by John H. Fischer on February 9th, 2009
Dino and I appear to be on some kind of odd similar wavelength. Such similarity is not unusual for life long friends, but we only really casually know each other and although there is mutual respect, we really have nothing in common. Nothing except our thoughts on what we wanted to write about this week.
We weren’t in perfect sync: the 400 block was not my chosen topic. Instead, I wanted to give an outsider’s thoughts on the discussion as to the work needed on Third Street downtown.
Most of you would not consider me an outsider. However, I do not own or manage property in that area that most define as downtown. I also do not spend much of my time there. The closest I come to spending quality time downtown is the occasional weekend brunch at The Mint, catching a show at the Grand, or spending way too much time at the Courthouse (they seriously need to give me an office there). However downtown matters to me. It is a piece of the pie that is the Greater Wausau Metro Area. And all of those pieces need to work together and need to succeed together. So if one piece of this pie is missing or is in need of attention, it has a pull not only on the entire city, but the entire Metro. (For me, the City of Wausau is not the whole, it is only a part of the whole.)
In a nutshell, here is the current debate. The City has determined that Third Street from Jefferson to Grant needs work. The businesses along that three block stretch of street fear that closing that street for construction will negatively impact their ability to be profitable. Hence the discussion.
The businesses of downtown have already faced difficulty. My wife, the infamous “Mrs. Rent” who works downtown, jokes with her family back in Oklahoma that when they come to visit, it is okay if they don’t learn the streets of downtown because there are always one or two important ones closed for something, and every few months, the streets that are closed change places. Those from here just find a way. But for those new to the Wausau area or not used to urbanized downtowns, it can be a quite frustrating experience. Many of these businesses have had to do the best they could dealing with the construction when the pedestrian mall was re-opened to traffic, and most recently, when the construction of the Palladian made downtown navigation challenging for many. Many of these are niche businesses that will be the first to suffer from an economic downturn. They have somehow survived a couple of years of construction, and now when they can least afford it, one more season of closed streets in front of their storefronts is on the schedule.
On the Wausau Daily Herald forum boards and article comments, people have questioned if the work is needed at all. They have questioned why the sidewalks and planters are included in the project. (This ties with Dino’s 400 block article because the south block of this project is one stretch of the 400 block, and the “final design” for that block could impact that part of this street construction project.) Someone commented about Third Street being so bad that you can use it to knock the frozen slush blocks off your car.
Being someone who doesn’t find myself downtown often, I didn’t remember what the problems with the sidewalks were, or what the planters even looked like. I drive a truck with a pretty stiff suspension. I get thrown around on 17th Avenue, but never Third Street. So, I took a walk downtown on Friday and took some pictures.
Third Street is in bad shape. Some of the worst areas are near intersections where manhole covers and storm water drains are. The sidewalks are in excellent shape, much better, in fact, than some of sidewalks I plow where if I am not paying attention, the blade on the tractor will hit the uneven surface and nearly throw me off. The planters are snow covered but are out of place with the great sidewalks. They are basically wood, made with 6×6 landscaping lumber, and are the things you would find used around a country home, not a city’s downtown with mostly stone construction.
While taking my walk, I stopped in the Main Street office and had a very brief discussion with Leah. I learned that the question isn’t if Third Street needs to be done, just does it have to be done in 2009, or can it be delayed one year, to 2010?
My thoughts: Yes it can. Although the street is in bad shape, for one more year, temporary patches can hold things together. Let us not forget the speeds that are driven on this street. The speed limit is 25, but I seldom do much more than 15, constantly stopping as people are pulling into and out of parking stalls. (As a matter of fact, a 15 mph speed limit on Third may not be a bad idea.) The sidewalks are just fine. No matter which year the street project is done, the sidewalks don’t need to be a part of it. However the planters have to go. With cosmetic fixes, they could make it one more year, but they do really look like crap.
Now as far as the improvements to the 400 Block, that is a whole other discussion, one that is far from being resolved. Maybe delaying the Third Street project one year will allow us to finally reach a consensus that, if we can’t all be happy with, we at least all can live with.
by John H. Fischer on January 15th, 2009
[The name might not be familiar, but the writing will be. This is our own Dr Rent, Wausau's answer to any question dealing with landlord-tenant issues. John is also a wellspring of knowledge regarding many aspects of civic life, and we look forward to many more posts from him in the future with an aim to enlighten us of the behind-the-scenes decisions and machinations of the city.]
