Tony Theisen was our old councilman when I was growing up. He was always good on nuts and bolts good-government type of things; street care, trash pick-up, but I never knew too much about his political views. It’s not surprising that the old war horses are still drawing the same lines.

Thing is, the city needs new blood in order to survive. As long as people like you or I keep getting “encouraged” to explore other pastures, it will continue its water stagnation trend.

According to my research, the poverty rate in Green Bay has more than doubled since 1999 from 7.4% to 17.6% in 2009. This is not because of the recession. This is long-term atrophy. For perspective, the poverty rate in New Orleans is 23.4%.

Everybody always likes to say “vote the bums out”, but who’s left for them to vote in, save for a few voices of reason shouting into the void like my aunt?

I have my issues with New Orleans holding onto the old, too. The preservation societies often make it difficult or impossible to renovate old buildings to make them useable or to raize blighted buildings. Part of the city’s charm is its architecture, but many of these buildings are old, decaying husks which may look beautiful on the outside, but have rotted on the inside. In many ways, the buildings of New Orleans are analagous to the attitudes in Green Bay: they may seem charming on the surface, but they have no use in the 21st century.

Instead, Green Bay will continue to crumble into dust while the young flee and the old die. Watch for the population to begin to shrink in the 2020 census.