New signs unite neighborhood, mark TIN progress

 

Sixteen neighborhood signs installed this week by the City of Milwaukee along the eastern section of the Martin Drive Neighborhood represent a milestone for residents and partners working to improve the area near Harley-Davidson’s headquarters. For the past three years, the area between N. 36th to North 40th streets, from W. Vliet St. to W. McKinley Ave on the south, has been quietly known as the ‘Harley-Davidson Targeted Investment Neighborhood’ (TIN). TIN is a neighborhood revitalization strategy in which the City, working with a neighborhood community partner, focuses resources in a relatively small area (6 to 12 city blocks) in an effort to stabilize and increase owner-occupancy, strengthen property values and improve the physical appearance of a neighborhood. To-date, more than $2 million in public and private resources have been invested in the Harley-Davidson TIN, funding rehabilitation, home improvement, and neighborhood improvement projects. The funds include substantial grants from the Harley-Davidson Foundation.	DPW installs Martin Drive signs
	Home repairs, made possible by TIN grants
	TIN activities unite neighborhoods

Residents worked with TIN partners to address nuisance properties, improve public safety, clean up litter, make home repairs and plan larger neighborhood improvements.

The results:

	»	48% of the neighborhood participated in home repairs, home rehabs, neighborhood beautification and public safety improvement activities.
	»	25 homes have been rehabbed and restored.
	»	3 new homes were constructed, adding housing options.
	»	Litter has decreased.
	»	More than 50 trees were planted in the neighborhood by residents (trees provided by TIN program).
	»	Residents developed a stronger sense of ownership of the neighborhood and adopted a zero tolerance for nuisance properties. Of the four foreclosures in the neighborhood, two are the result of absentee landlords walking away from the property after residents were vigilant in reporting nuisance tenant activities to the police.
	»	Every grant/loan recipient has a vested interest in the neighborhood due to the requirement that residents must live in the house for at least 5 years in order for the loan to be forgivable.
	»	The new Martin Drive Neighborhood signs symbolizes a declaration by the residents of the Harley-Davidson TIN that they’ve taken back their neighborhood and identify themselves as part of a the larger Martin Drive Neighborhood.

The new Martin Drive Neighborhood signs symbolizes a declaration by the residents of the Harley-Davidson TIN that they’ve taken back their neighborhood and identify themselves as part of a the larger Martin Drive Neighborhood.

Read about Foundation Park, at 3700 W. McKinley. This project represents the continuing partnership between the neighborhood, Harley-Davidson and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.