AmhSue, I suspect you are quite right about the attitude of those who live in Bay view, for all the ones I've met from the larger, mostly brick houses there are quite convinced they live in a suburb, as well as a surprising number of the ones who live in smaller, frame houses there. However, they vote in city of Milwaukee elections, so as far as government goes, they are indeed part of the city. Without a map in front of me, I'm just guessing, but isn't St. Francis the first suburb to the south, along the lake? And it's right next to Bay View, and decidedly has a suburban attitude. It also has the lovely grounds of the former St. Francis Seminary, with some of Milwaukee county's handsomest trees. The area of Pierce and Locust, or Riverwest in general, is looking up as far as assessed valuation. For perhaps 20 years Riverwest has been a changing and troubled neighborhood. As you point out, many of the residents are renters and quite a few, maybe the largest percentage in the city, of the owner residents are retired and living on pensions. A limited income doesn't help with new paint, especially when so many of the large, old houses are underinsulated and act as heat sinks in the winter. Pay the gas bill or pay a roofer or painter to do some work on a 30 foot ladder? However, last year the assessed valuation climbed almost to the levels of the expensive East Side, with the average duplex running about $80,000. This was a huge increase from the time when my friends bought their frame home there on a double lot for only $6000, back in 1982. Bargains may still be had in Riverwest, and gangs still cruise, but it's no longer merely the overflow for gentrifiers who can't afford Bay View or Sherman Park or the East Side. These days it takes real money, not a few months savings, to buy a house there. The burglary crime rate by the way, is probably less than most suburbs, at least for many of the published figures comparing city districts and selected suburbs. All those teenagers with cars and a drug habit in the suburbs you know, they keep breaking into the neighbors garages and houses. Drives up the statistics something frantic. :) Mostly true, Ashley AMHSUE@aol.com wrote: > First of all, people who live on Lake Drive have a higher income than those > who live in your old neighborhood. Therefore, they can maintain their > properties better than those who live in your old neighborhood. I used to > live on Pierce and Locust for 23 years and yes that neighborhood has changed > to. Many people who live in those areas are renters, some do not care about > property, some do. I'm sorry but your message sounded very insensitive and > predjudiced to me. Most people who live in those neighborhoods do not like it > any better than you do that they are run down, and I am sure they would love > to live on Lake Drive. Bay View is not Milwaukee it is a suburb, like Brown > Deer and Glendale. > > I live in Milwaukee and like it very much, yes things are changing here, and > lady > sometimes Milwaukee is a war zone, read the papers about the shootings, but > guess what, some of us like Milwaukee so much that we are not about to move > to the suburbs, we are staying and trying to make better and safer > neighborhoods here for our children. Please feel free to stay in the suburbs > and put down those who either cannot afford to move there or those who choose > to stay in Milwaukee. > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com