Mayor Dennis McBride
Amid calamitous climate events around the world, Wauwatosa and metro Milwaukee enjoyed the best weather in America in the summer of 2022. We have been blessed with moderate temperatures and a pleasant mix of sunshine and rain.
Wauwatosa is also blessed by being a community of choice for new residents and businesses. Young families are flocking here, attracted by our charming homes, great schools, parks, transportation options, and opportunities to participate in civic activities. Businesses also want to be here, drawn by our central location, our proximity to downtown Milwaukee and the state’s largest medical center, and the energy and buying power of our young families. Our businesses provide a wealth of jobs for people from across the metro area..
To maintain that momentum, the City recently bought the Boston Store property at Mayfair Mall. Mayfair is Wisconsin’s premier shopping mall and Wauwatosa’s second-largest taxpayer. The City’s control of the Boston Store property will ensure that what happens there will be consistent with the high-quality occupants the mall already has and will be most beneficial to Wauwatosa’s taxpayers. The City will not own the property for long. We have had preliminary talks with businesses that have offered ideas that would be excellent additions to our tax base. It is possible that we will receive proposals from high-level developers by the end of 2022.
Over the years, Mayfair, like Wauwatosa, has evolved many times. From its beginning as an open-air shopping center, it became an enclosed mall with a skating rink and then transformed into the sleek shopping experience of today. Most recently, an obsolete office building there became the Renaissance Milwaukee West Hotel. The mall’s continuing evolution is a testament to Wauwatosa’s continuing attractiveness for residents and businesses alike.
The City will continue to meet the challenges of the state’s antiquated municipal finance regime by balancing prudent redevelopment with maintenance of our beautiful neighborhoods. I regularly meet with mayors, village presidents, and other elected officials at all levels. Wauwatosa is the envy of other Wisconsin communities for our prudent redevelopment and our ability to manage our budgets in a way that keeps taxes low – our levy is the lowest it has been since 2011 – and preserves the municipal services on which we all depend.
As we go through our hectic lives, it is good to stop sometimes and count our blessings. Wauwatosa is not a perfect place, but it is blessed. We will continue to move forward if we do so together.
