We will be hard press to look at 2016 in Milwaukee as just
an average year in the city. A year that
began with great promise and potential, especially considering the new innovations,
business startups, expanded growth and new construction projects. It certainly has been a busy year so far in
those terms, but what started out as a great year has also uncovered a growing list
of underlining social and community issues.
On one hand we see buildings rising from the ground that
are reshaping the Milwaukee skyline. We see
new enterprises, partnerships, ribbon cuttings and the expansion of highways
and bypasses in and around the city that are helping to make it easier and safer
to travel. In addition, we see the new
bold construction initiatives of suburban communities that are simply capturing
the minds of a new generation. Some of
these projects include new housing, schools and shopping squares.
However, on the other hand it is clear that some things
have not changed at all. It is just not
the riot that resulted in businesses being lost, a neighborhood shaken, an
increasing number of drug overdoses, ongoing gun violence, high unemployment of
young black men and youth, limited access to health care and growing poverty. Some of these things have been going on for decades.
And for a new generation that has been
greatly impacted by recent events and who are now feeling the effects of the long
term flawed policies of the pass as well as a lack of vision.
The shame of it all is that some of these effects can be
prevented if only the root causes are addressed in time. We also know that when there is little to no work
done in prevention, something will happen sooner or later that will get our full
attention. It is within these unique moments
that there is a need to look and deal with real causes before they turn into
events that can get out of sight and out of mind. For it is one process that creates an opening
for another process and it is that process that can cause more damage in the
long run and that leads to unthinkable outcomes.
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