Janesville needs to review their antique ordinances. In order to put up a business sign it almost takes an act of congress, and also if a business wants to fly their business flag on a flag pole along with the American flag they need to jump through hoops, get permits... its a joke. I would never have a business in Janesville. The list of cons beats the pros.

Labor you are absolutely right the city should not be handing money to SHINE however why are you only picking that one incident when all forms of government are guilty of the same thing? Let me ask you this why does GM want the government to sell their 26% of shares? and why will the Feds not do it? it's a pretty simple question if you look.

Labor call it what you want corporate welfare is corporate welfare, both parties support it but then point fingers at the other and accuse them of it, back away from your partisan bias and you will see the error of thereways... it is very liberating.

As always it's the golden rule those that have the gold rule. So shut up and do what they tell ya.

The Blackhawk cave is almost the same as it was sixty years ago. Cozy Inn is the same except you have to pass through drunks smoking on the sidewalk to get into the building. But there is a sidewalk which is good news.

tink- no problem. lol. Just pointing out there is plenty to do here ! )

LaborParty I agree completely no government body should be giving money away to any business, proposed or existing, oops I guess that would include the auto bailout... yes even the auto bailout. The government does not exist to pick and choose businesses or industries to promote and financially back. In this practice the parties are no different from each other the GOP throws money at the oil and insurance industries while the Dems throw money at 'Green' industries and companies that employ union members... there is no difference in that brand of corruption just the landing spot of the cash.

Thanks frogger....always look forward to your two cents when I read any of these blogs and especially those I decide to post on! You have lightened up my day!

I really wish people would go back and read the history of unions, and what they have all done for everyone, not just union workers. When they refresh their memory, maybe they will understand why Walker and all his rich cronies, like Diane Hendricks dont want unions. Reeducate yourselves!

tink- here is another "nothing to do here" link for you.
http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/oct/10/...

Eagle- in the film the lady with the bad blonde hair at job centers said " these businesses offering min wage are taking advantage of the times" Sorry lady they are paying min wage for a job that doens't require and SKILL. This would be the CORRECT wage! Also they are small business and cannot afford to pay people 20-30 for unskilled labor like GM. Now they closed after they all complained that all the benefits weren't enough to go along with the $25 hour wage for doing the same thing all day long. Yep it would suck doing the same screw this on here but $25-$30 is not the correct wage for this with all those bennies besides. Then shut down the whole plant for a stupid football game and no punishment OMG!! Good thing there is a union huh? No wonder no-union doens't like union. This is just insane.

Living in a vacuum thinking that unskilled labor can still earn a high wage and cadillac benefits in this day in age doesn't do anyone any good. If you want to help the workers, the businesses and the community as a whole you would push for people to acquire needed skills through education and experience. Then and only then will we be able to overcome the obstacles todays global market present. The problem Janesville has is that there is sadly a large number of people here that think high paying unskilled labor is not only realistic but the future. The one thing I have never understood about this crowd is why do they have so much animosity about businesses and the owners yet look for businesses and the owners to provide these new mythical unskilled high paying jobs. Can you anyone help me with that apparent conflict in logic?

Yes it IS still going. So tired of the Ghost town mentality of this towm. GM is gone. forget about them. We lost thousands of jobs. I don't think it was 10,000 like the film over stated. That means there are many, many thousands of jobs and people still working!!!! People comute to come work in Janesville. People comute to work outside of JVL but STILL live here. If I read any more poor poor JvL crap I am going to puke. Tomorrow they'll be a siewalk/teacher article to hear about. There are more people working/not working that are not teachers or from GM. Why don't we talk about them some day??????

Tink- do you think this would be different someplace else- read the papers - you're mistaken! My light will be on and I don't care how young or old you are. If you dress up you will get candy.

I have directv- does anybody know if I have PBS and what channel. Tried to find it before and not finding it.

TINK-http://www.janesvillecvb.com/events
lots to DO!
Tink- join a club or two etc

Thirdeye- they have taken the ropes away for the last couple years. You can now mingle with everybody and have a beer or wine like thing.

It is true JVL needs to take some notes on how Beloit is doing.

Yes it IS still going. So tired of the Ghost town mentality of this towm. GM is gone. forget about them. We lost thousands of jobs. I don't think it was 10,000 like the film over stated. That means there are many, many thousands of jobs and people still working!!!! People comute to come work in Janesville. People comute to work outside of JVL but STILL live here. If I read any more poor poor JvL crap I am going to puke. Tomorrow they'll be a siewalk/teacher article to hear about. There are more people working/not working that are not teachers or from GM. Why don't we talk about them some day??????

Tink- do you think this would be different someplace else- read the papers - you're mistaken! My light will be on and I don't care how young or old you are. If you dress up you will get candy.

I have directv- does anybody know if I have PBS and what channel. Tried to find it before and not finding it.

