The Milwaukee Post

July 12, 2013 • Milwaukee Post • 7 State's largest city should be more vibrant By JESSICA MCBRIDE I was in Belgium last week, in a city almost exactly the size of Waukesha. And I have to say that every time I come to Europe, I recognize anew: Europeans really know how to do cities. They beautify their cities, festooning them with flowers and banners. Their cities are historically rich, with cathedrals dating to the 1200s and so forth. Their cities are functional. At a stoplight, you might think you'd stumbled into a middle of a bicycle race, but no, that's just how a lot of people choose to get around. Their city centers are beautiful pedestrian zones that are actively used by the populace. And they have extraordinary mass transit that takes people from one place to the other efficiently and effectively They appreciate handcraft and non. processed food. Europeans, of course, don't do other things very well. But they do understand how to create vibrant, functional cities. Which makes the Republican approach toward Milwaukee all the more disappointing. Are Republicans targeting Milwaukee? I wouldn't go that far. What I would say is that I am not seeing a positive vision coming out of them for how to improve Milwaukee. Bring this up, as I did on Facebook, and conservatives tend to trash the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee's ineffectiveness and say "Why bother? They will just waste the , money anyway ." This is silly reasoning. You can't ignore a state's largest city because it's run by a mayor you don't like from another political party We all have a vested interest in grow. ing our state's largest city into as vibrant and functional a place it can be. A lot of tourists aren't going to come to Waukesha. A lot of companies need a population base. A state's economy benefits by having a thriving major city . Instead, Republicans have done things that won't help Milwaukee. They've passed a law to get rid of residency requirements there. Don't make a constitutional argument – residency rules are not unlawful. Don't make an argument about freedom – that people should be able to live wherever they want. Even the Republican version doesn't do that; it allows cops and firefighters to only live within a certain length of the city That's . just far enough to send them to a suburb, of course. Other entities have residency rules. The military tells its workers where to live. Since the rule is not unlawful, I believe that Republicans should have left it alone and respected local control. It hurts Milwaukee. But it's worse. An argument I hear over and over again about residency goes something like this: If you make a great city peo, ple will stay there on their own. So maybe Barrett should focus on that. Sure. He should. At the same time, Republicans also play a role in making Milwaukee a great city . Or not. That's because they just passed a slew of laws that affected Milwaukee. So, I would like to know: What are Republicans doing to also make Milwaukee a great city to ensure people , McBride don't just leave? What's their positive vision for Milwaukee? Instead, they have taken a number of measures that seem designed to drain Milwaukee further and make it harder for Milwaukee to succeed. They defunded a program to identify gunshots in the city They . made changes to taxation of billboards that will cost Milwaukee millions. And, at the last minute, Gov. Walker vetoed a provision to fund the destruction of foreclosed homes owned by the city Foreclosed homes impact . the quality of life of a city and are breeding grounds for crime. And that doesn't even get into their measures to stop the city from achieving effective mass transit. That's just for starters. We could quibble about the necessity of the state funding this or that. However, when you take a big step back and put it all together, this budget was not very kind to Milwaukee. But even that aside, what are Republicans doing to boost the city? I stand with Republicans on a number of issues. I support school choice and oppose abortion, for example. I appreciate fiscal efficiency and supported Act 10. But they lose me on other things. They lose me when they start to show the ruthless partisanship, and they lose me when they don't seem to have any positive goal for our state's largest city . I find some of the approaches toward Milwaukee parochial, even provincial. For the life of me, I don't understand why talk radio and Republicans are so viscerally opposed to trains. I think it's just become a talking point and people are "afraid" to take a stand for a train because they will be ridiculed by the group. They talk about costs. Well, roads cost a lot of money too, but you , never hear them complaining about that. Trains are an investment in a better community We could quibble over which plan or . train makes the most sense, but we should agree trains would improve our state. Because they would. I would love to see Milwaukee thrive and become an even more vibrant city sort of , like the one I am sitting in now. With the current Republican regime, that doesn't seem possible. (Jessica McBride is a member of the journalism faculty at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee.) 233346030 9th & Oklahoma SO U T H SHORE ATM 933 W. OKLAHOMA Home of the Lucky Lotto $1,000,000 & $50,000 Winner! We will MEET or BEAT any advertised price! So bri in those ng ads! Coupon items and soda specials excluded. Charcoal OPEN MON-SAT: 9am-9pm, SUN: 10am-5pm & lump coal available. "MR" means Mail-In Rebate. 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