Mall Sprawl
John Norquist is well known for his dislike of sprawl – ending it was one of his platforms as Milwaukee’s mayor for 16 years. During that time, he worked hard to remove the Park East Freeway and open it up to at-grade development and even floated the idea of knocking down I-794 for the same reason. He opposed the addition of freeway lanes within the city and county limits and sought to create more walkable neighborhoods.
He even wrote a book in 1998 about his passion for more urbane cities, The Wealth of Cities: Revitalizing the Centers of American Life.
Since leaving office in 2003, Norquist has led the Congress for the New Urbanism, an organization that promotes walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions around the world.
Norquist came back to Milwaukee Tuesday as the keynote speaker for the Granville/Brown Deer Chamber of Commerce Third Annual Vision Series. He brought his message of new urbanism and walkable neighborhoods to one of the most sprawled out regions of Milwaukee County.
The far northwest corner of the City of Milwaukee is a grid of six-lane roads – Brown Deer, Good Hope, Mill and 76th Street – and is home to one of the city’s largest wastelands of parking lots and unused land – the former Northridge Mall and surrounding commercial district. The Village of Brown Deer has some of those same streets, but its problem is more image than vast empty parking lots.
Norquist said even though all those streets and parking lots are in place, they can be fixed to make Northwest Milwaukee and Brown Deer attractive to investment, employers, employees and residents. He said it will require a change in perspective, zoning, planning and a lot of patience.
“This didn’t happen overnight and it won’t change overnight,” Norquist said. “But it can change.”
The New Urbanist ideal
Norquist’s ideal urban neighborhood already exists in Milwaukee. He points to South Kinnickinnic Avenue, Brady Street and the revitalized Third Ward.
