Milwaukee is facing a lot of systemic problems. Evictions, unemployment, and segregation, to name just a few. Most of these issues are well-known and despite seemingly well-intentioned efforts, they persist.
A new series from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’sIdeas Lab is hoping to move these conversations forward. Instead of focusing on the pervasiveness of these problems, it’s looking at solutions. The series, spearheaded by reporter James Causey, is called Milwaukee’s Promise.
Causey explains that while officials in Milwaukee are often excited to find new solutions to the city's problems, implementing them has always been difficult.
"We always get caught up into this thing like, ‘Where’s the money going to come from?’ Or we have these meetings and then we realize that it requires work and no one really wants to take the leadership role and it just doesn’t go anywhere," says Causey.
He continues, "We have to move beyond that. I think that's why we're seeing a lot of these marches and protests today because people are sick and tired of a lot of these great ideas not going anywhere."
One of the key parts of the project is engaging people in the community through vision boards.
He explains, "I want to know what people's vision of the city is, you know, you can't go anywhere without vision. So I'm challenging people to create vision boards on what you expect the city to look like a year from now. What do you want the city to look like?"