FREE WHITEWATER

New Whitewater

Beautiful Whitewater, City, Hip & Prosperous, New Whitewater

Choosing Whitewater

by  •  •  Comments

At Whitewater’s last meeting of Common Council, on 2.21.13, there was a discussion about the choosewhitewater.org website, a promotional portal for Whitewater. (The site has been around for a while, slowly adding content or links.) It’s labeled as a joint effort of the city, school district, and university, but it’s easy to see that the…

Beautiful Whitewater, Charity, City, New Whitewater

Scenes from Whitewater’s 2013 Polar Plunge® for Special Olympics

by  •  • 1 Comment

On February 16, 2013, Whitewater held her annual Polar Plunge® for Special Olympics. On a day with wind chills scarcely above zero, and water of only thirty-six degrees, hundreds of volunteers and donors raised tens of thousands for the Special Olympics of Wisconsin. There’s no greater measure of a community than its charity. Below are…

Hip & Prosperous, New Whitewater, Restaurant, Review

Restaurant Reviews

by  •  • 2 Comments

I’ve started reviewing restaurants, in the city and nearby, with the first review to be published next week (as part of a Wednesday feature). It’s a longstanding project, about which I’ve been thinking for over a year. (To the readers who’ve encouraged me: thank you, kindly.) We’ve a small but growing restaurant culture here in…

City, Development, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, New Whitewater

Which Homeowners for Whitewater?

by  •  •  Comments

The preceding post, Who Should Live in Whitewater?, was about immigration. Here’s a second question, a bit more specific: which homeowners for Whitewater? One hears repeatedly that out city could use more families with children. I don’t disagree: it would help our public schools to have a stable, or growing, school-age population. Here’s where I…

City, Hip & Prosperous, New Whitewater

Why Williamsburg, Brooklyn?

by  •  •  Comments

I’ve written before about Williamsburg, a neighborhood within Brooklyn. (See, TNIW, The Williamsburg Neighborhood in Brooklyn, and The Pickleback.) It’s not because Whitewater will one-day look like just like that neighborhood. There are at least two reasons Williamsburg is relevant. First, that neighborhood shows how very different ethnicities (Italian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Hasidic) can live…

New Media, New Whitewater, Press

Horses and Automobiles, Contemporaneously

by  •  •  Comments

For thousands of years humanity used horses as a major means of travel and transport. There were other kinds of locomotion during that long span, but until the automobile horses were a dominant part of rural and urban travel throughout much of the world. The first automobiles, considered from the perspective of horses (that is,…

Animals, Beautiful Whitewater, City, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, New Whitewater

Common Council Session of 12.18.12: Backyard Chickens

by  •  •  Comments

Here’s my fourth post on last night’s meeting. Approved unanimously, and waived from a second reading, Whitewater now has a backyard chicken ordinance. Not just an ordinance, but a fine, model one of which we should be proud. This is a good idea, that’s come to Whitewater through the hard work of a thoughtful resident.…

Agriculture, Animals, Beautiful Whitewater, City, Farming, Food, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, New Whitewater, Planning

A Model Ordinance

by  •  •  Comments

These last few months, beginning in September, Whitewater’s Planning Commission has heard, and subsequently considered, a proposal for an urban (backyard) chicken ordinance. The proposal is not mine; I have been a mere observer of this effort. One may write about a topic, but only after months of careful observation, as in this case. I…

City, New Media, New Whitewater, Press Release

City Announcements

by  •  •  Comments

Let’s assume, as with Whitewater’s 12.4.12 Common Council meeting, the city adopts sensible guidelines for filling vacancies by appointment. The vacancy process adopted at the meeting was the work of Councilmember Binnie and City Attorney McDonell, and one can find the draft of their work online in the 12.4.12 council packet. As with a school…

Business, City, Laws/Regulations, New Whitewater, Planning

The City of Whitewater’s 2013 Draft Budget: Downtown Whitewater

by  •  •  Comments

Under the 2013 draft budget, there’s the possibility of the City of Whitewater increasing the contribution for Downtown Whitewater, Inc., to compensate for the loss of funding via Tax Incremental District 4. While I’d surely rather the city didn’t prop up businesses, and I’d rather it didn’t fund just one area at that, I candidly…