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.
Milwaukee, WI
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Murray Avenue and Edgewood Avenue, Shorewood
SHOREWOOD, Wis. – A 13-year-old was taken into custody on Wednesday morning, May 13, following a police chase that started in Milwaukee and ended in Shorewood.
Police chase
The backstory:
It was around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday when the Shorewood Police Department was notified of a pursuit involving a reported stolen vehicle.
The pursuit had been initiated by the Milwaukee Police Department and was terminated before entering Shorewood.
Shorewood officers located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle did not stop, and a pursuit was initiated.
The chase ended near Murray Avenue and Edgewood Avenue.
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The 13-year-old driver and sole occupant ran from the scene – and their vehicle rolled backward into the front of a Shorewood squad car.
Murray Avenue and Edgewood Avenue, Shorewood
Teen in custody
What we know:
The teen was taken into custody with the assistance of several neighboring law enforcement agencies.
The individual will be referred to the Milwaukee County Children’s Court for charging.
No injuries were sustained by the suspect or officers, and no damage was reported resulting from the contact between the vehicles.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Shorewood Police Department.
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man is accused of shooting and killing Dennis Johnson, a 56-year-old Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office employee, on the city’s north side earlier this month.
Charges filed
In court:
Prosecutors charged 29-year-old Prinston Underwood with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and possession of a firearm by an outstate felon.
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Another man, 53-year-old Darrin Sutton, is charged with a gun possession felony in the case. A 25-year-old woman was also arrested in the case; the district attorney’s office said charges against her are still under review.
Prinston Underwood and Darrin Sutton
Teutonia and Chambers shooting
The backstory:
Milwaukee police responded to a shooting near Teutonia and Chambers just after 5 p.m. on Friday, May 8. When officers arrived, a criminal complaint said they found Johnson shot in the driver’s seat of his Jeep.
An autopsy determined a bullet went through Johnson’s right arm and into his chest, and the medical examiner’s office ruled his manner of death as homicide.
Court filings said there were three other people in Johnson’s Jeep at the time of the shooting, including Sutton and two children. Prosecutors said Johnson was not the intended target.
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What they’re saying:
Sutton told police that Johnson drove him to the area of 12th and Locust to pick up his two kids, according to the complaint. While there, he got into a verbal argument with two women.
Prosecutors said Sutton claimed one of the women gestured to her boyfriend, later identified as Underwood, in a way that Sutton interpreted as a directive for Underwood to shoot at him. Sutton admitted to arming himself and displaying a gun, and noted that, at the time, he saw Underwood holding a gun of his own.
According to court filings, Sutton said Johnson then began to drive away from the scene. Sutton claimed that, as they drove away, Underwood opened fire on the Jeep – and he fired back four or five times.
Sutton said that a few moments later, per the complaint, Johnson alerted him to the passenger side of the Jeep as they were driving on Teutonia Avenue.
The complaint said Sutton looked out the window and saw a white GMC before hearing a gunshot. He admitted that, once he realized Johnson had been shot, he discarded the gun he had next to a nearby building.
A witness told detectives that Underwood fired a single shot through the Jeep’s front passenger window as the Jeep slowed down for a red light at Teutonia and Chambers, per the complaint.
Surveillance footage
Dig deeper:
Detectives recovered surveillance footage from a home near 12th and Locust, which captured the shooting. Court filings said it showed the Jeep and the white GMC were both parked on the west side of the street.
The video showed Sutton arguing with two women from the front passenger seat of Johnson’s seat, the complaint said. It also showed Johnson got out of the vehicle and walked around to try to de-escalate the argument.
Underwood was seen on the sidewalk with a gun in his hand, according to court filings. As Johnson began to drive away, Sutton then showed a gun from the window – at which time Underwood took aim at the Jeep while shielding himself behind the white GMC.
The complaint said Sutton and Underwood pointed their guns at each other but held fire until, seconds later after the Jeep drove away and out of view of the camera, Underwood fired toward the Jeep while attempting to take cover from return fire. Underwood then got into the white GMC and followed the Jeep.
The Source: Information in this story is from the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior coverage related to the shooting and Johnson’s death.
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