Lindsay Heights
Lindsay Heights is a restored neighborhood northwest of downtown between W. Walnut, W. Locust, N. 12th and N. 20th Streets. Over $19 million has been invested in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood as of 2006 in new home construction, rehabilitation, streets, parks and revived commercial areas. This is a great place to build your new home only five minutes from downtown. Over 40 lots are available for new home construction and owner occupancy.
Note: All listed Lindsay Heights lots are available for $1.00 until December 31, 2009, except for those that are highlighted on the list of available lots.Contact Information: 
Yves LaPierre
Dept. of City Development
809 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202
Email:
ylapie@milwaukee.gov This information was found at:
http://www.mkedcd.org/realestate/LindsayHeights/LindsayHeightsMain.htmlA map of Lindsay Heights can be found at:
The Johnsons Park neighborhood (16th to 20th Streets, Walnut Street to Fond Du Lac Avenue) is part of the Lindsay Heights District. Lindsay Heights was once an average working class community, much like any other neighborhood in Milwaukee in the later 1950's. Once construction of the Interstate Highway was initiated many families were forced to move elsewhere and leave their homes to be demolished. Hundreds of these homes, turned vacant lots, were were never impacted by the supposive highways. After the societal unrest in the 1960's this once thriving community was quickly transformed into a haven for criminal activities such as the distribution of narcotics, theft, and gang affiliations. A successful philanthropist Joseph Zilber, now well into his 90's, once grew up in these neighborhoods. Disheartened to see this community, to which he holds countless fond memories, have turned changed so drastically, Zilber set up whats known as The Zilber Family Foundation in an effort to rebuild what was once lost.
An image of an abandoned home being demolished in preperation for new development within the Lindsay Heights community.
An example of a once vacant lot transformed into a valuable piece of real estate by KUHS Quality Homes, a Wisconsin home builder.
Walnut Circle
As described in the article below, this vacant lot, once the location of a Sentry grocery store, is the next major housing development just West of the Johnsons Park community. The idea for a new development stemmed from the success of city backed housing projects that have seen great success in the surrounding communities. Seperate from the Lindsay Heights Initiative in previous years the vacant lots in Walnut Circle are priced much higher. The goal is to contract with high-end developers, such as those putting up so many elaborate condominiums downtown, and integrate some real wealth into the community. This may result in the economic push that will put this area of Milwaukee back into the public spotlight and create a greater distribution of wealth within the surrounding neighborhood.
Milwaukee panel approves Walnut Circle housing projectDaily Reporter (Milwaukee) ,
May 24, 2007 by
Sean RyanBefore approving the Walnut Circle housing development on city- owned land around 20th and Walnut streets, Milwaukee aldermen asked if it would be competing with other city-supported projects in the area. The city, working with private developers and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, helped bring about construction of more than 100 homes in Lindsay Heights northeast of Walnut Circle. It's also sold 115 vacant lots west of the project to Habitat for Humanity over the past 15 years. There's also the Cityhomes subdivision the city helped kick-start in the mid-1990s. Alderman Michael D'Amato brought up two more: The 90-house Legacy project and a six-lot project called Walnut Crossing, which are both receiving tax incremental financing dollars. Walnut Crossing's being developed by Cross Development Group Inc., which is seeking to purchase six sites from the city in its Walnut Circle project. Maria Prioletta, redevelopment and special projects manager at the Department of City Development, said competition wasn't a problem. Lindsay Heights is basically sold out, she said, and the $230,000 to $300,000 price range for houses in Walnut Circle puts it in a different market than surrounding housing. "I would look at Legacy now more as the entry point for someone who wants to build new," Prioletta said. "This (Walnut Circle) is a step, or many steps, up." Common Council President Willie Hines, who represents the area, said no concerns were raised about competition between the many condominiums that were built downtown. He said the higher price range of Walnut Circle's houses would advance the economic integration of the neighborhood, and bring in more partners to work with neighborhood groups trying to improve their sidewalks. "It really speaks to how you can transform a neighborhood, a community, a city when you build up the assets," Hines said. "When you integrate people with a lifestyle that is different than what a monolithic environment may bring, you bring along with it new partners to address the issues and the needs in the area." The resale values of houses in Lindsay Heights is strong, Prioletta said, and there have been no foreclosures on the city- sponsored housing there.
Walnut Circle would be built on the site of a Sentry Store that's been vacant since 2001. Seeing all the new people moving into the neighborhood, the city purchased the five-acre site in 2005 and demolished the store. There are 32 lots on the property that the city wants to sell for $17,500 each. After sending out a request for development proposals, DCD staff wants to sell six sites to Cross and 10 to Kuhs Quality Homes Inc., both in Milwaukee. If the houses sell, the city has the option of selling more sites to the two developers. The 3-0 approval from the Zoning Neighborhoods and Development Committee on Tuesday sends the land sales to the Common Council for consideration May 30.
It was at these points while on my photographic tour that I literally had to look up and make sure I was in the right place. The neighborhood looked and felt too nice, too much like home, to be located in inner-city Milwaukee. 
