Community Mobilization in Milwaukee: Creating Critical Mass to Address the Free-Rider Problem

Nicholas DeMarsh, Urban Studies Master’s Student

Recent statistics have put a spotlight on Milwaukee’s because of the continuing and growing disparities in the African American community. Milwaukee ranks as one of the worst cities in the nation for African American communities on issues including segregation, education, incarceration and poverty. Given this backdrop, this study gathered information during qualitative interviews with three community organizers. Organizers interviewed work in the Borchert Fields, Metcalfe Park and Westlawn neighborhoods. Participant observation conducted over several years supports the findings. The article provides an important insight into the role of neighborhood residents in addressing problems in their own community, a perspective that is absent in recent scholarly research on collective efficacy (Well Schafer; Varano, Sean; Bynum, 2006).

Existing community experience led to a primarily deductive research approach, however, concerns about community, police relations emerged in the interviews. These findings broadened the initial scope of the research. All interviewees provided youth employment programs. Observed and expressed need for paid compensation to engage youth supports Olson’s principle of “individual incentives” in addressing the issue of free-riders (Olson, 1965). Since Olson’s work on the free-rider theory, recent research indicates that social norms can encourage group involvement (Macy, 1990). This article seeks to identify what methods do community organizers use to effectively mobilize community residents to address issues of collective efficacy? Research suggests that effective messaging (Vasi and Macy, 2003), offering group members voice in group decision making (Onyx, 2010; Weber and Murninghan, 2008; Orbell 1998) and a sense of ownership of space (Ghose and Pettygrove; 2014, Cox, 1998) can all encourage group involvement. In this study, the amount of voluntary community involvement is a primary determinant in assessing collective efficacy. Findings from the research indicate that social norms play an important role in sustaining community engagement. Effective community organizers were active in shaping the message of their community, with the use of media as an especially important tool. Organizers were also effective when offering community members an opportunity to play a part in decision making. Ownership of space also emerged as a recurring theme among organizers. Though organizers in the three neighborhoods described the need for individual incentives such as paid compensation to mobilize youth, programming that also gave youth a sense of ownership in the community, in tandem with a job opportunity seems to have shaped social norms, because the youth continued as volunteers beyond employment (Macy, 1990). Given the startlingly statistics in Milwaukee, these findings are important in shining a light on effective methods for community engagement. The ability to sustain youth volunteers after completion of their employment, illustrates an important take-away for effective youth involvement in community improvement efforts. Findings that indicate effective community mobilization in Metcalfe Park to maintain community, police engagement in the aftermath of a tragic shooting make this research very timely and applicable; given the added exposure to the unfolding tragedy of community, police relations in the US.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Citizen Plan Commissions in Local Development

Kari Smith, Urban Studies Doctoral Student

As cities develop and change, local decision-makers are faced with capturing, considering, and negotiating between multiple, often-conflicting constraints, opportunities, and possible futures. Many efforts have been made to create and institutionalize opportunities for equitable representation in all stages of local development decision-making processes. One such effort is the creation of citizen plan commissions, the first of which was in the early 20th century. These bodies – typically seven- to nine-member groups of citizen volunteers – currently exist in varying form and function throughout the country in municipalities ranging in population size from hundreds to millions. The intended and actual role of plan commissions is not easy to pinpoint and includes informing and advising the local legislative body on city planning matters, representing the views and perspectives of the citizen population, educating the public on planning issues, and providing a seat at the proverbial decision-making table for citizens on development that affects their communities. However, a common sentiment both throughout history and today is often negative, with citizen plan commissions being described as rubber-stamping bodies, barriers to development, and full of laypersons that lack the skills and knowledge to make a valuable contribution to city planning decision-making. Furthermore, plan commission members seem to elude classification as being either citizens or representatives of local government, often being pitted on the losing side of any given conflict. Utilizing primary data obtained through interviews with commission members, planning staff, and elected officials as well as secondary data on plan commissions and relevant urban policy in Wisconsin, this paper will explore the actual and potential role of citizen plan commissions in local development, specifically pinpointing the structural or institutional flaws that inhibit the fulfillment of their intended functions.

Urban Ethnic Tourism: An Overview of Current Research and Framework for Application

Joy Neilson, Urban Studies Master’s Student

Tourism has become a necessary component of urban economic portfolios. Cities compete on global and regional scales to secure a niche in the fickle tourist market. An emerging trend in urban tourism is to market an ethnic neighborhood, group, or heritage as a consumable tourist experience. Ethnic spaces, such as Chinatown or Bronzeville, are marketed to external members of the ethnic diaspora and to nonmembers as a way to experience an authentic ethnic culture while taking advantage of the comfort of familiar tourist facilities within the city. As with all ethnic tourism, the residents of the ethnic group become the objects of the tourist gaze, embodying the preconceived expectations of the tourist. Placing the ethnic tourist experience within the urban space creates additional dynamics that change the relationships of power and control over the gaze. Limited studies have been done that specifically identify urban ethnic tourism as a subset of both urban tourism and ethnic tourism. To date, no published work contains a definition or working model of urban ethnic tourism that can be applied beyond general tourism management. This paper reviews literature from multiple disciplines including urban studies, tourism management, geography, sociology, and anthropology to develop a framework for describing and understanding the complex and unique relationships that produce ethnic tourism in urban environments. The purpose is to differentiate urban ethnic tourism from global and rural ethnic tourism, explain the role of the urban environment in urban ethnic tourism, and show how confining tourist activities to the boundaries of urban locale changes tourism experiences for all stakeholders. The framework developed for urban ethnic tourism remains theoretical and is intended to provide a base for further research in urban and tourism studies.

