Milwaukee is well-known in the United States for its poverty, segregation, crime, drug abuse and failing public schools. Soon, Madison could be too.
A six-person panel of politicians, business leaders and journalists addressed looming problems for Madison Thursday night at Club Majestic, 115 King St. After nearly two hours of discussion, the panel came to a consensus on one issue: Madison must change its current course or risk the death of its urban core.
Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin called on ""politically correct legislators"" to prevent the growth of poverty on the city's south side, an area he termed ""a lousy neighborhood."" The area includes minority-dominated Allied Drive, and has been the site of considerable violence in recent years.
However, Soglin said, legislators ""have no damned interest in really dealing with urban problems.""
State Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, rejected Soglin's claim that legislators are uninterested in pushing change. Grigsby's Milwaukee district is 65 percent black and more than 50 percent of her constituents live in poverty.
""We have some of the worst racial disparity in the nation,"" Grigsby said.
But Grigsby, who grew up in Madison, also pointed out that her hometown is on the way to a similar situation, due largely to a failure to address poverty and unemployment among minorities.
""Madison has to wake up,"" she said. ""Conditions are really not a whole lot different in many aspects here than they are in Milwaukee.""
Isthmus Editor Mark Eisen, who both moderated and participated in the panel, pointed out that Milwaukee's inner city witnessed an income growth of 6 percent in the 1990s while its suburbs experienced income growth of 70 to 80 percent.
""Cities that are closed off by suburbs suffer and are drained,"" Eisen said. ""And Madison is nearing the end of its growth.""
Jennifer Alexander spoke at the forum on behalf of the business-friendly Madison Chamber of Commerce. She said Madison is completely unprepared to deal with 21st Century problems. All six members of the panel seconded Alexander's call for a new development plan that would address the changing economy.
Grigsby in particular said the lack of a far reaching public transportation and government neglect of disadvantaged neighborhoods in Milwaukee has proved disastrous. She then speculated that Madison is currently making many of the same mistakes Milwaukee made several decades ago.
""There is now a divide based on socioeconomic status and ethnicity in MiIwaukee,"" Grigsby said. ""I would hope Madison would be more thoughtful in planning so that we avoid the segregation that Milwaukee is battling now.""
