I was happy to see Joe turn his attention to the RESIDENTIAL needs of Shorewood, which I feel have been slighted by the Village Board in favor of Hi-Visibility initiatives, such as the Multi Million Dollar $treetscaping Plan, and Dog and Pony Shows by the BID, which do little or nothing to promote business or residents.
The following is an excerpt from my March 1, 2007 blog, with some "starter" ideas for promoting the RESIDENTIAL needs of Shorewood.
In Shorewood we have a great place to live - we have one of the best school systems anywhere, and our Residential - Urban - Sidewalk - atmosphere is almost "Norman Rockwell" in its flavor.
Our underlying strength is not the businesses that are in the Village. Shorewood is not a shopping destination in itself. We have some destination shops here, such as Goldi's, Harley's and CC Conrad, but for the most part, businesses which locate in Shorewood are here to serve the people of Shorewood. Shops and businesses that fill the need of our population, with a convenience of being close to home.
It is no secret that our population is lower now than at our peak, and that our schools have excess capacity to serve more students. And there are steps we can take to help make Shorewood even stronger and more desirable.
We are foremost a residential community, and we have a larger than average stock of rental units. If we are to use TIF money to strengthen Shorewood, it should be used to help property owners to improve the housing stock --- ie. energy efficient furnaces, newer copper plumbing and updated electrical. We can promote energy systems that are affordable for the landlord to include heat in the rent.
We can develop programs to encourage owner occupied duplexes. And we can develop programs that work with both landlords and tenants, to make Shorewood the number one rental option in the Milwaukee Metro area.
As Shorewood has grown more mature, there is also a greater need for housing that serves the needs of our senior citizens who would like to stay in Shorewood, but don't necessarily want the responsibility of a large property to maintain. As I can attest to, after both a hip and a knee replacement, a two story house with a basement, is not very user friendly to those with older joints !
(And by the way --- as a residential, sidewalk friendly community --- we need to resume show removal !)
Our focus in building a stronger Shorewood should be on our housing, and filling the needs of all the different segments of our community, higher and lower income, younger families with school children and seniors with mobility needs.
