Cambridge Woods Neighborhood Association (CWNA)

Welcome to the newly created Interview with a Neighbor column. I am interested in interviewing anyone from the Cambridge Woods Neighborhood. If you are willing to be interviewed, please contact me at ssabin@execpc.com. When I joined the CWNA, a friend and I were talking and Else Ankel’s name came up. My friend looked at me with all seriousness and said, “Yeh, Else Ankel is the blood and guts of the neighborhood.” Since then I have learned that Else is an extremely fascinating woman who truly knows how to get things done. So, it is fitting that she is the first neighbor interviewed.

Else’s Story

What part of Cambridge Woods do you live in?
I live in the 3300 Block of N. Bartlett Avenue

How long have you lived there?
My family and I moved here in September 1965

What drew you to the Cambridge Woods neighborhood?
Before moving here, we had visited Milwaukee once before. We loved the Eastside because of the proximity of Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. We also liked Riverside and Lake Park and the woods along the river. The area struck us as more European than other American cities we had seen, with plenty of busses to get around and little stores to walk to. There was the feeling of neighborhoods much like in the German cities where we grew up. We had also heard about the very good Eastside Public Schools. We finally decided to rent an old house in the Cambridge Woods area because is was big enough for 3 adults and 3 children, and we could afford the rent ($150/month)

What do you like best about your neighborhood? What makes it special for you?
Most of the things, which attracted us to this neighborhood 40 years ago, are still here. I still live in the old house, which we bought in 1966 after renting it for one year. I am a gardener. Now when I go out I look at big trees, at shrubs and tulips and other plants, which I planted many years ago. And I have also roots here, I am part of this neighborhood. Some people have been my neighbors for 40 years. I knew their children as toddlers, as teenagers and as college students. Some of these children are now parents themselves, and I see their kids when they come to visit their grandparents. When my own grandchildren come to visit, we still hike in the Cambridge Woods. But we also bike on the bike trail. When we moved here in 1965 there was a railroad track where there is now the trail. The new building of the Urban Ecology Center with all its programs is a wonderful asset to our neighborhood.

If you could change or improve anything about the neighborhood, what would that be?
Neighbors got together and created the Cambridge Neighborhood Association. Since there is strength in numbers we now can work on changing and improving what we don¹t like. I personally want to see again an increase in homes, which are occupied by owners. Short-term renters decrease the cohesiveness of a neighborhood. They often have less of a stake in their neighborhood and feel less responsibility to keep the surroundings of their residence free of garbage and, in winter, with sidewalks free of snow and ice. In some parts of Cambridge Woods we have lost neighbors who loved the neighborhood but could not stand the noise coming from students partying on extended weekend evenings and nights. I will do what it takes to never lose a neighbor for that reason again. I am looking forward to collaboration between our organization, the County and the Urban Ecology Center for making the Cambridge Woods more accessible from Cambridge Avenue and maintaining the green space along the river as a wilderness area.