Why is MVP trying to protect industrial land in the Valley from residential conversion?
You may have read articles in the papers about MVP opposing a request to convert a property into an apartment building and wondered why. This quick overview explains some of the reasons why we continue to advocate for
protecting the businesses that have been here the longest, supply good family-supporting jobs, and are important drivers of our regional economy, and
upholding the input provided by many hundreds of stakeholders, including neighborhood residents, Valley businesses, and community and public sector partners, throughout multiple planning processes over the years to ensure the Valley’s redevelopment works in partnership with goals of our greater community.
One of the Valley’s goals, developed through countless stakeholder meetings involving many hundreds of people, has been expanding the industrial jobs base in Milwaukee for family-supporting jobs. The Valley has always been ideal for this because it is physically separate from yet surrounded by densely populated neighborhoods with residents who want accessible, quality jobs. A manufacturing facility can operate 24/7 – with operational noise, truck traffic, vibrations, processes, etc. - that would not be welcome adjacent to where families are sleeping.
We’ve seen, in Milwaukee and elsewhere, how manufacturing gets pushed out once residential moves in and people realize how these two uses are often incompatible long-term. In fact, Milwaukee just completed an Industrial Land Analysis and MVP and the City are just wrapping up the Valley’s Sub-District Plan, both driven by pressures faced by manufacturing to continue to operate in the city, close to the local workforce. These very recent plans and others say there are places where residential conversion does make sense, but the Valley is not one of them.
There is also a case to be made for equity in these land use decisions. Manufacturing has been a sector that has provided entry points at all skill levels, family-sustaining wages, and a ladder for advancement, all of which are key to inclusive and equitable economic development.
Jobs in the Valley are accessible to residents of the adjacent neighborhoods, and the investments in the Valley can be leveraged to support the efforts in these neighborhoods. We are working in partnership with neighborhoods to expand Valley employee access to home-buying opportunities and resources, improve bike/pedestrian and transit connections between neighborhoods and the Valley to make getting to work safe and easy, and connect Valley employers to residents looking for jobs now as well as schools to connect youth to strong career pipelines. Long-term collaborative efforts like this are working to lift all of the community, not just profit a few.
Our neighborhoods are filled with opportunities to grow residential development. Neighborhoods near the Valley have strong resources – existing housing stock, buildings ready for rehab, good transit corridors, schools, parks, grocery stores, shops – the amenities residential developments need. We support our neighborhood partners’ efforts to attract quality workforce and market-rate housing to give families good housing choices, and we believe these areas deserve our community’s investment in housing. Investing in housing in an area where it has never existed in Milwaukee’s history rather than where the community is asking for it is not the right path.
While some argue it is the only solution to a problematic property, it is a “solution” that brings with it many more problems. Not only does it threaten the future for long-term manufacturers providing good jobs here, it works against our shared goals of investing in a way that enhances both the Valley and its surrounding neighborhoods and allows a few to overturn policy adopted through the shared time, lived experience, and insights provided by hundreds who live in and work in this area and are committed to ensuring thoughtful, sustainable development that benefits all of Milwaukee.
Have more questions? Drop us a note: Info@TheValleyMKE.org
