Posted on Monday, 27th July 2009 by Patrick Dorwin
Businesses along South 27th Street are floundering, of course the politicians want to spend more tax dollars… They think a few trees and statues will turn things around.
27th Street fighting for survival
I noticed that they seem to have forgotten one item that has changed along South 27th Street, that is the removal of a very busy freeway ramp that fed traffic right into the heart of this area. Back in January of last year, I covered a press conference held by Citizens for Responsible Government and area business owners, and even then, they warned of the damage this ramp closure would inflict on the South 27th Street business district. But the paper seems to have forgotten… Or chose to ignore it.
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10 Responses to “They failed to mention something”
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July 27th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Couldn’t be that the area has turned into a cesspool, now could it ?
July 28th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I was part of the 27th St. Business Association and argued with the DOT about the closure for the better part of two years, as it would have greatly affected the revenue of the business I managed. I even hosted a large public forum with the DOT about the closure, and one by the Citizens etc. you mention above.
But now that the place has been sold and I’m out of the job I held for 10 years (the owners nephew was given my position) I can speak a little more openly. The ramp will stay open, just not to northbound traffic. In other words, you can reach 27th going southbound, you just can’t jump across on your way north from the airport. Allegedly the DOT gave the gov’t reps a choice - close Layton’s off ramp and do the revamp that way, or close 27th. The airport area has more $ to toss around, and so 27th St was cut.
Now, even while open from the north, that sucks. Most business flows into the area from the south, and my place NEEDED the airport traffic. In the future, customers would have to exit on Layton Ave, journey to 27th Street, turn, and find their way to a place once right next to an off-ramp.
That does not bode well for 27th.
I was also on the weekly committe that met with the DOT to parcel out that 1.5 million to be spent on hardscaping the area. They threw us a bone, saying “here. No matter what, we’re closing the ramp. So ignore this money and we’ll spend it elsewhere, or take it and do your damnest to draw customers away from Layton and onto 27th”.
BTW - I did a friend request on Facebook, then realized you probably wouldn’t recognize the name at all. My bad
July 28th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Yea…and we trust the government to run health care? HA.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:45 am
You put your money in one big pot, then have to comply to get it out,
or they use it to take your business/job away to gets more money,
or they use it to wreck your community,
or use it to take your freedom/resources away.
or give it to other countries under the guise of aid, well knowing they are buying tanks.
Why would anyone want to put more money in that pot for the promise of free health care? Freedom lost to government can not be regained without overturning it (much death and destruction, as in the past). Do we really need to keep put money into DOT that determines who’s business is going to be shutdown? Those guys should be fired proportionately to the businesses they closed.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I think the bus line and the crime and the criminals it introduced didn’t help.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Not to mention that the businesses (and mosque) that benefit by keeping the Layton ramps open while closing 27th to traffic to/from the airport are wholly in the city of Milwaukee, while the businesses that would benefit by keeping 27th open to traffic to/from the airport are at least partially in the ‘burbs.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Hate to break the news to you, stalker3, but that bus line has been there a very long time. In fact, I remember when it made its u-turn to go back north in Tri-City Shop-Rite’s parking lot.
July 29th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Could be. Could also be the long list of businesses in that corridor that either closed or moved with no real replacement over the last 30 years:
- The first Jewell effort at 27th & College (turned into a Drug Emporium after Jewell departed the first time, expanded to give room for Sears Hardware, and now barely a quarter-occupied by a dollar store)
- Red Carpet Celebrity Lanes (now occupied by Don Jacobs Toyota/Mitsubishi)
- Kohl’s Food Store at 27th & Grange (twice; still vacant)
- Kohl’s Department Store at 27th & Grange (moved up the road, half the space was never filled)
- Sentry Foods (while most of the footprint is now occupied by Famous Dave’s Barbecue, portions of the old parking lot/foundation are still visible)
- Innumerable businesses at the strip malls at 27th & Parnell, which still has significant vacancy rates
- Treasure Island at 27th & Loomis (now occupied by Pick ‘n Save and Kohl’s Department Store)
- The strip mall just south of the old Southgate (now a Walmart) anchored by a Kohl’s Food Store (now an OfficeMax, with a partially-filled big-box building replacing the strip mall)
- The former Foster Pontiac (vacant since 2006)
- The former Southgate Ford (originally combined with the neighboring former Plymouth/Chrysler dealership when Braeger bought both, the old Ford portion is still vacant while the old Plymouth/Chrysler portion has a CVS pharmacy)
I could include several spectacular failures going south of College (soon to be roundabout-enhanced), but this isn’t a Boomgaard discussion.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:16 am
If you don’t give people and businesses a chance to succeed, they won’t, and will continue to move to some other place (China, Mexico), like they have been doing for the last thirty years, taking the jobs with them.
Excess government is just bad for business and community. They blindly enforce obscure policy and over regulate to justify unnecessary positions, but ultimately smother the communities they are supposed to be serving/helping.
Doyle and Barrett continue the we’re going to get you coming and going, not matter what, and continue smother the community (now extending to 7 region area) out of business. They are out of touch, or in complete denial. What has happened to Milwaukee over the last thirty years, where has all the business/production/tax revenue gone, why?
When you see business office, without production, where did the production go, out of state, out of country? You would be hard pressed to name a company in Milwaukee that has no moved some portion out, jobs with it, why?
Why would making things easier for the government help community, if it at the expense of community?
Why don’t you just reduce administration, relax policy, fees, and regulation, give us our community back. Keep the roads open, that’s not where the money is being flushed down the toilet.
August 1st, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Steveegg:
You’re not breaking any news to me, as I am all too familiar with how things there looked 30 years ago compared to how they look now.