Currently, the City owns approximately 2,700 vacant lots in Milwaukee. While this figure is a fraction of the number of such lots that some other cities face, this issue permeates deeply into our neighborhoods and ranks as a top concern for Milwaukeeans.
Photo: Brad Blavat, urbanmilwaukee.com
Neglected and vacant areas detract from the quality of life, as well as from economic opportunity. Furthermore, they impede social equity and neighborhood redevelopment. In many cases, houses used to be on these lots, but as they fell into disrepair or foreclosure, they were demolished. The deterioration has grown, spreading house by house and block by block, decreasing the population and property values. These vacant properties become targets of illegal dumping and litter, leading to an overall perception of neighborhood neglect and heightened safety concerns. Ultimately, these social and economic problems lead to environmental degradation in the heart of our city.
Photo: City of Milwaukee
The City-owned vacant lots that were acquired through tax-foreclosure require costly maintenance such as mowing and snow removal, which strains already limited resources. And the inventory of vacant lots continues to increase because of lagging taxforeclosure actions and a list for demolition and deconstruction of City-owned foreclosed homes (see chart below). Selling or leasing these lots for reuse is a lengthy process. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact many of the properties are in high-crime neighborhoods or have been stripped by thieves of any remaining
economic value. As a result, the City’s inventory of vacant residential lots continues to increase without many lots being leased or sold. Like many of the other older industrial cities in the Upper Midwest, another source of vacant land is former industrial and manufacturing properties. While Milwaukee has remediated and redeveloped hundreds of Brownfield areas over the past two decades, creating thousands of jobs by leveraging private investment, there still remains a high concentration of old, industrial, and manufacturing sites with embedded environmental issues and aging or inadequate redevelopment infrastructure. These once productive sites lie abandoned or underused and are in need of environmental assessment and remediation. These properties are the most difficult and costly to redevelop. However, Milwaukee, a national leader in Brownfield remediation, has the capacity to continue strategic clean-up and redevelopment of sites. Milwaukee’s urban ecosystem includes public open lands and other green spaces, such as parks, pathways, and natural areas that contribute to the livability and sustainability of our neighborhoods. While Milwaukee ranks 19th out of the 50 largest cities for access to parks, according to The Trust for Public Land,2 equitable access and connectivity for all neighborhoods still needs to be improved. Milwaukee’s Riverwalk system is the ideal model for City planners and private-sector developers who seek to reorient economic development
Milwaukee County- and City-Owned Parks Owner City County Total
Number of Parcels 164 293
Acres 3,428.90
Source: 2013 City of Milwaukee Master Property File.
42 / ReFreshMKE
Percent of Total 100.00%