Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee living has become unaffordable for too many people | Opinion
In the first half of 20th Century, Socialists helped make Milwaukess an affordable, comfortable, well-governed place. Now, there’s been a fundamental change to the character of this city.
Milwaukee Greentree apartments defy stereotypes of public housing
The success of the “Wisconsin Anti-Poverty Model” at Greentree-Teutonia apartments is built on relationships with residents and the community.
Life in Milwaukee is unaffordable for too many people, and it’s getting worse. We’re a city that used to be an affordable, comfortable, well-governed place to live. Socialists helped make it that way in the first half of the 20th century through deep, sustainable investments in public infrastructure and public programs. Neoliberalism, though, has undone much of the strength of our world class city.
Now, after multiple recessions, decades of defunding infrastructure and services at the state, county and city levels, and now with an economy thrown into chaos by President Trump, Milwaukee has become one of the twenty most expensive cities in the country. By some estimates, a household now needs at least $134,000 in income to live comfortably here.
That’s a fundamental change to the character of this city, one that deeply worries me — as both a Milwaukeean and a legislator representing much of our city.
Change in city’s character hitting renters hard
This is hitting renters hard: between the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2024, Milwaukee’s median rent went up a staggering 28%. And this didn’t happen accidentally. We have a system that’s been made to work very well for landlords and real estate interests, who’ve made rent control and habitability inspections effectively impossible here. Unsurprisingly, that means rents are going up while housing quality goes down. It’s difficult to be a tenant in Wisconsin.
Housing isn’t like most other things we buy and budget for. People invest emotionally in the places they live and the people they live alongside. Homeowners build equity too while getting predictable housing costs, at least under most mortgages. But an East Side apartment that used to cost $1200/mo is not replaceable by a house in Oconomowoc that costs the same – very different people prefer one to the other, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.
We must keep this top of mind while making housing policy. Most people don’t want to leave their neighborhoods, especially the close-knit ones in our district. They want to stay where they’ve already put down roots, whether as a homeowner or a renter. When a family leaves, it’s too often because they can no longer afford to live here. That’s a problem that can’t be solved by zoning changes alone – it’s not a bad thing if some communities want to allow more back cottages and even duplexes and triplexes, but that simply isn’t enough, and isn’t a viable solution for many neighborhoods.
We can do much more to keep Milwaukeeans in their homes.
A Right to Counsel — providing attorneys for people facing eviction – is a proven way to do that: I led the successful effort to make it law in Milwaukee County back in 2021, and it’s since kept thousands of people in their homes, given them extra time to seek rent assistance, and sealed misleading eviction records to help renters keep renting. Expanding Right to Counsel statewide is a core part of our tenant protection package, but securing permanent funding for the existing program here in Milwaukee is critical.
Since its creation, Milwaukee’s executive leadership has attempted to defund the program – which has thankfully been saved by votes by the Common Council and Milwaukee County Board. This is despite the clearly positive results for tenants and landlords alike, and despite every dollar spent on the program saving us $4.66 in other costs. A statewide, well-funded program can build on and sustain that legacy, ensuring that Milwaukee residents — and folks across the state — will benefit from the stability that Right to Counsel creates.
Ban discrimination against Section 8 voucher recipients
We’re also proposing to ban discrimination against Section 8 voucher recipients, to establish stronger protections for tenants organizing for better living conditions, to lift arbitrary restrictions on inspections for lead and for other profound habitability issues, and to enact other key protections that blunt the worst practices of small and big landlords alike.
These protections are urgent and necessary because real estate interests and landlords are aggressively fighting to make things harder for tenants. Just before the end of the session, they pushed AB 202, a bill that would undermine some of the very few protections for tenants in Wisconsin law. Very few of my colleagues who are landlords recused themselves – that’s an obvious conflict of interest, but it’s the norm in a legislature where tenants’ needs come last.
The underlying problem in our housing system is a deep dependence on capital, not democracy, to choose where and when we build new housing. When the federal government raises interest rates, it makes both private and public housing funding more expensive, so developers build less. When rent forecasts go down, developers build less — putting the lie to the notion that private housing builders and landlords are somehow at odds.
Our long term goal must be housing as a human right. That means social housing or public housing for people who want them, but also transparency and accountability for private landlords, an end to exploitative, uncapped rent extraction, and an effective ban on low quality housing. In the meantime, better protecting tenants will help all of us.
Rep. Ryan Clancy represents the 19th District in the Wisconsin Assembly. He is also a former Milwaukee County Supervisor.
The number of yearly opioid overdose deaths in Milwaukee County continues to decline. Compared to 2022, there’s been a 54% decrease in fatal opioid overdoses, according to the county’s latest update to its Overdose Dashboard.
At a press conference April 21, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said that sharing this progress comes with mixed feelings.
“That data also tells us that 387 Milwaukee County residents lost their lives to drug overdoses last year,” said Crowley. “These are our neighbors. These are our loved ones, family members.”
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared deaths from prescription painkillers an epidemic. That’s when local governments nationwide filed lawsuits against the parties involved in manufacturing, distributing and promoting opioids.
Dr. Ben Weston is the county’s chief health policy advisor. Weston explained the severity of how the nationwide opioid crisis was felt in Milwaukee County.