TINK-http://www.janesvillecvb.com/events
lots to DO!
Tink- join a club or two etc

Thirdeye- they have taken the ropes away for the last couple years. You can now mingle with everybody and have a beer or wine like thing.

It is true JVL needs to take some notes on how Beloit is doing.

Third_Eye, you have summed up my thoughts nicely. there is a resistance to change in Janesville.

Sigma40 (OCT 10@11:28am) is on to something that is hard to put a finger on when he said "We try to create an image of a nice place, not the actual place. Though the city is decent and I dont mind it, its so fake..."
Evidence abounds when one looks at Beloit. Why doesn't Janesville have something like BIFF? .
Then there is this control issue. To serve beer at events, at Traxler Park for instance, requires a roped in area. You either enjoy the event with your family or drink behind the rope with your drinking buddies. What fun!
This is to create a "family friendly event"
In Beloit their is music at Harry's place every Friday night through the summer where you can buy beer or even bring your own. There is food, music, and fun. As a regular attendee I would say it's one of the most family friendly events in the area.
Compare the farmers markets, how about Riverfest and professional baseball? Need I go on?
The reason things don't get done in Janesville is because of a lack of cooperation between city government and business. Often the "city fathers" are overbearing and inflexible.

Janesville and Wisconsin have changed. There now is a common attitude that any public employee or union member is a public enemy. They have succeeded in dividing us and they will succeed in conquering us.

I've lived here for 6+ decades. I miss the friday nights downtown when 100's of people were walking around, greeting one another, smiling,and buying ice cream cones....but that was the 1950's...it's the TIMES that have changed. I remember things a certain way and my perceptions are different then other people's perceptions of the same events.....what I believe is that many people have a frame of reference that reflects their beliefs, but differs from my reality...I've heard things from fellow JHS graduates such as "I felt that people looked down on me because we were poor" or "We lived on the West side of town so I wasn't accepted". Huh?? I never felt that way, my friends never felt that way....but how you think about things is your reality. I can't argue about how anyone feels, but I do believe that we all create our own 'realities' based on those feelings.
There are many things that I don't like about Janesville and there are many things I like. What I feel the town lacks I find elsewhere and I focus on what I enjoy here. We each choose how we interpret what we see here and what we see elsewhere.

I agree with love2bmamma.

As someone with a young family, we find plently to do for little or no money. Attitude is huge when making fun. As far as rudeness, I see that everywhere. But I cannot remember the last time the door wasn't held for or when strangers haven't made small talk. Negative people have a negative vibe. No one makes anyone live here...don't like it? Leave! OR, better yet, be a part of the change!

usaret - I'd like to see janesville improve, but you cant make improvments until you eliminate the disease that plagues it....The people that run the city. We cant maintain anything around here yet we pump millions into a ice arena that a handful of people use. Thier priorities....they have none.

Rude People!
Snob's!
Yep, they are in Janesville and it doesn't matter what community you live in, you will find them there as well.
I have lived in many places, some a great deal bigger, nicer, and so on but Janesville was my hometown. Yes it has changed. Janesville started to diversify as it grew, people moved and opened up new areas to live in. The car became the prime mover from living close in to living on the outskirts close to the new shopping centers and malls that were built. Downtown changed because people no longer had a reason to go there and to this day, many only know the downtown when there is a parade going on. Yes, this is a different town then the one I grew up with in the 40's & 50's but that is good. We need to change otherwise we become stagnant. It is the people that make this community and it is such a shame that there are a vocal few who seem to thrive on tearing down every attempt to improve our city for what ever reason. I believe in Janesville. It is a great little community. Before you say, take off the rose colored glasses, yes, I am aware of the bad sides but that is always present in any community, small, big or large and is something that we as a community must attempt to correct by common sense and working together. Some say that downtown is dead, boring, dull and you may be right but if you start coming down it will come back to life with more business's,places of entertainment, food, life. As a kid growing up here I felt safe walking the streets of Janesville going to Lions Beach, the movies, schools because people looked out for you. Today we need that feeling back. Just because you reside here and work here doesn't mean you live here. Don't be a visitor in your own community be part of the life blood of the community.

Eagle1 - You hit it on the head...Janesville is extremely afraid of change. They operate like its 1950 still.

To me Janesville hasnt changed one bit. Been here since 1976. Still the stuck up snobby community its always been. The other towns around Janesville I go to are more relaxed and its like being in a different country. Almost everything in Janesville is fake and fabricated, the crime reported, the media,the police, the general image...etc. We try to create an image of a nice place, not the actual place. Though the city is decent and I dont mind it, its so fake and full of snobs...especially if you think you have something over everyone, run a business, a cop, or live in a certain area, ....etc.

