Yes it is sad what people do to old homes and not keep them up. It is pricey sometimes to keep up an older home but it still has to be done with a newer home and you can see this neglect as well. People just don't care, lazy, cheap. etc. Also I have seen some of the pigs that live in rentals and think OMG if this WERE your home would it look like this?? Then I look at them and think- yes it would.

frogger, I only have so many words I can put into comments. Suffice to say that I know the intimate histories of many individual homes in the city and I did not say that conversions were something new. My basic point stands -- we have a lot of great homes here in the Fourth Ward, as well as in Look West, and some of them are (or could be with some TLC) every bit as nice as homes on Courthouse Hill.
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One of the things that is different is that your story is about someone who probably did minimal alterations to create that second apartment, but today landlords throw old building parts straight into a dumpster and patch it with the cheapest, blandest stuff from the big box stores. The big Italianate on Jackson Street just lost its 19th century front door for something that could be from a mobile home, and is now surrounded by some oh-so-attractive plywood, and a lovely cottage on Academy Street had just about everything unique about it destroyed in the current renovation. I humbly ask that anyone ripping out historic windows or doors at least store the parts in the basement for somebody to properly repair at some point in the future.

JAnesvillean- you seem to know everything but here is something you don't know.Some of those big homes were converted into rentals LONG LONG ago and not just by the slum lords. One story of a lady in the 30's or 40's lost her husband. She didn't want to lose her home too so she divided part of it into an apartment to rent out so she could still afford to stay in the home. It was later converted back when the present owner bought it in the early 80's.
My home was never converted it was an original duplex. People keep saying "oh you converted it back to one. No I changed it to one. It was origially a duplex. Not sure the term they used back them. Double home maybe?

20 years ago I would not have walked though the 4th ward at night. Now, there isnt a place in Janesville where I wouldnt have a problem doing that. It isnt Mayberry, and it isnt Beloit...its a happy medium that I think is acceptable.

missmarysunshine, police calls are down overall, so it isn't just that activity moved around from one place to another (at least within Janesville). Yes, there are some problem properties in Look West, and the residents there should do everything they can to make the landlords accountable when they rent to undesirable tenants, follow up on police calls and nuisance activity, and share information with each other. It won't happen unless you take the initiative!
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gray_ghost, I would never say that we're the safest part of town, but the open drug sales and blatant gang activity have taken a nosedive. We are very pleased with the direction things are going.
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It's very true that we have an abundance of neat, older homes, some that need fixing up and others that are in very good shape, but are also very affordable. It would be great if more people were aware of how many historic properties we have and did more to fix them up instead of seeing them converted to multi-family rentals.

The 4th ward will continue to have a bad name as long as articles like this are ran reminding people of how it once was. No matter how clean it is it will have a bad name because we cant change and are afraid of new ideas and possibilities.

i would like to know, the number of police calls, in the 4th ward and the look west area. it may be cleaned up, but the crime is still there. just take a drive in both areas during the still of darkness.

Dangerous neighborhood...not really. But is it an area of town where a large chunk of people live who are constantly getting arrested...without a doubt!

Very happy to hear this. Please also focus similar efforts on the Look West area, which is apparently where all the "undesirable renters" moved to when they left the 4th Ward.

Its gotten better in 20 years.... but now the new problem neighborhood is the "look west" neighborhood south of the hospital. That is the new ghetto.

The 4th Ward is nothing like some neighborhoods in large cities, there is no comparison.
Check out this year's crimes in the Auburn Gresham area of Chicago (cool map)
http://spotcrime.com/il/chicago/auburn+g...