, when Franklin would have built its own water utility. The state Public Service Commission in 1994 ordered Oak Creek to relinquish Franklin customers within 10 years.

When Franklin notified Oak Creek that it expected the transfer to occur by October 2003, Oak Creek balked, demanding $300,000 compensation for infrastructure improvements made in Franklin. Franklin said it had paid for the infrastructure, and the PSC agreed.

Oak Creek asked the PSC for a water rate increase that would have affected only Franklin customers, to the tune of more than $300,000. The PSC refused. Oak Creek appealed and lost.

The customers were not transferred until more than a year after the date ordered by the PSC because of court appeals. That cost Franklin $303,438, an amount the city is asking the court to order Oak Creek to pay. Franklin also is asking for legal fees. The case has been assigned to Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Dwyer.

Is Franklin too snooty for Golden Corral?

The 27th Street dream runs into mundane reality.

Excellent distillation by Greg Kowalski of Franklinnow of last night's plan commission meeting and a conflict regarding a proposed GOLDEN CORRAL restaurant on 27th street in front of Gander Mountain (the photo above is of a random franchise location). The developer is Paul Bouraxis.

The Golden Corral petitioner summoned the chutzpah mention developer Bouraxis's other major Franklin project, the Lowe's, 2-strip-malls, Omega, Goodwill, Gander Mountain, Indian Creek condominiums "mixed-use complex."

You'll find a picture of that "complex" in the city planning encyclopedia, illustrating the term "Utterly Crapulent Development."

In 2000, Bouraxis proposed a "mixed-use commercial and residential development" on the property that was the 41 Twin and is now Northwestern Mutual. Dodged a bullet there, evidently.