‘Growing MKE’ Zoning Reform Plan Would Expand Milwaukee Housing Options

“Milwaukee continues to be one of the most segregated cities in the country,” writes Teig Whaley-Smith in an opinion piece for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. To solve this, the city needs policy change like the proposed “Growing MKE” package of zoning changes that would permit additional housing types.

According to Whaley-Smith, “The policy changes proposed in Growing MKE take a giant step forward on three issues that need to be resolved.” These are inventory, neighborhood choice, and displacement. Despite federal fair housing policies, exclusionary rules that prevent hte construction of duplexes and other multifamily housing types persist in many neighborhoods today.

The proposal would expand areas where housing and multifamily housing can be built, including commercial corridors. “Growing MKE is a policy change that will eliminate most of the exclusionary zoning provisions of the 1950s. This plan will allow for more homeownership and rental homes to be available in every corner of the city by providing incremental increases to the amount of inventory that can be built to relieve housing shortages.”