In the past, folks have had discussions in crime posts about not wanting to see crime posts, and it is rare to see one with a positive voting score unless it’s something actionable (such as a fundraiser or a call for people to more safely store firearms). What are folks thoughts on the addition of a guideline or rule on crime posts? I think a good ground would be discouraging hot-off-the-presses two-sentence articles that local news outlets immediately put out, but I would like to know what the community would think is reasonable before everyone is driven away.
Guess why people are downvoting the posts? Because they don’t want to see them. They don’t want to face the reality that Milwaukee has 3 main problems:
I don’t want to see shooting after shooting in the news either! I don’t want to see all the reckless driving that’s plaguing the city. But I’m NOT going to ignore the issue. The only way things change is by people making it happen.
It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and put on your rose colored glasses and think Milwaukee is all about Summerfest and State Fair, and some stuff downtown. Then retreat back to Shorewood, Bay View, Whitefish Bay, or Wauwatosa and ignore the actual problems Milwaukee has.
Meanwhile, people who actually live in Milwaukee have to deal with these issues day in and day out.
Get fired up about the problems Milwaukee has. Be part of the solution. Write to local officials. Volunteer for neighborhood cleanups. Do more for the city.
Sounds like you’re suggesting this is an “urban vs. suburban” thing: people who don’t have to deal with the problem and would rather not think about it vs. people for whom this is a pressing, daily issue.
I think I understand this position. I was raised, and spent much of my adult life, in clean, safe neighborhoods. But I spent a few years in a neighborhood where crime was rampant, shootings went on every few nights (even right outside my window one night!), buildings were in a state of severe disrepair… it was pretty bad. And it seriously bugs me how for most people that sort of thing is “out of sight, out of mind”, and even for people who live there it’s “get out if you can, and keep your mouth shut and stay uninvolved if you can’t”.
No one should experience so much crime they begin to feel numb to it.
It isn’t numbness. It’s fear. People outside don’t know what to do about it because they aren’t there. People inside are terrified to do anything about it because criminals respond poorly to people trying to put a stop to it.
Guess who has lived in Milwaukee for several years right on the border of one of the highest crime regions of the city? Guess who has personally been the victim of a reckless driving incident? Guess who has had to deal with package thieves? Guess who has had multiple shootings within a block or two of them? Guess who has had to personally help a drug addict who passed out face first next to their garage door? Guess who helps foster stray animals abandoned around the city? Guess who personally has cleaned up trash blowing around the street and sidewalks? Guess who has personally had multiple hostile encounters with police in the city for no reason? Guess who participates in community meetings about these and other issues? Guess who goes to minority-ran community events and business openings?
Don’t assume that all negative feedback you get is from rich yuppies living in the suburbs. Don’t pretend that you speak for all “actual Milwaukee residents.” I fell in love with this city years ago and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. I’m invested in the community more all the time and it pisses me off to hear the whole city written off like it’s Compton in the 1990’s.
Like anything complicated, there are a ton of different sides to Milwaukee. No it’s not a utopian city with perfect people that eat cheese and ride cows everywhere. Nor is it a warzone hell-hole with gunfights in the streets and car bombs going off every night. Certain areas are much more dangerous than others, there are also many different problems and potential solutions to them. Trying to paint the city as all-or-nothing is a pointless exercise. You waving your hand and saying, “…some stuff downtown” also rubs me the wrong way, as if anything else in Milwaukee besides Summerfest is just some trinket-like little thing and not really important. Sorry about being so aggressive, but I take objection to being lumped into some stereotype that isn’t true about me being some rich suburbanite that visits Milwaukee twice a year to see the ballet and then “retreats” to my gated community mansion.
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There are people who won’t come to my house because I live on “the north side”. This is the attitude I’ve experienced from people who live in Tosa, Bay View, Greenfield, Shorewood, etc. Even someone who I thought liked living in Milwaukee is going to move into one of the fringe cities as soon as she can. Another friend’s family moved from California and wanted to buy a house “anywhere but in the city of Milwaukee”.
This is a REAL problem affecting this city.