Living Small in Milwaukee

Submitted by Mali Anderson

Here are some typical sights on my block of Milwaukee, WI. There are old cars in garages being souped up hobbyist mechanics who blare rock and roll music. There are lawns that are too green, too lush and require chemicals and noisy machines to maintain. Ladies stand on the sod, gossiping over backyard fences, lighting one cigarette after another. And there is one woman who actually vacuums birdseed off of her lawn.Those birds are just way too messy for her. These are the things I see daily.

Way back when, a local iron company divvied my neighborhood up for employee housing. The story goes that small houses were built on the back of the lots with the idea that people would work hard, save cash and build larger houses in the front. Well, let’s just say whoever lived in my house circa 1900 wasn’t very inspired. My family and I live in a tiny house on the back of the lot.

Being small house lovers, my husband and I were thrilled when we found our home. It’s cheap to heat, fast to clean, has a large yard to grow vegetables, and space for composting our kitchen scraps. Our clothes hang out on a line strung between two poles that double as a bike rack. The rest of the yard is a grassy, weedy mixture that we occasionally groom with a push mower and a weeding tool.

This isn’t weird. But on our block in Milwaukee, with the pristine vacuumed lawns and a rocking car culture, it’s notable.

“We have an extra clothes dryer. Do you need a dryer?” my neighbor asked as I clipped a wet shirt on the clothesline.

“No,” I replied. “I prefer to hang things, but thanks.” I smiled. She shrugged and continued on.

When I was pregnant, I overheard a neighbor out of my kitchen window. He was feeling sorry for us. “The house is just too small for a growing family,” he said to his wife. I laughed and continued to put away dishes in our cozy kitchen. Our home is spacious compared to other places I’ve lived.

Things are changing here. The old-timers and progressive thinkers are merging to create a promising presence in Milwaukee. Co-ops have grown, and the farmers markets are packed. We have a renowned urban farm, a green rooftop movement and discussions are underway for solar-powered residential housing.

I secretly bop my head along to the audio storms of rock that float up the block. I sing along to the hits of yesteryear and imagine that my neighbors are covertly shopping the local markets, using greywater for their laundry and inviting additional families to occupy their unused rooms. It seems unlikely that the gearheads would go green, you just never know.