Milwaukee

Sounds like you're suggesting this is an "urban vs. suburban" thing: people who don't have to deal with the problem and would rather not think about it vs. people for whom this is a pressing, daily issue.

I think I understand this position. I was raised, and spent much of my adult life, in clean, safe neighborhoods. But I spent a few years in a neighborhood where crime was rampant, shootings went on every few nights (even right outside my window one night!), buildings were in a state of severe disrepair... it was pretty bad. And it seriously bugs me how for most people that sort of thing is "out of sight, out of mind", and even for people who live there it's "get out if you can, and keep your mouth shut and stay uninvolved if you can't".

Guess who has lived in Milwaukee for several years right on the border of one of the highest crime regions of the city? Guess who has personally been the victim of a reckless driving incident? Guess who has had to deal with package thieves? Guess who has had multiple shootings within a block or two of them? Guess who has had to personally help a drug addict who passed out face first next to their garage door? Guess who helps foster stray animals abandoned around the city? Guess who personally has cleaned up trash blowing around the street and sidewalks? Guess who has personally had multiple hostile encounters with police in the city for no reason? Guess who participates in community meetings about these and other issues? Guess who goes to minority-ran community events and business openings?

Don't assume that all negative feedback you get is from rich yuppies living in the suburbs. Don't pretend that you speak for all "actual Milwaukee residents." I fell in love with this city years ago and don't plan on leaving anytime soon. I'm invested in the community more all the time and it pisses me off to hear the whole city written off like it's Compton in the 1990's.

Like anything complicated, there are a ton of different sides to Milwaukee. No it's not a utopian city with perfect people that eat cheese and ride cows everywhere. Nor is it a warzone hell-hole with gunfights in the streets and car bombs going off every night. Certain areas are much more dangerous than others, there are also many different problems and potential solutions to them. Trying to paint the city as all-or-nothing is a pointless exercise. You waving your hand and saying, "...some stuff downtown" also rubs me the wrong way, as if anything else in Milwaukee besides Summerfest is just some trinket-like little thing and not really important. Sorry about being so aggressive, but I take objection to being lumped into some stereotype that isn't true about me being some rich suburbanite that visits Milwaukee twice a year to see the ballet and then "retreats" to my gated community mansion.