This one I am not allowing to go.
I am not going to ''HIDE'' behind Anonymous. It is real easy to say things without being known but I have had enough.
I can't believe what I am reading about Jim and the new home going in at 538 N. 40th. This has come about because of a culmination of all the ''House'' postings.
Especially around the ones from about November 26.
1) Man, personally it does not effect me so I consider it NONE OF MY BUSINESS!!!! I would have to say that I would be very ashamed of myself if I found it necessary to stick my nose where it didn't belong to that point. Therefore it shames me a bit now to do so but... I can't stand the neighbor bashing any more. So I am going to put my nose where it does belong. I have asked our ''Leader'' where to put my anger and energy where it really belongs - on the flood plain, FEMA and INSURANCE. Check out OK VPCA! That house is a fluke, a sign or whatever you want to call it but that's not the real issue!!!! And unless I have to put out money because of it, it is none of my business.
2) I agree with one replier that it is progress. Whether or not it was a major error BY THE CITY - it is still progress. We all know that we to go to the city and MMSD for facts. And unless any one has found a direct line to FEMA, they are the only people we have to depend on for the facts. So Jim DID DO HIS HOMEWORK. If the city screwed up - you can not blame the person it happened too. Yes, he is just as much a ''victim'' of the flood plain issues as everyone else down here. He was also a victim of a poorly run City Developement Department who apparently did not know what they were doing. So blame them!!!!
3) And I know for a fact - and I say fact - that almost everything negative I have read thus far IS NOT FACT. It is rumor, hear say, opinion and speculation. Talk to Jim. Find out the facts and see what I found out. He is a nice guy with a nice family.
4) And how dare you all gripe about him taking over properties down here. He ahs the money and the resources so why not him. It could have been Joe Blow from Cocamo but it is not. It is someone who lives here and also does not want a rotten neighborhood. We all griped when those properties were problems and now you're griping now that they're not. I am rejoicing!!! What the heck do you people want???!!! Whether it be for the money, (again if it had not been him it would be someone else), or whatever, it has been POSITIVE to the neighborhood. You griped about the problems on 39th street. He has solved that. He seems to screen his tennant's and he takes care of the places. Ask Dave K.!!!!
5) So suck it in Valley Park and go with it. Redirect your energy and stop griping!!! Do something constructive instead of destructive. And I DARE each and everyone of you who said negative things about Jim to actually walk up to him, and say Hi. Better yet say WELCOME!
Then really talk to him. You are not going to get anything out of going off half cocked and with out correct aim.
GEEZ!

By JW

Negative postings

I totally agree with your statement. Lately there has been so much negative postings about the neighborhood. It has become one big soap opera, that I won't part take in. The neighborhood is fighting against itself instead of finding solutions to the problems we have with the flood plain issue, crime, etc.

By Tried Valley Resident

We have a chance here

We all have a chance to work together to really do something with our neighboorhood. We were doing that but some how that all fell apart.
I am sorry that I can but afford to work on my own property and that requires a lot of scrounging at times. But with someone like Jim and his company or Tony for that matter. He too owns multiple properties down here. If they are willing to put in the time, effort and MONEY to restore some of the special nuances and pride in our neighborhood, maybe we can come out of a lot of adversity with flying colors and become a great neighborhood. For every improvement our standard of living goes up. Yeah so do the taxes but ''what price we pay''? We all know how it works. The better the neighborhood, the more it costs to live in it. But the trade off is more security, more peace of mind, more status and more return on our investment. Maybe the people of Wauwatosa will even stop thinking of us in terms of ''a ghetto with a white picket fence''. Yeah right. And that hurt!!! What I used to see here wasn't the run down homes or the homes whose landlords can not keep their tennant's dogs from crapping piles a mile high in the front yards or the even the drug dealers. What I always saw were a lot of really wonderful people who worked together to make the neighborhood safe, secure and better. That's a neighborhood. It's not what you live in, it is who you live with. And a lot of you have really turned my stomach to that notion. You are not all nice people. So let's not do this. Let's change that feeling a lot of us have. I am not the only one who feels this way. If you are reading this, you saw one of the other reponses. Strangely enough, those of you who see Jim as the ''bad guy'' and are bashing him and his good work are what I see as the real ''bad guys''. You have litterally ruined what I saw in this neighborhood and what this nieghborhood used to be all about. I really hope we can change that.

Stop all the B*****in!!!

All this guy is trying to do is improve Piggsville. The long time residents down here are afraid of change, what I mean is mainly seeing there taxes go up. It's true... It's about time that the properties down here catch up with the rest of the city. One of the reasons it's tough to do improvements is properties values don't go up so theres no equity in the house you own. Like it or not What Jim is doing is the best investment out there. Nobody wants there taxes to go up, it sucks. The people who are complaining are the ones who don't want positive change.

By Piggsville Resident