I find janesville quite enjoyable. I've lived here since 1997. There are ton's of things to do every day of the week. We spend alot of time on the trails and in the parks. There is nightlife of all varieties, a wide array of shopping opportunities, many community activities, and we are close enough to bigger cities if we want more. I also like that I only have to drive a short distance to be "in the country".

I know things are worse elsewhere, but Janesville is not Milwaukee or Chicago! And I know it is not a small town either. But things could definitely be better!!!!!!

I didn't grow up here but moved here about 5 years before the plant closed. The town is pretty much the same, maybe a little better than when I moved here, IMO. I think it may seem worse for GM employees or those who know or live near a lot of them. There seems to be more going on downtown now and there have been plenty of new businesses, though it's mostly retail and healthcare. Peoples bitter and negative attitudes are about the same, they were here before GM left

78solution: If you know what the solution is, or where to start please explain!!! And wjbecky..Halloween is one of my favorite time of year. I have decorations and believe me if I told you where I live you would know what I am talking about. I was in the paper a few years back because my decorations. I have 3 kids and on my own, I would have to go get a part time job to take them to all the places you mention. Just in a neighborhood where you could see outside lights on all over the place on Halloween to having to walk or drive all over Janesville to find a street that has more than two lite is sad. I spend almost $40 in candy if not more for Halloween, I have kids come from all over town every year and the kids are lined up down my sidewalk, parents take pictures of the kids in front of my decorations and I love it, that is what it is all about to me. I am talking things to do in general all year round. We go to riverside park a lot during the summer and let me tell you we have come across some things I was embarrassed or sick to even explain what it was to them. Can't put your feet in the water because their is broken beer bottles all along the shore-line. Drive down the road any where in Janesville and see beer cans all along the road. If you don't have the means to spend a lot of money to do something in town, then their is nothing to do! And if their is, is it disgustingly gross and not worth the money you spent to do it. Skelleys is awesome and yes I go there, but $10 for a pumpkin that you can get at Aldi's for $3 is nuts, but it is the experience of the kids going out and picking their own so I do it. Janesville has changed and people are rude! Can't remember the last time someone held a door and had me go thru first before them (at a grocery store or gas station-where ever), or just smile and say good morning, or hello! Never seen so many people in a city who act like someone pee'd in their wheaties every morning/day!

There are more activities now than when I was growing up. The bike trail didn't exist except as a dirt trail. There are more parks. Rotary Gardens was a crap-piling parking lot.
Speaking of PBS, STEVE... There's a good mini series coming up very soon.
A three-part documentary series on the religiously unaffiliated.
October 12, 19, & 26.
Trailer:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2288849147

Janesville is sad

WOW -- I live somewhere else from tink and annimae! I have a hard time finding a night without something going on! Look at the community calendars at the Visitor and Convention Center or even at WCLO.com and WJVL.com

There are so many Halloween events for all ages going on-- Thresheree train - Rock Aqua Jay haunted house - Halloween Walk at Rotary Gardens - Enchanted forest...and decorate?? Have you driven on Milton Avenue?? the decorations are awesome!!

Get outside of yourself and you'll find that, like Steve says -- it's not bad...just different.

I moved back here 2 years ago after being gone for 20 years, I was really hoping the town had changed, to be honest it really hasn't much, many of the things that have held this city back when I was growing up still exist. For some reason this city has a real problem with embracing change, there is plenty of potential in this area combining Beloit and Janesville from a population and location stance, however there is no leadership in politics or business to make things happen. As far as GM leaving I am on the fence as to wether it is a good or bad thing, obviously bad for the workers in the short term, however the loss could be good in the long run to give the city the opportunity to redefine itself. It is up to us as the people who live here to step up and make that happen rather than sit back and play the victim of change and live in the past. Many cities have lost large employers or even entire industries and moved past it, will Janesville? I have no idea, at this point I don't have much optimism that it will happen just from the conversations I have with people I know here. When I bring possible ideas to the conversation as to what Janesville could do I get shot down… "nobody will go for that" or "this is Janesville not California". That's fine we can continue to live in a box of the past but when things move forward and Janesville is stuck in a time warp don't be upset that the people who recognize it leave this city behind as well.

Looks like tink0803 has their finger on the pulse of the community...maybe try being part of the solution.

Janesville is not the town I grew up in. The pride, the enthusiasm, and the opportunities are all gone. Say what you will about GM, but they were a big part of all the good in this city. In my view, it is nothing more than a ghost town, and I am ashamed of what it has become.

My Janesville is not the same and I believe it never will be again. I have lived here all my life and to be honest wish I could move, but cannot! There is nothing positive in this city any more. Kids can't walk to school, I won't let them go around the block unless they are together because of the fear of someone stopping them or stalking them. Halloween is coming and no one puts lights on anymore, nothing to do for kids and adults for that matter! People are negative and this city has just become a pile of weed invested parking lots with drunk drivers all over the place and fast food joints. BORING and NEGATIVE!!!!!!