Photo by Tom Jenz
Lindsey St. Arnold Bell - North West Side Partners
Lindsey St. Arnold Bell
Over time, Milwaukee has experienced old neighborhoods in need of help including infrastructure. The Near West Side was one of them. But in the fall of 2025, that vital area feels almost reborn. There are new buildings, rehabilitated stores and offices, color on the walls, life in the windows, and people chatting on stoops. That new sense of possibility didn’t appear overnight. It’s mostly the result of steady work from Near West Side Partners, a nonprofit devoted to rebuilding this community from the inside out.
Founded in 2014, NWSP unites residents with five anchor institutions: Advocate Health Care, Harley-Davidson, Marquette University, Molson Coors and Potawatomi Ventures, who all try to make the Near West Side a place where people can live, work, play and stay.
At the center of it all is Lindsey St Arnold Bell, NWSP’s executive director. When I met her in the Concordia 27 building, once a crumbling four-story shell, but now a lively community hub. Bell told me how neighbors and business leaders together are writing a new story for this corner of Milwaukee.
Tell me about your background, your parents, hometown, your neighborhood, schools and advanced education.
I grew up in rural Door County near Sturgeon Bay. My dad was a ship builder at Peterson Building. My mom was an elementary school teacher. I have four brothers. I am the middle child, taking on the mediator role.
Good preparation for your job as an executive.
Right. Our family ended up in Howard, Wisconsin next to Green Bay, and I went to St John’s Middle School and then to Bay Port High School. I worked part time at a grocery store near our house. This experience kind of prepared me for my career in later life because a grocery store reflects community patterns.
Where did you go to college?
I spent a year at UW Stevens Point, then decided to transfer to UW Milwaukee. It did not take me long to realize I liked life in the big city. I’ve lived here since 2002. My undergrad degree was in Community Education, and then I earned a master’s in urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Take me through your career evolution and how you ended up as executive director of Near West Side Partners.
I started working as a graduate intern at the City of Milwaukee in the board of zoning appeals. For the next eight years, I held every single role there until I became board of zoning secretary. I learned how to navigate the permitting and inspection zoning process. In other words, the politics of opening businesses. That led to my taking on the associate director role at the Near West Side Partners in 2016. I worked in the areas of commercial corridors, business, public safety and housing development. I helped small businesses move from the ideas stage to the establishment stage and how they can be sustainable long term. In April 2023, I became executive director of NWSP.
What area of the city does NWSP oversee?
We are involved with the seven neighborhoods west of Downtown, Highway I 43 on the east and Highway 175 on the west, I 94 to the south and roughly Vliet and Highland to the north.
Tell me about the five anchor institutions that lead NWSP. Aurora Health Care, Harley-Davidson, Marquette University, Molson Coors and Potawatomi Ventures. Why are they aligned in these anchor roles?
In 2014, these five major institutions got together to figure out ways they could align to improve the entire area where their businesses reside, the Near West Side of the city. Through the development process, they included the other 350 businesses, the 28,000 residents, and 100 nonprofits. They then established the Near West Side Partners nonprofit. In 2015, they also established the PARC Initiative Promoting Assets and Reducing Crime (PARC). Eventually, PARC became the foundational model of how we do our work.
Do these five institutions contribute to the funding of NWSP?
Yes, each one makes a five-year funding commitment to our organization. They all recommitted in 2025.
NWSP collaborates with Business Improvement District 10 and Brew City Match to support entrepreneurs and property owners. Who are some of your members and how do you support entrepreneurs?
BID 10 has about 350 properties that pay into the initiative every year. Some of that money has gone into improving the street scaping along 27th Street by installing the planters that have helped reduce speeding and contributed to urban beauty. These improvements have also made our commercial corridors more walkable. BID 10 aligned with the city to make this work. I am the executive director of BID 10 in addition to my job at NWSP.
I understand that in 2018, you helped lead NWSP and Marquette to secure $1.3 million in Choice Neighborhood Initiative funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support a comprehensive transformation plan focused on inclusive housing opportunities. What specifically was this money spent on?
