Don't get me wrong. I am not against the city of Milwaukee helping developers through TIF districts, etc. if done intelligently. In this case this is the wrong type of project for that area. The reasons for this are many:
- The location is right by the city jail. Not exactly the best location for an entertainment facility. Nor is that a really good place to put condos.
- Given the location, putting in a movie theater and an arcade is not exactly going to bring in the best elements of the city. Another strike against anyone actually wanting to live in the condos.
- Milwaukee already has an "entertainment district" to a certain degree, and it is not in the area of the old Pabst brewery. Putting a House of Blues in the old Pabst Brewery land would just draw people away from the already successful areas of town. This would hurt existing business, not help.
- If the House of Blues wants to come to Milwaukee, great. However, they should locate more towards the east side, where they can have a more synergistic relationship with existing entertainment type businesses.
- While Pabst City would bring some jobs to an area that needs them, they would not be of the high paying, family supporting variety.
The bottom line really is that if the city of Milwaukee wants to spend money to help develop a blighted area, they should do it intelligently. They should not do it by sinking money into something that will only compete with existing entertainment venues by drawing people away from areas of the city that are already successful. What they should do is court some kind of business that will provide stable, high paying, family supporting jobs. Perhaps a pharmaceutical company or something. That is the type of industry this city needs to support more. Unfortunately, we seem to be better at driving those businesses away than we are at bringing them in.
1 comment:
I have only seen the inside via pictures. Very cool.
It would be cool to preserve some of the historic buildings in that area, if possible and reasonable. It is my understanding, however, that a lot of the buildings are just beyond repair, and that even with the "Pabst City" plan, a lot of the old buildings would have to have been totally replaced.
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