Harambee residents expressed distrust of a city process to solicit feedback about a potential expansion of the downtown streetcar and development of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive after city employees did not answer questions about the project’s timeline, and who is being engaged. Continue reading No guarantee of streetcar expansion fuels resident suspicions
Brittany Komperda’s sister passed away from bone cancer when she was 12 years old. As a result, Komperda learned to cherish life, and family. Continue reading People on the Street | Brittany Komperda
Lisa Kingery moved to Milwaukee from New York City more than 10 years ago and found a true community, one that helps to give her life meaning. Continue reading People on the Street | Lisa Kingery
Dejaun Jones saunters down Brown Street in Brewer’s Hill wearing a bright red workman’s jacket and a long, black sock-cap. The 39-year-old Jones, who was born in St. Louis but came here when he was 3, carries a backpack over both shoulders.
Jones, who has three girls — 12, 13 and 20 — says it’s been “a struggle” raising them all. “It’s hell but it’s beautiful too,” he says. “You get to see the little infant grow into a child, then into a teenager.”
On a Wednesday afternoon, Alex Nelson paints a white picket fence between Hubbard and Palmer Streets in Brewer’s Hill. He stops to have a cigarette.
Nelson, who grew up in Waukesha and attended Mukwonago High School, moved to Milwaukee because his boyfriend lives in the neighborhood. “Milwaukee’s definitely a big change from where I grew up,” he said. “The only reason that I’ve actually come out here is for the people that I’ve dated.”
Steven Feih grew up in Brewer’s Hill and Bay View in a small family – it was just his mom, his dad and himself. “Being an only kid, you know, your dog’s your best friend, your imagination’s your second-best friend.”
Though Feih isn’t what you would call a loner he has a complicated relationship with people, stemming from 20 years working as a bartender. “You see it all – you know what people are going to say before they say it,” he said.