Just under $1 million went to early action activity, but the first $300,000 went into the planning effort where we worked closely with HACM, the City of Milwaukee Housing Authority, and the residents of College Court public housing complex and also with neighbors on the Near West Side. They all came up with a plan for a healthy residential neighborhood. As a result, we created new green spaces, for example at 35th and State Street. We invested over half million dollars in storefront improvements and also to make some buildings tenant-ready for tenants and businesses. Also, each one of our neighborhoods created sculptural signage by Andre Saint Louis and Brandon Minge. And other artists created seven new murals to enhance beauty.
This general area near the I-94 freeway and the streets running north such as 27th Street and 35th Street has a history of urban blight. What are you doing to improve this area of the city?
Back in 2013, the city and BID 10 purchased and closed down a gas station on 27th and Wisconsin where drug dealing, violence and crime were happening. The neighbors were complaining. In 2015, we were able create legislation that closed down the Red Hot Tobacco Shop on 27th and Kilbourn. In one year, there had been over 300 police calls regarding that tobacco shop. In place of the tobacco shop, there is now a parking lot with a future for expansion, potentially for the Penfield Children’s Center.
I remember that there was a lot of drug dealing on that corner back then.
Yes. We transferred that property into an entity that would care for it. We are doing other things, traffic calming, signage, installing planters, and our ambassadors are building relationships with business owners. We rehabbed this old building where we are now, Concordia 27, which serves as the anchor to the neighborhoods. We are working with Aurora Health Care to establish The Beacon, half a block south of here. And there are plans for new low-income senior housing in the former Doctors Hospital on West Wells Street.
35th Street has been another problem area, and similar to 27th Street, a north-south thoroughfare. What are your plans there?
We’ve been looking at the area stretching from the 94 freeway north to Vliet Street. A lot of large sites are underutilized. With the reconstruction and expansion of I 94, there is potential for new housing and businesses.
NWSP focuses on developing attractive residential neighborhoods and also promoting health and supporting wellness. How are you going about that?
We do an annual survey of 150 residents and ask them how we can all make the Near West Side a healthier place to live. There were five prioritized categories that resulted. One, access to mental health and wellness resources. Two, vibrant community spaces. Three, places where business can thrive. Four, access to resources that support healthy families, and five, affordable high-quality housing. The Harley-Davidson Foundation took this data and built Davidson Park, which opened in 2024. The four-and-one-half acre park is open to the public on West Juneau Avenue on their headquarters property. We help program activities at that space.
Let’s talk about safety. NWSP has implemented data-driven strategies like safety ambassador programs and regular business safety meetings. How has this strategy reduced neighborhood crime and increased safety?
The safety ambassador program has been critical to our success. Our ambassadors build relationships with residents and business owners, and they help with the homeless. They are a liaison between the community and law enforcement. Years ago, there was a lot of mistrust between near west side residents and law enforcement. There is more trust now. We also work with Kelly O’Neil, the county assistant district attorney, who mediates conflict issues between neighbors to help with crime prevention before crimes get prosecuted.
NWSP offers housing incentives and grants for home repairs. How does that program work?
The grants are for $1,000 for home repairs. There are a lot of old homes. The average age of houses on the near west side is 105 years.
If I am a resident, and I need home repairs, how do I go about that?
You can visit our website and apply there, or you can visit or call our office, and someone will help you. We work with Revitalize Milwaukee and with Acts Housing and HRI, Housing Resources, Inc.
We are presently meeting in Concordia 27, this beautifully rehabilitated building on 27th Street between Kilbourn and Wells, which opened in June 2024. What goes on here?
We have four tenants, Near West Side Partners, Fruition MKE Co-Working Cafe, Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee, and the fourth, Centers for Independence which has a 12,000 square foot commercial kitchen that prepares about 30,000 meals per day for schools and early education childhood students. And they teach culinary skills. There is also a community space for us all to share. Above the main floor, there are 33 units of affordable workforce housing, beautiful apartments.
