Milwaukee, as seen from the predominantly black north side. A number of progressive developers are trying to rebuild neighborhoods in the city that have long suffered from underinvestment and discriminatory housing policy. | Shutterstock

When Milwaukee hosts the Democratic convention, politicians should pay heed to these neighborhood redevelopment ideas A good place to start to understand Milwaukee is on a street with two names.
During a bus tour earlier this month of the city?s near north side?a mostly residential stretch of homes, past the more familiar downtown and the districts of squat brick brewery buildings that have been converted into lofts, condos, and retail?Frank Cumberbatch explained why Old World Third Street, which runs through the business district, turns into Martin Luther King Jr. Drive as it heads north, through the city?s majority black neighborhoods. A Trinidadian who emigrated to Milwaukee nearly 40 years ago and now works as vice president of engagement for local charitable group Bader Philanthropies, Cumberbatch has focused his career on bringing equality and opportunity to the city. When he introduced himself and his work around community health and housing, he said that, in the 40 years he?s been in Wisconsin, ?I?ve wondered why the kids that look like me can?t get educated, why the men who look like me can?t keep a job, and why is it that our city leads the nation in the incarceration of African-American males.?
As he showed a group of ...