Glad things in your neighborhood have settled a bit. I feel for ya. I spent 5 days in Milwaukee in 1991 and it was the best city I had ever visited, with the nice old beer halls (or whatever you call the old bars with dark hardwood timbers and that "Old World" ambiance) ... and wonderful smells of beer, chocolates, pastrami, etc. Of course, my friend/tour guide did not have reason to show me the bad side of Milwaukee, but my last visit (when you gave me the list of audio shops to check out) encountered neighborhoods that had fallen into decay, but were clearly once very pleasant!
It's not my neighborhood that had this stuff going on, it was the surrounding area- the sound carries well. I'm in a suburb at the North border of the city.
This was a great city but the local leaders have one set of goals and the people have other needs. They spend money on things that aren't needed like it has always been at the top of the list and skimp on what's needed. The trolley is a good example- there was no demand for it, but the Mayor wanted it in the worst way, so he got it and when they saw that there was no way it would support itself, the local casino stepped up and paid for ridership for a whole year. Once that's done, and I have never seen one of the cars with a large number of riders, I expect it to be in deep doodoo until someone else fires up for free tickets. The Mayor wants to expand it, too. Sure, it has riders at some times (well, it did before COVID), but that's more because it's free.
Sounds like you were around Old World Third Street- if you remember a place called 'Mader's' across from Usinger's and it was just West of the river with a small park that has a stage adjacent to the water. The old craftsmanship was incredible and a lot of those places still exist, but some have been lost. Ambrosia Chocolate has moved, unfortunately, but the smell was a good thing.