The Freeway Teardown Movement in Milwaukee

Alex Snyder, Urban Studies Master’s Student

In the 1990s, Milwaukee witnessed repeated calls for the demolition of two local freeways: the Park East Freeway and Lake Freeway (also known as I-794 or the Hoan Bridge). Both of these elevated roadways existed as relics of a much larger – and largely unbuilt – regional highway system, and both were also nearing the end of their structural lifespans. This teardown campaign was spearheaded by two key figures: John Norquist, mayor from 1988-2003, and Peter Park, city planning director from 1995-2003. Norquist and Park proposed that both freeways be replaced with ground-level boulevards, thus opening up new land for redevelopment and public use, as well as increasing nearby property values. Similar projects in other American cities had already been completed. Ultimately, however, the freeway teardown movement in Milwaukee was only partially successful. The Park East Freeway was closed for demolition in 2002, but Lake Freeway was spared the wrecking ball and is now undergoing major reconstruction work. This paper examines the technical, social, economic, and political considerations behind both projects. Specifically, it asks: Why did the Lake Freeway boulevard proposal fail? This paper finds that the boulevard option was technically feasible but that it failed, in part, because it lacked the backing of a strong political coalition. Not only this, but by the mid-2000s south shore politicians and residents had come to view the Lake Freeway has their vital, if somewhat exclusive, link to Milwaukee’s downtown.

The City Not Destroyed for Cash: The Section 235 Program in Milwaukee

Scott Koegler, Urban Studies Master’s Student

In 1973 journalist Brian Boyer wrote a sensationalist book Cities Destroyed for Cash which described the dramatic failure of a federal program designed to increase homeownership for low-income and minority households. During this same period U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development George Romney lauded the Milwaukee Federal Housing Administration (FHA) field office for its successful low-income homeownership efforts. Providing a path to homeownership was seen as a key strategy to address the issues of poverty and segregation that had contributed to the urban riots of the 1960’s. While Milwaukee experienced success with low-income homeownership programs, nationally these policies, notably the Section 235 Program, only amplified minority segregation and increased poverty in the inner cities. This article explores the generally successful implementation of federal low-income homeownership programs in Milwaukee from 1965 to 1971. The reason for the success of these programs in Milwaukee was the local policies and partnerships put in place by Lawrence Katz, State Director of the FHA Field Office. Katz recognized potential pitfalls in the design of the programs and the dangers resulting from lack of guidance and oversight when program management was devolved to the field offices. This review of the methods of Katz and the Milwaukee FHA field office highlight many of the strategies that need to be incorporated into federal programs that successfully provide homeownership to low- and moderate-income households.

Urban Agriculture: Growing Potential in Milwaukee’s 15th Aldermanic District

Renee Scampini, Urban Stuidies Doctoral Student

The city of Milwaukee has several targeted efforts to address vacant lots and foreclosed properties. One potential strategy is to create landscaped green space and/or Urban Agriculture (UA) using the novel $1 Lot Program policy adopted in Milwaukee’s 15th Aldermanic district. Repurposing unused dirt lots to well-kept landscaped areas could have the benefit of discouraging crime. Additionally, if the vacant lots are converted to food gardens, there may be a positive impact on neighborhood property values, community health and well-being, neighborhood development, and increased neighborhood pride as well as increased access to healthy food and improved food security for families. In addition to improving food security, five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is adequate for chronic disease prevention. The question this paper addresses is this: if a proportion $1 Lot Program properties were converted to UA for fruit and vegetable production, how many people would be provided with adequate fruits and vegetables from one year’s production yield? At the time of assessment, the 15th District contained 11,232 properties (6.9% of city total), and 2070 vacant lots (31.1% of city total). After eliminating ineligible lots based on $1 Lot Program criteria and a conservative estimate of properties used for food gardens, 340,137 sq ft (roughly 7.8 Acres) were calculated to be UA land. Production yield ranged from 170,086.4 – 469,388.9 pounds of fruits and vegetables. This equated to providing a range of 541.8 – 1495.3 people (1.6-4% of the 15th District’s population) with adequate fruits and vegetables per year. Despite this somewhat disheartening percentage, it is important to note that this would equate to roughly $300,000 worth of fruits and vegetables grown on the eligible 116 lots. And, up to 13 individuals per lot could receive a year’s worth of sufficient fruit and vegetable servings for chronic disease prevention. Policy initiatives to maximize Milwaukee’s UA potential are also discussed.