MLK Drive.
MLK Drive.
More than 900 streets across the U.S. bear the name of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), including a nearly three-mile-long stretch on Milwaukee’s North Side. However, a stigma is often attached to these historic streets associated with blighted properties, crime and poverty—a stigma that has been widely debated and often debunked in recent years. But Milwaukee is doing its best to make sure business owners and citizens who live and work on their King Drive thrive and succeed.
Cue businesses like Pete's Fruit Market, Mi Casa Su Cafe, Rise and Grind Cafe, DreamBikes and Urban Beets Cafe & Juicery—all locally owned businesses that have opened on MLK Drive in the past few years. Businesses like these and many others are breathing new life into this once overlooked part of Milwaukee.
Businesses are choosing to locate on King Drive because of a focus on investment and small businesses fostered by the City of Milwaukee and the Historic King Drive BID. A recent Wisconsin Main Street designation by the state, a focus on cleaning up the streets and underused buildings and the upcoming opening of the highly anticipated America’s Black Holocaust Museum is also helping King Drive make a comeback in a significant way.
But mainly, it’s the citizens of Milwaukee themselves who are working hard to grow King Drive in whatever way possible. Just ask Deshea Agee, the executive director of the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District and a King Drive advocate, about his goals with the street and his answer is simple. “We’re trying to make Milwaukee’s MLK Drive the best MLK Drive in the nation,” Agee responds.
‘A Rebirth’
Starting in 1993, the King Drive BID began to attempt to attract businesses to King Drive and the larger Bronzeville area in general. In the past 15 years, more than $400 million has been spent on new development in the BID. Recently, the BID and North Shore Bank announced the creation of a $50,000 revolving loan fund, which the BID is utilizing to authorize small business loans between $1,000 and $10,000.
Aside from beautification efforts that include planting flowers on the street, the BID also focuses on bringing businesses and jobs to King Drive through events like last winter’s “Entrepreneurship Summit” or the job fair that occurred in June. Add to that the Department of City Development’s Northeast Side Area Plan, which “seeks to capitalize on current improvement and redevelopment efforts being led by many community and investor groups,” and one could say King Drive is getting its fair share of attention from the city.
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MLK Drive
Agee, who grew up right off of King Drive, said he likes to take a hands-on approach when it comes to dealing with businesses in the area. Aside from meeting with interested businesses outside of the BID, Agee also sits down with individuals to ensure they finish paperwork and know where they can get access to funding sources.
One example of this is the Rise and Grand Cafe on North Teutonia Avenue, which recently opened a second location (at 2737 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive). “I was going there and eating a lot of their sandwiches, and I asked them if they would open a second location, and now they're here,” Agee explains. “It’s really about being a voice for the businesses in the neighborhood.”
However, it’s not always that easy. There are still underused properties located up and down the street, something that Agee says he is working on by meeting directly with property owners to try to connect them with businesses who might be interested in working together. Now that there are more restaurants on King Drive, Agee and the BID are moving their attention towards retail spaces.
“Being able to make sure we have the right mix in the neighborhood and figuring out what's missing is important,” Agee insists, adding that the change he is seeing is exciting. “I've seen more businesses than I can count say, ‘I want a business on King Drive,’” he says. “I don't remember hearing that 10 years ago.”
Sixth District Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs said the change she is seeing on MLK Drive is a “rebirth” of the area. Coggs also said she meets individually with business owners to encourage them when they are thinking about coming to the neighborhood. “In a magnitude of ways, we've been demonstrating to property owners why King Drive is a viable area to do business on,” says Coggs.
Old and New
Business owners on King Drive are definitely noticing the change. Marquita Edwards, founder and director of the King Drive Commons Gallery and Studio (2707 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) has been working directly with the citizens of King Drive for more than 10 years. Her gallery focuses on African American art and has also been a part of Doors Open Milwaukee and Gallery Nights hosted by the city. “We’re providing a place to pull people together,” she says, “and to give them an opportunity to feel good about themselves.”
Edwards adds that people have come to her gallery from all over Milwaukee and even as far as Racine or New Berlin. She says the area as a whole has been growing for years. “I see more people becoming less afraid of coming here on MLK Drive. When folks come to see these exhibits that we curate and then want to come back—and they do come back and will continue to come back—I knew then that we had started to see progress. So yes, it is growing.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Evan Casey
ChrisKreidl, DreamBikes
Chris Kreidl, assistant manager of DreamBikes (2021 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), a non-profit bike shop, says the evolution is exciting. “You can see the change in the businesses that are showing up,” he says, adding that many business owners on MLK Drive encourage customers to go to nearby stores as well. DreamBikes hosts riding events in the area and attends many King Drive sponsored events. “Working with some of the other businesses is a lot of fun,” he says.
Todd Minkin, co-owner of Fein Brothers (2007 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), has been working in the neighborhood for more than 30 years. Although he said the business once had issues with vandalism, he says he has not had any issues recently. “We feel fortunate to be located here,” says Minkin, adding that a good amount of his customers come from outside of the neighborhood. “We find it to be a great place to do business.”
The Grand Opening
The upcoming reopening of America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM), which had to close its doors in 2008 after the economic crisis, is another sign that the greater King Drive area is thriving. The museum is located at 401 W. North Ave., just one block away from King Drive.
Leadership at ABHM hopes the mixed-use building, which also has an event and community space, will be used by schools and the community at large to learn more about African American history and culture. Reggie Jackson, the head griot at the museum, says the museum will echo the progress of the neighborhood but also focus on correcting problems from the past.
“My hope is that we connect the content of the museum with issues that are going on to give people a place where they can have a comfortable place to have difficult conversations,” says Jackson. “Part of what the museum envisions itself being a part of is a place where people can work to be a solution to some of these issues.”
Some of the issues Jackson mentioned were economic disparities, segregation and systemic racism in the city. However, Jackson said he is hopeful that the progress that MLK Drive has already made will continue to grow into other neighborhoods across the city—especially the 53206 zip code.
“We need to extend the things we see in MLK Drive and extend it further, into other parts of the city that are struggling as well,” Jackson says.
