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Downtown strip club gets nixed
I really want to gather all those fun-loving knuckleheads on the Milwaukee Common Council and start banging their heads together, hoping to knock some common sense into them.
As I predicted, the council has unanimously turned down the application for a strip club Downtown. They all agreed with the pleas from "Downtown businesses" that the club would "hurt development efforts."
I don't see how the development efforts could get much worse. Downtown Milwaukee is a ghost town after dark. There is nothing going on. The council gives licenses with ease to quirky restaurants that come and go like the 5:40 to Savannah, never stopping long enough to pick up passengers.
But a strip club? Sixteen jobs, not counting strippers? Lots of tax revenue? A place where all those conventions we are going to get some day can send their members for recreation?
Right now when a convention comes to town and they list things for them to do after dark the range runs from dinner somewhere to dessert somewhere. Any live music downtown? Any great bars? ANY STRIP CLUBS?
Jeez. This kind of attitude is just what keeps Milwaukee stuck in second gear. I understand old fogeys (like me) refusing to try something different. But where is the cry from the next generation of leaders who might think that a strip club is really not Sodom or Gomorrah?
Somebody actually trotted out the "objectify women" argument at the hearing on the bill.
Unfortunately, I don't think they were kidding. You know what they say, "Ignorance is temporary, but stupid is forever."
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quickened | June 14, 2012 at 11:05 a.m. (report)
Dave I am kind of surprised.
Places like this do objectify women. I have some friends that were dancers. Trust me.... this isn't anything that is going to be a benefit to any girl working there. They make fair amounts of cash but usually turn to rampant alcoholism and drug usage because it's so readily available at these joints. By the way can you blame them?
Who wants to be sober and hear some of the things these drunk patrons are saying? But hey if we can stare at a set of cans for a $10 admission then no biggie right? Just what every father wants their little princess to experience in life.... some drunk guy breathing down the neck of his daughter whispering things that would get you fired or arrested anywhere else.
It's not just personally knowing the girls in the business Dave. I've been here a time or two as a younger man for all sorts of occasions.
It's not that the people opposing this are "knuckleheads" or ultra puritan religious conservatives. It's people that care about people and there is nothing good of what comes from these places. In town for a convention and there is nothing to do? Get real there are plenty of options out there that don't involve a half hearted lapdance and an overpriced jack and coke.
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1Bo_Johnson. | June 13, 2012 at 10:33 a.m. (report)
I agree with your point Dave. But, at the risk of being argumentative, when you ask, "Any live music downtown?" my answer is - yes. Mo's Irish Pub at Wisconsin and Plankinton has live music and my band, Random Maxx, plays there on a regular basis. Its a good time. You should come say hi.
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alwaysrocking | June 12, 2012 at 11:53 p.m. (report)
Every once in a blue moon I agree with you Dave and this is it. Nearly every major city in america has strip clubs in or near its downtown and the downtowns of most of those cities of far more vibrant than that of milwaukee.
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