Rock Island’s War Zone

First Ward Alderman Terry Brooks has delineated an area west of 15th Street to 12th Street and South of 9th Avenue  to 18th Avenue as a “war zone.

Apparently it is news to many of the residents who don’t read The Argus or Quad City Times newspapers. A drive through the neighborhood on August 20 seemed to indicate there was no evidence of a “war.”

Children were out on the streets, some adults were sitting on their house porches, teenage boys were playing basketball, young girls were walking up and down the streets. Three white women, in the largely African American neighborhood, were walking down 12th Street with babies in two strollers.

Two houses displayed our nation’s flag, and one house apparently still kept its July Fourth decorations. The many churches in the neighborhood -–between four and six--seemed calm outwardly. No one seemed to have disturbed the construction materials at Hawthorne Irving School south of 9th Avenue.

In the lower end of Longview Park, across from 15th street—the east end of the “war zone”—adults and children seemed to be enjoying the summer evening.

Two homes displayed a local Realtors  “For Sale” signs. I wonder if this declaration by Alderman Brooks is helpful. Will it help property values or start a panic by homeowners to sell before prices drop in the “war zone”?