On Friday, I posted on child poverty in our area. The Great Recession took a toll on many cities, but undeniably so in ours: from 2007 to 2011, the number of children aged 5 to 17 in families in poverty rose from 9.89 to 17.9%. The number nearly doubled. Beyond that group, state measures classify an…
City
City, Poverty
Poverty in Our Area
by JOHN ADAMS •
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, for children aged 5 to 17 in families in poverty, rate as a percentage of all children that age: Delavan-Darien Edgerton Elkhorn Area Fort Atkinson Jefferson Milton Whitewater Area 2007 10.98 7.10 11.60 7.01 8.05 5.4 9.89 2008 11.90 8.22 15.28 8.78…
City, Economy, Poverty
A City’s Most Important Economic Measure
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesteday, I asked, “What’s Whitewater’s Economy?” If it should be true – and it is – that a genuine economic discussion is more than a budgetary one, then what economic measures should matter most? There’s no single measurement that explains it all, but what would one say about an economy if one were compelled to pick…
City, Development, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation
What’s Whitewater’s Economy?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Like many others, I read the news each day, about our city, online and in print. When one reads about Whitewater, of its local government, one likely reads about one of two topics: (1) the city or public schools budgets, or (2) municipal development projects. They’re both important, sometimes very much so, but they’re only…
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation
Proposed 2014 Whitewater City Budget and Accompanying Budget Memo
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, City, Development, Free Markets, Hip & Prosperous, New Whitewater
Whitewater’s Common Council Meeting for 10.15.13 (Downtown Whitewater and Whitewater’s Merchant Class)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Municipal funding for local business groups, including Downtown Whitewater, Inc., lies ahead. I’ll not discuss those line items today. Instead, I’ll offer a simple observation about local merchants. Whitewater has spent too much time and money on failed big-ticket, white-collar projects and too little time on her local, merchant class. I’ve no particular interest in favoring local retailers over national…
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Politics
Whitewater’s Common Council Meeting for 10.15.13 (City Manager, Budget Perspective)
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s budget season for local governments across Wisconsin, including Whitewater. Presentations beginning in October will conclude with a vote in November. A few introductory remarks on that process follow. City Manager, Cameron Clapper. City Manager Clapper has two tasks, not one: daily management the city’s local government, and normalizing the way his administration describes local government’s functions. In…
City, Planning
Whitewater’s Planning Commission Meeting for 10.14.13
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Planning Commission met for its monthly meeting last night, with three principal topics (items 4, 5, and 6 on the agenda): 4. Hold a public hearing for consideration of a conditional use permit (for expansion to include wholesale alcohol operation) for CC Property Development LLC., Christ Christon to have a brewery and tap room at…
City, Local Government, Planning, Police
Zoning Debates Are Often Just a Distraction from Failed Criminal Enforcement Strategies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the third post in a trilogy about residential housing in Whitewater. For the first two posts, see, Old Whitewater Dreams of a Student Rez and The University’s Role in Town-Gown Issues. Recap: (1) pointing to the northwest corner of the city for student rentals without actual, additional housing in that area is an empty solution, and (2) the university’s planned…
City, Planning, University
The University’s Role in Town-Gown Issues
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted on housing density in the city, and the push to move sudent housing to the northwestern part of Whitewater. See, Old Whitewater Dreams of a Student Rez. A recap: the plan won’t work because (1) student housing is widespread in the center of the city by voluntary choice that cannot be undone and…
City, Local Government, Planning
Old Whitewater Dreams of a Student Rez
by JOHN ADAMS •
Old Whitewater – an outlook rather than an age, a group rather than an individual – is having the hardest time adjusting to a changing city. All these years, and all their many political champions, and still they’ve not solved even a single major problem facing the city. Residential harmony between town and gown is one those problems,…
City, Local Government
Common Council’s 10.1.13 Session
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night was a lengthy but interesting session for Whitewater. Lots of topics, a few of which I’ll mention below. These topics are in the order of the agenda items presented last night, with two exceptions: the upcoming Crop Walk and the status of the Janesville Transit bus, that I’ve placed ahead. (See, in a post from…
City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending
Janesville Transit’s Ghost Bus
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s the month for Halloween, and just in time, Janesville Transit brings Whitewater a trick, but certainly no treat: a Ghost Bus. One may safely call it this, as it’s almost entirely empty after dropping riders off at multi-billion-dollar Generac, with those few passengers remaining being about as rare and difficult to see as the…