A few blog posts ago, I had talked about the potential development of “affordable,” multi-family housing on the Wausau river front. The Wausau City Council decided to provide nearly a half-million dollars in development incentives. I disagreed with this action by the City because this development, if it proceeds, will already be getting a great deal of federal and state monies. I found it hard to believe that this development would not go through if the City didn’t throw in a big chunk of funds as well.
One thing that did bother me though, was that some of the council members were voting against this development for reasons that made very little sense to me.
I had made the statement at the City Council meeting that right now, the market for multi-family housing units was saturated. A couple of council members stated that there were also a large number of “affordable” housing units available. Based on my knowledge of “affordable” housing availabilities in Wausau, that is simply not the case.
When the term “Affordable Housing” is used, what it really means is subsidized housing, or housing where the amount of rent paid directly by the tenant is a set percentage of income. One form of subsidized housing, Section 8, has a waiting list of nearly two years. Other subsidized housing units also have a healthy waiting list. The vast majority of this housing in the Wausau area is actually owned and operated by the City of Wausau, through the Housing Authority. (The City of Wausau is Wausau’s largest residential landlord.)
Another statement that was made a number of times was the concern about the crime that will be brought in by having these low-income renters in this area. Really? A six-million-dollar housing development will generate more crime than a blighted riverfront that is a haven for god knows what?
People probably have images in their mind of rundown housing projects in large cities that they have seen on the news or in episodes of COPS. However, these type of “projects” are mostly things of the past. New affordable housing developments tend to be mixed housing. These are not luxury units, but are decent, mid-range market units. Some of the housing units have market rents with normal income tenants, and some of the housing units are subsidized. But the units all are of the same quality. So you mix low income with moderate income. You treat low income people like real people giving them decent quality housing. You treat them like real people, not second class citizens, and in return, you tend to get real people, people who take pride in their housing, their neighborhood, their community.
The final thing that council members were pointing out was how this was not the best use of this parcel of land, and they would prefer to wait for some type of commercial development. In my opinion, commercial development for the immediate downtown area makes sense. But the farther you get from downtown, the less sense commercial development makes. It is not easy to navigate those streets, which is a primary issue for commercial development. Plus, parking ratios will kill you. Commercial properties require much more parking, which means you either need more parking garages, or a large amount of this nice riverfront land gets turned into a parking lot. I have always thought that area was a great place for multi-family housing. (I thought it would be more of a condo development because I didn’t think you would be able to get multi-family to cash flow.)
Whether or not City funds should be thrown at this development I think is something worth a good, informed discussion. However, claims that there is plenty of subsidized housing available for those who need it is wrong. Accusations that apartments will bring in more crime simply because of the income level of the tenants is simply an insult. Crime related to multi-family housing has more to do with property ownership/management than the income level of the tenants. Finally, once you get away from “downtown,” residential development makes a great deal of sense on the river, and the higher the density, the better the potential tax base.
by Dino Corvino on September 29th, 2008
Ideas for a Green Wausau, for a sustainable future, sometimes seem far-fetched or too costly, but I assert that this doesn’t have to be true. By taking some first steps to sustainability, we can achieve a more environmentally healthy city and hopefully, less of a dependence on foreign oil. With a media focus on T. Boone Pickens’ plan, we can take this moment to talk about the first steps that Wausau can take, should take, since we are a community packed full of conscientious, brilliant people with determination and grit. (more…)
by Dino Corvino on November 15th, 2007
I hid this at the bottom of the other post, but this time I thought I would put it right here at the top:
So, I encourage you to take a look at it. It is, at the end of the day, the budget that will, as I am told, dictate your property tax. We want to make sure it has a place of greater prominence, rather than be buried at the end of some rant I put together. (more…)
by Dino Corvino on November 14th, 2007
I am a City Council fan. I like going to the meetings, I like listening to the folks, and at the end of the day (is that my catch phrase?) I like everyone up there for the simple reason that they are leading. Yeah, some of them are not my favorites, but that is like trying to pick a favorite pizza topping. They are all good people, trying to lead the city they care about in the way they think works. Sure, the alliance or voting block is a bit upsetting, but so it goes. It is politics after all.
This post is not about them though. This post is about you, dear reader, dear commenter, dear complainer, dear curmudgeon. You who sit at home and complain that your taxes are too high, that the 400 block is a bad idea, that renaming Stewart Avenue or buying new pools is a waste of your tax dollars. You who complain that Mr. Dudley, both father and son got too much public funding to build the buildings that will end up being cornerstones of Wausau future. You who get on 550 AM morning show and accuse the Sustainable Wausau folks of being owned by the Concrete Lobby or Smart Growth weirdos from California. Heck, this post is even dedicated to Pat and Tom from that morning show. (more…)
