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  Savage City #5: The Mansion  

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Uploaded: 04/19/09 4:17 PM GMT
Savage City #5: The Mansion
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If this building were in the suburbs or the exburbs it would be worth at least a half million dollars. Locate in the heart of Milwaukees Central City it was on of the original Mansions built when this was near the Western edge of the city. According to the Property Record history, when it was built it contained 7 bedroom, 4 baths, a living room, a family room, a dining room and a den. As the neighborhood declines it was remodeled and and converted into individual apartments. Later still the first floor was rezoned for commercial use and the first floor became retail space. On 3/27/07 it was declared a nuisance property and all the junk and dedris was ordered to be removed from the interior and exterior of the property. On 8/16/07 the City took possesion of the Property for unpaid taxes. On 10/11/07 Building Inspectors went through it and issued the owner a list of deficincies that needed to be corrected. You can see that list here. It includes at least one bathroom that had no sink and defective or missing toilets and bathtubs. 53 serious defects. And at the time the building was still occupied by both a retail business and renters for the living units. The property value is listed on the tax rolls at $0. It needs more in significant repairs than the property is worth. According to two personal friends of mine who are on the Milwaukee Police Force (and who have grave reservations about me prowling these neighborhoods with a camera) they raid this building every toher week to evict alcoholics, crack addicts and homeless squatters who pry the wood off basement windows to get inside. The first story floors are warped and oft times contain puddles of urine; once a month a crew from the city comes through and cleans out the human feces, crack pipes and syringes from the building. The Police are well aware of what is going on but to try and stop it on a daily basis is impossible with the rampant crime, gang activity, and prostitution occuring in the area. If you go one square mile in any direction from this house there is an average of one shooting, 7 violent crimes, and 245 calls for Police Assistance EVERY DAY. The economic woes that much of the County is experiencing is a grim reality that this part of the City has been living with for at least two decades. If you look closely you see that this property sits on 25th and North Av. North Ave is main drag that runs East and West all the way through the City. Just 3 miles to the East is Milwaukees lakefront, and lakefront properties that are worth over one million dollars apiece. Just 33 blocks to the West you enter the City of Wauwatosa, a suburban area where the population is 94% caucasion and the average property value is $209,000. Milwaukee has the dubious honor of being THE most segregated city in the United States. That segregation can be described not just in terms of minority and non-minority, but in terms of those that have Hope and those that have none.

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.rriesop
04/19/09 8:59 PM GMT
Great commentary Rich. Have really enjoyed this series so far. Good to see things other than beauty on this site and it really opens eyes to what is also going on in the world beside the beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
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God has created fantastic beauty for us to photograph and fantastic photographers to bring out that beauty in unique ways.
::danika
04/19/09 9:22 PM GMT
A thought-provoking capture, Rich. This could be a scene anywhere & I'm not talking about large cities. The small city I'm from, (pop. around 3000), has several run-down buildings & at one-time deemed to be condemned. Most of these buildings were the building blocks of the city & made the city thrive over the years until the business(es) was/were no longer needed for it's purpose & the new owners couldn't afford the upkeep anymore. Luckily my state 10 plus years ago offered a grant to cities / communities (any size) to make repairs, but I believe the building had to be of historical value & had to be part of the main downtown area. It saved alot of buildings that otherwise would have been torn down & in the end made the city more eye-appealing.

As for the image itself ... I noticed the focus is a bit soft in areas ... not sure if that was your intention, but I think it works well here as it gives me the feeling the run-down building is slowly fading away. Normally, I would have cloned out the powerlines, but I think they are needed in this situation.

Very nicely done ... a fine addition to this series.
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We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give ~ Winston Churchill
::billyoneshot
04/19/09 9:49 PM GMT
This is great. It is to bad they let this beautiful home fall into ruins.
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Billy
::solita17
04/20/09 7:32 PM GMT
This image and your narrative really got to me... I've been trying to figure what to comment on and finally decided that all I can say is the truth which is just that... it really got to me...
mary
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"Never let your studies interfere with your education." - Pete Seeger
::gabriela2006
04/21/09 1:07 AM GMT
excellent capture:)
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::0930_23
04/25/09 1:02 AM GMT
What a great job of investigative reporting you are doing GBRx3. You should contact the newspaper after you have finished. Make a great Sunday series. If you want a touch of Irony with you 25th & North, check this.
Great post again.

Tick* was here

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Insure what you touch during your lifetime, is not coated with the fingerprints of apathy....Tick
::laurengary
05/03/09 3:53 AM GMT
This looks like the area around Cleveland Clinic, here in Ohio. It's surrounded by some ... not so hot housing & some old houses that look almost just like this actually. They're also building $3-400,000.00 homes 2 streets over from inner city housing, it's extremely startling to see the first time, but after a couple of times you just tend to get used to it after a while. This is an outstanding series hon, I think it's fabulous but your friends are right.... be careful. *hug*

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I've got amnesia & deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before ! ... That was Zen, but this is Tao !!! ...CLICK TO SAVE LIVES !
::Logun7
05/12/09 2:52 AM GMT

Great post all around!!
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