Parking Lots

OnMilwaukee 

  These buildings were demolished for soulless surface parking spaces 
Story and design: Jason McDowell   

 These buildings were demolished for soulless surface parking spaces    
   
In his blog published on the OnMilwaukee website Jason McDowell does an excellent job of arguing for historic and aesthetic considerations to be included in city planning. He is raising the conscience of those who he might touch via his written word. He has been affected by a specific cultural impoverishment. Was it that seeing the devastation seemed senseless? There was a perfectly good building and now there is nothing? He is witness to the destruction of countless cultural landmarks.

McDowell has taken the time to research the effects of replacing buildings with parking lots and has gotten expert witnesses for their educated opinion. The expert witnesses being two professors from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Robert Greenstreet, Professor of Architecture and Dean of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Arijit Sen, Associate Professor of Architecture.

Jason McDowell is taking a stance for a heightened set of historic and aesthetic values relative to the demolition of older buildings merely for the sake of providing surface parking lots.  Historic buildings are razed for any number of reasons, some more honorable than others, such as forces of nature, or simply being in the way up in new, exciting, project, or — most unfortunately — poor stewardship and decay.

Some of the buildings that have been demolished are as follows:   
  YMCA, 610 North Jackson St.
YWCA, 626 North Jackson St.
U.S. Appraisers Store, 628 E. Michigan St.
These three buildings were in the shadow of the US Bank building.  Greenstreet believes, “there is only so much retail a city can provide. You don’t want a building that mostly remains empty,” so the key is finding creative ways to keep activity on the ground floor.  Sen believes density also enhances privacy. “Visual control is a policing thing. When you have all these open spaces, the city becomes a panopticon, where you can see everything all at once.”
  
  Downtown Tire Center, 830 N. Van Buren St.   
People think that Milwaukee has a parking problem. McDowell thinks Milwaukee has a parking perception problem. People want to park for free and do not perceive the economic loss in eliminating buildings for the sake of parking.
   
767 N. Van Buren St.
773 N. Van Buren St.
Sometimes classic buildings are demolished for ideas are bigger and better, sometimes buildings are destroyed for the parking lot that can be next door to their building.   Greenstreet: “A parking garage cost six times more than a surface lot, and it’s 13 times more expensive to build underground. Milwaukee parking fees are relatively cheap compared to the surrounding area, so there is not a strong economic incentive.”
  
  795 N. Van Buren St.   
McDowell argues that a flat parking lot is like a hole in a city. It reveals flat undesigned alleyways behind it. It also reveals the sides of buildings that have not been given architectural consideration. The sides of these buildings are plain and undecorated.
    Sen says, “You don’t want to live in a world where you can see everything. Life is better with surprises.”  

McDowell: “Installing freeways through big cities was a destructive process, razing entire swaths of land. This literally pave the way for more cars, which literally means paving the way for more parking, which further destroys the city's history.”
   
  The 800 block of Mason and Wells
Sen: “A parking lot is nobodies' territory. This is why we are scared of parking lots at night. They allow people to come in and take over.”
​  
  The Norman Flats, 626 W. Wisconsin Ave.   
  The Princess Theater, 738 N. Old World Third Street   
  William Frankfurth Hardware Store, 300 W. Juneau Ave.