JUNE 2025

Please wish Robin the best!

Robin Wagner, our Director of Operations, has accepted a full time gig with the DNR and we're going to miss her dearly! Robin spent 15 years with 1000 Friends, helping us with all things tech, logistics, and finance. Robin started as an intern and grew within her role to take on so much more as a staff member, helping our team achieve many important goals over the years. From our progress in changing land use policies, to assisting communities in building more equitable transportation networks, and empowering advocates to seek climate justice, Robin was the glue keeping it all together behind the scenes. She was especially good at troubleshooting little odds and ends, making things look seamless for the rest of us. The DNR is very lucky to have you and we're going to miss you!

- the 1KF Team

“The biggest favor you can do to yourself is fly freely like birds.”

- Kuldeep Gera

Yep ... WE'RE HIRING right now!

New Poll: Housing Costs and Availability a Top Issue for Milwaukeeans

Coalition urges Common Council to pass Housing Element creating flexibility for new construction

Housing cost and availability is a top concern for registered voters in Milwaukee, second only to public safety and unsafe driving, and the #1 issue for voters under the age of 35. That’s according to a poll, conducted by Change Research on behalf of the Milwaukee-based Together for Homes Coalition,* which finds 58% of registered voters age 18-34, and 44% of registered voters overall considered housing costs and availability as the most important issue facing Milwaukee today.

Other insights include:

● More than half (53%) of registered voters in the city say the biggest housing problem is that not enough quality homes are available that regular residents can afford, with rising property taxes a close second (44%).

● Two-thirds (67%) of Milwaukee voters say the cost of buying a home is a major problem, and even more (72%) say the cost of renting is a major problem. Four-in-five (80%) say the city simply doesn't have enough homes that are affordable for regular people to buy or rent.

● Far more respondents are in favor of allowing Accessory Dwelling Units (aka backyard cottages) than opposing them. Nearly two-thirds (63%) support ADUs while just one-quarter oppose.

● Nearly three-fourths (74%) of registered voters support allowing multiple homes – such as a duplex, triplex or fourplex – on one lot ...

UW-Milwaukee SARUP - Center for Equity Practice & Planning Justice Collaboration

During the spring 2025 semester, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin collaborated with Dr. Kirk Harris and the UWM Center for Equity Practice and Planning Justice on a class focusing on Housing Element (Growing MKE). Four students – Amy Horst, Rose Melton, Mateo Vargas-Nuñez, and Aaron Zitelman – developed an analysis and recommendations for an equity-based growth plan and presented their findings in a presentation on May 15, 2025.

It’s no secret that Milwaukee, like many cities in Wisconsin, is facing a housing affordability crisis. The City of Milwaukee is using zoning reform to address the problem through Growing MKE. Students in Dr. Harris’s class identified strengths and weaknesses in the GMKE plan and offered a set of recommendations based on three areas of opportunity.

“Community engagement processes must be based on continuous building of relationships where each party holds power and gains benefit from the engagement.”

This means respecting the value of data held within communities, sharing power, and understanding conflict as a way to find common ground.

Freeway to Skyline

I-794: What's Possible?

This spring, the UW-Milwaukee 794 Urban Design Seminar explored the long-term potential – If I-794 is removed, what’s Possible? Architecture and urban planning students envision what’s possible, including the potential for significant annual tax revenue – new development opportunities, public spaces, transit upgrades, and stronger street connections between downtown and the Historic Third Ward. Dynamic cities and neighborhoods thrive through the integration of diverse uses, scales, cultures, and populations. Strategies such as placemaking, mixed-use development, and varied densities can foster vibrant activity centers, enrich the urban experience, strengthen existing downtown districts, and enhance the overall value of cities.

In this new publication,

Freeway to Skyline: I-794: What's Possible?, the numbers are staggering and when the potential assessed value of development under 794 is combined with the potential assessed value of ripple effect development, over $4.2 billion (with a "B") in total investment to MKE could occur.

See the numbers close up in the graphic below ...

To stay connected with our Rethink 794 Campaign,

please sign up for our Rethink 794 email list.

Share your feedback soon regarding 794 with WisDOT.

In Case You Missed It - AARP recently published a white paper that connects Complete Streets to safety for older adults.

For more information

Please participate in the National Survey on Pedestrian Level of Stress National Survey...

1K Friends Supports Policies to

Create More Housing in Madison

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway speaks at a press conference. Photo from cityofmadison.com

"Madison’s no exception. Yet, with recent growth, allowing for more housing options here will remedy many of the pain points residents keep seeing and allow all of our neighbors to age in place." – Trevor Roark, Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and members of the Common Council were joined by community groups including 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, AARP, Downtown Madison Inc., Madison is For People, Realtors Association of South-Central Wisconsin, and Strong Towns to introduce the latest set of proposals to create more housing choice and homeownership opportunities as part of the City’s Housing Forward initiative.

These efforts are designed make it easier to build a range of smaller types of homes by expanding policies already in place in parts of the city and allowing property owners more flexibility.

The proposals being introduced to the Common Council this month will:

Allow two units of housing as a permitted use on any residential lot that currently allows single-family homes citywide to support the creation of more duplexes and homeownership opportunities
Allow more property owners with deep residential lots to split their lots to create what is also called a “Backyard Lot” to support the potential creation of more homeownership lots
Adjust downtown zoning rules to be more similar to other parts of the city and create more opportunities for mid-scale development