Milwaukee Downtown Plan Update 2040

The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 hired TKWA as the lead consultant to study public realm enhancements, including streets, parks, and private development sites. Our work includes extensive outreach to the community and governmental stakeholders. The goal of the plan is to envision a more walkable, vibrant, diverse, inclusive, and resilient downtown.

This current planning effort plan serves as an update to the 2010 Downtown Area Plan, which has been the blueprint for Milwaukee downtown’s transformation over the past decade. Projects first identified in the 2010 Downtown Area Plan that have since been completed include transforming the Park East Corridor with projects like the North End and the Deer District, revitalizing West Wisconsin Avenue, enhancing pedestrian connections between the Historic Third Ward and central business district, and developing the downtown lakefront.

Peer cities across the country are meeting today’s challenges with innovative solutions to ensure that downtown remains a competitive place to live, work, learn, and play. Understanding the community’s racial disparities, a shifting work environment, global climate change, and their collective impact on our region will influence this plan.