Students at the Medical College of Wisconsin want more affordable housing; Watertown development could provide it, developers say

WAUWATOSA — Progress is being made between the developers of a planned 147-unit development at Milwaukee’s Regional Medical Center and environmentalists wanting to protect the nearby Sanctuary Woods...

...Now, students at the Medical College of Wisconsin who are burdened by high living expenses and rising rents in Wauwatosa are adding their voices to the mix. The average monthly rent for apartments in Wauwatosa is $1,372 — the second highest average rent rate in Wisconsin, according to a recent report from Rentcafe....

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Ken Notes: The problem of affordable housing will soon, if not already, become Wisconsin`s biggest problem. And I am NOT talking about the government subsidized kind. Today well employed people in the service and retail businesses not to mention the thousands of entry level positions in manufacturing and other industries can not afford to live near their work. Land costs and the high cost of renewal means developers have to build higher cost units pricing many out of the market. This also allows developers to build fewer units with higher profit margins.

We are not developing denser neighborhoods with shared amenities and god forbid we even talk about "trailer parks", even though this is where we could develop smaller stick built micro homes that are architecturally amazing and offer a starting block for millennials and part time dwellings for retiring boomers. We must rethink our urban planning moving forward.