Blessing of safe neighborhood vs old one in troubled Riverwest

Nearly every morning when I first wake, my first thought is, thank you, God, for a safe, peaceful night. When you consider all the people in our world, country, state, and even metro area who cannot say that, it is humbling. I am truly blessed.

My old neighborhood in Riverwest, where my husband and I lived in our younger days, has been in the news lately. First there was a shooting at a street festival about 200 feet from our Weil Street home. (Select street view and rotate Google maps to check out area.) That distance was significant to me because it is the same frontage of my present home in Brookfield. The close proximity made the shooting all the more sobering.

Two UWM students have been murdered in my old neigborhood within the past 2 weeks, yet the article said the residents of the area still felt safe. All I know is that I am glad we no longer live there.

While we did not constantly worry about our safety, I think that was more a case of ignorance being bliss. There was, however, a pretty steady stream of annoyances. On weekends, we could count on loud, live music from the bar across the street until 2-3am and loud drunks outside our window talking, shouting, doing drugs, etc. after 2-3am, when the bars closed. There were stolen car batteries, a bashed in car door on our restored 65 Mustang, and all the windows, save the windshield and passenger door, on our station wagon shot out by a BB gun. (We called that the St. Valentine's Day massecre because they did it on Valentine's Day.) And who could forget the plum fight in our alley that used our trees' fruit as amo. What a waste and mess.

Both neighborhoods have their share of robberies, that was one unpleasant surprise of life in suburbia. But by in large, we feel safe on our streets, even at night here.

We have lived here in Brookfield since 1986 and treasure our neighbors and neighborhood. It is indeed a privilege to live in relative peace and quiet, it's one of the blessings I count every day. How about you?

Links:
Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, CNS News, Jay Weber, Mark Levin, Vicki McKenna Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, The Heritage Foundation