As a young girl in Milo-Grogan, Gail Brown grew up amid thriving Italian delis and small
businesses; she watched parents head off every morning to jobs in nearby factories and rail
yards.
"We had strong families and homeowners," said Brown, 57, who has lived in the neighborhood
northeast of Downtown most of her life. Then the freeway came, taking away hundreds of homes and cutting off Milo-Grogan from
surrounding communities. The factories closed, and the homeowners who could afford it moved to the
suburbs. "Renters have moved in. We have more boarded-up houses," Brown said, and more violence among the
neighborhood's young people. When David C. Warren II, 20, was killed during an argument on Oct. 25, 2006, it was the third
time he had been shot. The first time, he was 5 years old. Despite the crime, the isolation and the poverty, this year's closing of the Milo-Grogan
Recreation Center at 862 E. 2nd Ave. seems to be pulling residents together again, Brown said. |
clipped from www.dispatch.com
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