Welcome to Milwaukee www.WalnutHill.org [*] Walnut Hill is, for those of us who live here now, essentially a new frontier. A frontier pioneering spirit, frontier attitudes, and frontier-appropriate methods may be just what we need to make over Walnut Hill into a neighborhood that is truly ours, of which we can be proud, and in which we can live fulfilling, productive lives. Perhaps we have to reinvent Walnut Hill as a "settlement" within the city. No amount of city top down paternalism, no matter how well intended, can accomplish this. This transformation can only be won bottom-up. Individuals, alone, and working together must be the primary agents of effective change. In this effort, we must graciously use, but not be limited by, assistance offered by City departments or neighborhood agencies tasked by the City to help us. To have a sense of neighborhood, it is important to know where our boundaries are set. This map also locates some significant neighborhood assets. Physically speaking, this is a century old neighborhood - although the first home was built in 1853. Over the last three decades there have been major demographic changes, a wholesale change in the kinds of economic paradigms that do and don't work (any longer) and of the resources available to us, and prolonged physical neglect of the housing stock, as well as commercial and industrial properties. Above all we can take pride in our people, in ourselves, a multicultural community of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, all with plenty to add. In 1997-8 A volunteer neighborhood committee took up the task of both defining the limits [map] of our historic neighborhood and picking a name, under the watchful eye of L.A.N.D., Lisbon Avenue Neighborhood Development Corporation, tasked by the City of Milwaukee to assist residents of our neighborhood in many ways. We also have an informal Walnut Hill Residents Association which has meetings from time to time. Our next step is to incorporate as a nonprofit neighborhood association, able to apply for small grants for modest projects that can help make a difference. Proposed bylaws have been drafted. Here is a page of notices of upcoming events in the area of general interest. Please do help us keep it current and complete. Despite the problems that challenge us, we have reasons galore to be proud, and we have a gallery page to demonstrate that. At the dedication and unveiling of our new sign, Mayor John Norquist called attention to the many beautiful features of our neighborhood, things that we should not let the obvious blight blind us to. The percentage of home ownership in Walnut Hill is only about 25 percent. That means the number of "stakeholders" - those who care enough to tackle the problems - is very low. There are programs in place that attempt to increase that figure. Meanwhile, to help our homeowners, homeowner wanna-be's, and area handymen, we have added a Home Improvements Page, with useful information and links. Nearly three-fourths of our households are rental properties. The Renters' Page provides some resources for renters: Decorating Tips for Renters, Landlord/Tenant Law, and more. Our area has been plagued by blight in recent years. There are many vacant lots, but with the right attitude we can turn these eyesores into assets. There are still many outstanding properties in Walnut Hill, some of beautiful historic design, many that are beautifully decorated and/or landscaped. Throughout our neighborhood, there are pockets of pride. Caringly kept lawns, beautiful landscaping, flower and vegetable gardens. And we have a few "community" vegetable garden plots as well. Here is a page of helpful ideas and links to online information, know-how, and resources. Caring for the environment is not a luxury to be left to those who live in newer, cleaner, greener neighborhoods. Walnut Hill is Earth too, and caring will be rewarded with a healthier and more enjoyable neighborhood for our children and grandchildren. The trackside industrial corridor that runs through our neighborhood has many environmental issues. We need to give special attention to the needs and nurture of our young people, our future. Our youth page has homework aids, counseling aids, and much more. Our Seniors are an immense source of knowledge about the past. Not just historical facts, but of cultural values. They are especially challenged in many ways - healthwise, economically, social isolation. We need to trade the support we can give them, for the wealth they have to give us. We had embarked on a new endeavor, the creation of a "neighborhood college," starting up fall 2001 in which we can help one another by sharing our talents and experience to give ourselves the tools we need to find gainful employment, to be good parents and neighbors, and to lead fulfilling lives in general. For lack of financial support and a means to get out the news effectively, this effort floudered in 2002. The Neighborhood College website remains as a testament to what we had tried to do. There is a strong base of handily located community resources that we can call upon. And we are seeking to establish more. Here is an extensive set of links, covering all sorts of life activities, helpfully organized by category, and easy to navigate through. There are a number of extra Special Topic Pages on this Website for you to Explore This Page modified April 25, 2004 On May 17th, 2000, we acquired walnuthill.org as a "virtual" domain. This means that while this website will remain at members.aol.com/comfyrock, you can reach it at either of the two following easy to remember addresses: http://www.walnuthill.org http://walnuthill.org You can capitalize all the letters, just the W and H (WalnutHill.org) or leave it all in lower case. It does not matter. We have chosen not to use an option which would keep the new domain address in the browser location box. This way, visitors can still bookmark or refresh individual pages (e.g. Ethnic Heritage, Community Resources, Online Resources). If we had chosen to have the new address appear in the box, only the entry page could be bookmarked or refreshed. Dot.org is a good choice, as the Walnut Hill Residents Association is seriously considering incorporation as a Wisconsin 501.c3 nonprofit organization so that we can apply for grants to undertake projects and programs that will benefit the neighborhood. Webmaster: