news around the cities

[pk]

KENOSHA WISCONSIN:

Towns seeing boost from trolley systems

Streetcars attracting people back downtown in Kenosha, Wis.

Trolley and streetcar systems are by no means cheap. Nor are they self-sufficient, typically operating with the help of taxpayer money. They also aren't a magic solution to urban traffic congestion.
But for some cities that have incorporated trolley systems into their transit systems, the success comes from spurred development and interest in areas that previously went under utilized.

The city of Kenosha, Wis., used a streetcar system to help transform a nearly 70-acre brownfield that once housed automobile production to create about $150 million in new investments along Lake Michigan and the city's core, according to Kenosha's transportation director Len Brandrup.

"It was being used as an impetus to bring people back to the old downtown of Kenosha rather than continue sprawl," he said.

Part of a citywide master plan, the tax-subsidized system is nearing its seventh year in service. It cost about $5 million to build from scratch, has a $300,000 annual operating budget, counts some 60,000 passengers each year - about as many per hour that board the city's buses - and charges a quarter each time you hop on.

Brandrup admits the $5 million pricetag to build Kenosha's two-mile line could not be duplicated today based on costs, and it's no money-maker for the city of about 100,000 residents. However, commercial advertising - often used by public transportation to capture revenue - is not allowed on the five streetcars they have in operation.

The streetcars are an economic tool to "re-densification of the urban community," he said.

"It's about the only trick left in the bag," Brandrup said. "It's a worthwhile public investment, but make sure it's for the right reason."

Investments along the streetcar line include condos, a new museum, and a museum that has since reopened. Expansion of the streetcar line is in the works...

FULL STORY HERE: http://www.pjstar.com/stories/032407...NTA8I7.063.php

[keith]

Have you used the streetcar, pk? How was the ride?

From time to time there is talk of light rail from Milwaukee to Chicago. Neat idea, and worth serious consideration in my opinion.

Regards,
Keith

[pk]

Have you used the streetcar, pk? How was the ride?

Actually yes I have been on them several times. The first time we went to see the Tall Ships at the Harbor and jumped on the Trolley to check it out. Another time I took my children to the Kenosha Museum which is near a trolley stop and we got on for the ride. Then one time we had friends visiting and we took them on the trolley.

It's especially fun for the kids to ride on it. And for only 25 cents it's a cheap way to entertain them for a while. lol

I'll take some pictures and post them next time I am down there and they are running.

pk

[pk]

More news...

KENOSHA - A Kenosha filmmaker with 32 documentary films under his belt is trying to jump into feature films with a horror picture that will debut here soon.

Local independent filmmaker Mark Gumbinger will hold the premier showing of "Mortuary Girls," shot entirely in Southeastern Wisconsin, at the Brat Stop here on May 2. Gumbinger chose that date because there will be a full moon that night to accompany the on-screen mayhem and murders.

"It's tough to break into Hollywood films," Gumbinger, 46, said Wednesday. But horror films and their devoted cult following lend themselves to making that leap.

"I've always wanted to do it, and the timing was right," he said. The plot came to him in 1990, but the technology then would probably have required him to shoot on 16 mm film. "It would have probably cost 10 times more," he said.

"Mortuary Girls" falls into the film cost category of "ultra-low budget" at less than $175,000, Gumbinger said, although it's hard to calculate an exact cost. For example, he worked for nothing for more than a year, passing on the chance to make the Great Lakes, lighthouse and shipwreck documentaries he usually produces.

FULL STORY HERE: http://www.journaltimes.com/articles...l/21959818.txt