Greater Johnsons Park Initiative

The Urban Open Space Foundation has formed an active partnership with Milwaukee County Parks, the City of Milwaukee, and a wide-range of community groups to transform unused, underused, and blighted outdoor spaces in the 1000-plus acre Fond du Lac and North Avenue Neighborhood. The centerpiece of the first phase of revitalization efforts will include Milwaukee County’s Johnsons Park.

Though Milwaukee is known for its natural beauty accentuated by parks, Johnsons Park received the lowest standardized test scores in a 2002 Public Policy Forum survey entitled Public Spaces, Public Priorities: An Analysis of Milwaukee County’s Parks. Further, the neighborhood has long been characterized by a high rate of city-owned tax delinquent vacant property (16% of the total land area); diminished air, water, soil quality; and schoolyards needing green activity space; harsh streetscapes; and poorly maintained public infrastructure.

Improvements to the neighborhood’s environmental quality through the retrofit of an open space system will generate multiple benefits and cultivate a more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable urban environment.

Together the County, UOSF and other project partners will help shape a future for Johnsons Park that the residents and businesses in this neighborhood desire. Creating a democratic, bottom-up participatory planning process, together with an innovative public-private implementation plan, is the means for that change. Thus far, our achievements include:

·         Distribution of Green Seedling grants to local groups for open space improvements

·         Fun-filled community planning events, a bike safety workshop, and a new walking group in Johnsons Park

·         A community-driven Concept Plan for landscape improvements to Johnsons Park and surrounding environs

·         An implementation plan (Green Infrastructure Initiative) complete with strategies for phasing, funding, roles and responsibilities, and long-term maintenance

·         Municipal approval of the park and open space plans for the Fond du Lac and North Avenue Neighborhood.

View the Green Infrastructure Initiative

View the Green Infrastructure Maps

View the Roots of Progress Campaign Brochure

For project details, call Marcia Caton Campbell: 414-289-7799 x1

Generous support provided by: USDA Forest Service, Forest County Potawatomi Community Foundation, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and the Brico Fund.

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