The Menomonee Valley Benchmarking Initiative (MVBI) is a project to assess change in Milwaukee's Menomonee River Valley and surrounding neighborhoods. Organized around the principles of Sustainable Development, the MVBI is an ongoing collaboration that systematically tracks and studies the Community, Environmental and Economic conditions of a place that is home to hundreds of Milwaukee businesses and more than 66,000 residents.

The central focus of the MVBI is the State of the Valley Report, which periodically reports on the changes taking place in the Menomonee Valley. In early 2006, the Center for Urban Initiatives & Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center released the 2005 State of the Valley Report, which serves as an update to a similar report released in 2003.

Much has changed in the Menomonee Valley, and continual transformation is expected in the years to come. Use of the MVBI’s 2005 State of the Valley Report by citizens, investors and policy-makers alike will help establish common ground while building and maintaining the vision of a sustainable Menomonee Valley. To date, 57 indicators have been identified to help assess the impact that recent investments have had on the following areas:

Community
• Housing
• Crime
• Health
• Arts & Events

Environment
• Water Quality
• Air Quality
• Land Cover & Habitat
• Flora & Fauna

Economy
• Employment
• Commercial Property
• Business
• Infrastructure & Access

In the coming years, the MVBI will identify opportunities to expand the information its partners have collected and to conduct new research into the changes taking place on the ground in the Valley. The MVBI will also continue its work to produce the next State of the Valley report in 2010.