“We had one person dying every 16 hours from overdose,” said Weston. “Since then, there’s been a lot of work.”
Weston added that 17 people died from an overdose in a single weekend in 2023, which he described as “unimaginable levels of opioid use in our community.”
But 2023 was also the year that Milwaukee County learned it would receive $111 million over the next 18 years through opioid settlements. Weston said much of the county’s work has been preventative, like creating affordable housing, effective transportation and accessible mental health services.
Other efforts have addressed the crisis head-on, like installing free, no-questions-asked harm reduction vending machines, adding naloxone to emergency response vehicles and creating programs to prevent drug use among people who are incarcerated.
Weston said people exiting incarceration are susceptible to the highest risk period for overdose. As for the communities that face the highest risk of fatal overdoses, American Indian and Alaska Native residents are impacted the most.
Jeremy Triblett is the prevention integration manager at the Milwaukee Department of Health and Human Services. Triblett said the county’s FOCUS initiative, which stands for Featuring Our Community’s Untold Stories, is directly addressing Milwaukee’s Black, brown and Indigenous communities “to assess how they’re accessing their substances, and culturally, how does that intersect with their cultural norms.”
A community advisory board, comprised of people of color, is helping county officials facilitate discussions on harm reduction outreach.
Brice Turang drove in four runs and David Hamilton had four hits as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the Detroit Tigers 12-4 on Tuesday night.
Despite missing their top three hitters, the Brewers put 19 runners on base and scored in double digits for the second time this season. They have won five of six.
All nine Milwaukee starters reached base at least once, and Detroit catcher/knuckleballer Jake Rogers limited the damage by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Detroit lost its second straight after winning eight of nine.
Milwaukee used speed and small ball to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Garrett Mitchell led off with an infield single, took second on a walk and scored on Sal Frelick’s base hit. Hamilton beat out a bunt to load the bases.
After Blake Perkins struck out, Turang lined a two-run single to right. Turang, though, got caught in a rundown between first and second and the Tigers threw Hamilton out at the plate when he tried to score.
Detroit loaded the bases with no one out in the fourth, but Grant Anderson relieved Harrison and got Javier Báez to ground into a double play. That made it 3-1, but Anderson struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter to end the inning.
The Brewers made it 5-1 in the seventh on RBI singles by Turang and William Contreras.
Milwaukee added seven runs in an 11-batter eighth, an inning that included the fourth triple of Gary Sanchez’s 12-year MLB career.
Detroit scored three times in the ninth inning to cut the final margin to eight runs.
The teams continue the series on Wednesday night with the second of three games. Detroit RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 2.78) is scheduled to face RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.95).
West Allis Fire demonstrates using Narcan for opioid overdoses
West Allis Fire Department Assistant Chief Armando Suarez Del Real illustrates how a Narcan nasal spray kit is administered in the event of an overdose.
The number of Milwaukee County residents who died from a drug overdose fell for a third year in 2025, which county officials say is a promising sign that more money spent on harm reduction, treatment and prevention efforts is working.
New data released April 21 show 387 overdose deaths across the county last year, down about 43% from their peak in 2022.
“The work is paying off,” Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County’s chief health policy adviser, said at a news conference, touting the county’s vending machines stocked with Narcan and drug testing strips, as well as a state-sponsored data collection system that helps local health departments understand when and where overdoses occur.
Still, the hundreds of county residents who lost their lives last year to a drug overdose means that work isn’t close to done, officials say – especially as the drug landscape continues to change, presenting new challenges.
“We can’t let our foot off the gas quite yet,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Drug mixing continues to drive lethal outcomes
Milwaukee County’s decline in overdose deaths is a trend mirrored across the state and the country, following years of climbing fatalities that were deemed a public health crisis.
The county will spend $111 million in opioid settlement funds over the next several years and is already putting what it has received to use, focusing on “reaching residents where they are,” said Jeremy Triblett, prevention integration manager with the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.
That includes initiatives like the harm reduction vending machines and also knocking on doors, providing county EMS workers with Narcan and seeking the opinions of people who use drugs to shape the county’s strategy.
But officials say they still see a concerning trend of combinations of drugs leading to overdose, particularly fentanyl being cut with stimulants such as cocaine. These mixes of drugs make it harder to reverse an overdose, said Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak, Milwaukee County’s chief medical examiner.
Nearly a third of all autopsies the medical examiner’s office conducted in 2025 were deaths by drug overdose, Tlomak said, and the majority involved multiple drugs. Data show the most common combinations were fentanyl and cocaine, cocaine and alcohol, and opoids and fentanyl.
Methamphetamines are also involved in more overdose deaths than a few years ago, Tlomak said.
For drug users, not knowing exactly what’s in the drug they are getting is one of the most dangerous elements of the current drug landscape, she said.
Fatal drug overdoses were most common among American Indian and Alaska Native residents in 2025, the data show, followed by Black residents. About two-thirds of fatal overdoses were in men, and the median age of death from an overdose was 49, a number that’s been climbing steadily since 2018.
Triblett said the county is focusing on how substances interact with cultural norms in different communities and that a community advisory board is convening to develop harm reduction messaging for specific populations. His team will also host a door-knocking event June 12 to reach new people across the county with prevention and treatment resources.
Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@usatodayco.com.
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