Riverwest has always been home to artists and galleries. However, the disappearance of most of the affordable studio space in the neighborhood due to economic development is threatening the neighborhood’s viability as a place where artists can afford to live and work. One possible answer to this ongoing problem would be the development of a large arts complex somewhere in the neighborhood.
development
Posted inUncategorized
Our History Begins With the River
by Tom Tolan – Part 1 of 6
You could argue that it was the Milwaukee River, threading its way between glacial ridges, that determined the future character of the Riverwest neighborhood. By digging a deep valley, it created steep banks that would be attractive to the wealthy families who built summer homes here in the 1880s, to the operators of private parks and resorts, and to the middle class families who settled in the area permanently. By carving a wide crescent as the neighborhood’s eastern border, the river ensured that the Green Bay trail — today’s King Drive and Green Bay Avenue — would be the main route north from the early village of Milwaukee, cutting straight across the crescent. You could argue that land values dropped sharply between the road and the river, putting the eastern fringe within the financial reach of the poor Polish immigrants who settled here in the 1880s and 1890s. . . .
Posted inUncategorized
City Block Grant Funding Cuts Hit Home For YMCA CDC-Riverwest
by Sonya Jongsma Knauss
More than $1 million in cuts to community organizing by the City is taking its toll in many neighborhoods, and Riverwest is no exception. Community organizing and neighborhood planning activities will take a hit when the YMCA CommunityDevelopment Corporation at 604 E. Center St. closes its doors on Dec. 31, 2002. The office, which the YMCA opened a little over a year ago and which represents a $37,000 buildout investment on the part of the Y, has been used for many neighborhood gatherings.
“There was a certain level of trust we put in the Y when we originally decided to ask them to administer the grant. We felt they would commit to the neighborhood and bring resources into it. . . I expected the Y to do more work to find funding. To me it’s an institutional question: is the Y devoted to the CDC model or not?” -Alderman D’Amato
Posted inNeighborhood News
Kilbourn Reservoir Park Master Plan Revisited
What would you put in a neighborhood park if you had a chance to help design it almost from scratch? That’s the question more than 30 Riverwest residents tried to answer in a meeting held October 9 at Pierce School. They met with Carrie Lewis, Superintendent of the Milwaukee Water Works, and members of Schreiber Anderson Associates, a landscape architecture firm, to help develop a new master plan for the park. An earlier plan was developed with neighborhood input in 2000.
Pictured here: grading has begun in Kilbourn Park. Mayor Norquist, Ald. Marlene Johnson-Odom, and Tom Schneider, Executive Director of COA Youth and Family Centers, all spoke at a press conference announcing the links that will be created to Riverwest and Harambee.
Posted inRNA News
Riverwest Neighborhood Association Minutes September 17, 2002, YMCA CDC OFFICE
1. Invocation by George Singleton. 2. August 20 minutes approved. 3. Announcements a. Jan Christiansen distributed a set of maps noting the location of crimes in the Fifth District. b. Tess Reiss reminded everyone of the Center Street Celebration c. “Slow Down” signs are being used throughout the neighborhood, particularly on Sunday at the Garden […]
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