We’re a university town. There are a few who want desperately for us to be something else, but those wants scarcely matter. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is a vital part of Whitewater. Our campus – yes, our campus – improves life for all of us. Thousand of students receive an education that’s part of the…
Development
The Campaign Against
Development, Economy
What the Progressives in Whitewater Don’t Have
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote a post reflecting on the election results in Whitewater, and one thing stood out to me: progressives have done well in the city on statewide referenda and races. That’s why I pointed out that Although I am not always in agreement with the progressives, it’s easy to see that they are increasingly successful…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Development, Free Markets
Best Whitewater Project of 2007: Stone Stable
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Downtown Whitewater, Inc., there was a recent awards ceremony. The Stone Stable restoration project won, if I understand the award correctly, for the best public-private partnership. I am pleased that the Stable Stable won an award, but a worthier designation would be to stay that the restoration was the best Whitewater project of…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
Zoning and Housing Prices
by JOHN ADAMS •
Readers may recall that I have criticized politician-dentist Roy Nosek for his advocacy of limitations on student housing. Here are some of my posts on the subject: On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 1 (Economics) On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 2 (Culture) Student Housing in Whitewater One of the points that I have made…
Development, Free Markets
Planning: Legislating Aesthetics
by JOHN ADAMS •
One of the challenges of government planning is how quickly it slips from mere rules to compete, to seeking to engineer a quantitative outcome, to seeking to engineer intangible preferences of aesthetics. So one goes from paperwork to start a business, to the number of business types a community may have, to what colors the…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning: On a Moratorium
by JOHN ADAMS •
I am opposed to a moratorium on first floor residential housing in our downtown, and that would include a moratorium of any length. I think it’s clear, though, if one considers the arguments in favor of a moratorium, that different advocates have had different goals in mind. Some want a moratorium to give time to…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning: Walkable Urbanity
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a post on ‘walkable urbanity,’ or ‘walkable urbanism,’ Christopher Leinberger’s term for those characteristics that set successful downtowns apart from unsuccessful ones, or from suburbs, etc. During the Planning Commission meeting in November, when I heard the term raised, I was surprised that it was used in connection with Whitewater. I briefly mentioned the…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
The Planning/Architectural Board Meeting for January 7th
by JOHN ADAMS •
This was a long meeting, with two principal topics: a request for a conditional use for a property downtown, and discussion of a moratorium on approval of first floor residential space in our downtown. The second topic was more interesting, being broader and more general, than the first. I’ll come back to that meeting as…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
Student Housing in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Readers of FREE WHITEWATER know that I have been opposed to a restrictive, anti-market approach to student housing. Whitewater’s leading critic of student-rental housing is dentist-politician Dr. Roy Nosek. Nosek has mentioned, more than once, that student housing is a ‘death-knell’ for a neighborhood. Recently, I offered three posts critiquing Nosek’s understanding of basic market…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning Commission Meeting for December 10, 2007 (Part 2)
by JOHN ADAMS •
This post is part two of my coverage of the December 10th Planning Commission meeting. I posted Part 1 earlier. Residential Space on the First Floor of a Downtown Building. A prior Planning Commission session debated, and the Commission rejected, two residential units for the first floor of the old Hallmark store building on Main…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning Commission Meeting for December 10, 2007 (Part 1)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Two items stood out for me from the December 10th meeting: (1) a discussion of a sign for a downtown restaurant, and (2) a request of an owner to rent a first floor apartment in the back of the old Hallmark store location. I’ve mentioned before that while one’s opinions should not change from forum…
City, Development
Planning Commission/Architectural Review Board for November 26, 2007
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ll catch up on my coverage of the Planning Commission with a post on its November 26th meeting. One topic stood out: should the Planning Commission meet once or twice a month? Under the rules of the Planning Commission, the chairman can make that decision, but he sensibly allowed it to be a board decision.…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Press
On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 3 (McCann’s Story in the GazetteXtra)
by JOHN ADAMS •
In this third post, I’ll address the quality of the GazetteXtra story from Carla McCann entitled, “Neighborhoods Oppose Housing for UW-W students.” It’s one of the worst stories on Whitewater I have read in months, and is the same league as the biased and misleading stories from the Whitewater Register. The Register cuts short the…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 2 (Culture)
by JOHN ADAMS •
In this post, I will consider the cultural aspects of Roy Nosek’s opposition to student housing. I am convinced that’s really where his opposition rests; he has no coherent economic theory that describes and addresses student housing demand in Whitewater. He does, however, have a clear cultural opposition, and that’s what I will consider here.…