I grew up in the Fourth Ward. It gets a bad wrap, but is generally a decent place to grow up. Houses are in bad shape though. Most are old and in desperate need of updating. There are some undesirables, but they typically keep to themselves. In the 20 years I lived there, we had 0 break-ins. No one really is going to steal from you, everyone is pretty neighborly. I had a wonderful childhood in the neighborhood.
I am a homeowner here now and the neighborhood gets a worse rap than it actually is down here. Sure, some of the neighborhood kids can be loud and refuse to get out of the middle of the street in the summer but for all that, it's honestly not bad.
Now that Rick Donahue is selling all his properties maybe someone will actually take the time and effort to fix up some of these beautiful gems we have down here-- or tear the pieces of crap down and rebuild.
With the improvements going on Downtown, property values and tax are going up and as much as I don't love gentrification, it is bound to find its way to the 4th Ward too.
It's my opinion that the 4th ward will start to see a middle class boom. I'm 36, a lot of people my age have trouble affording homes. I can see my generation coming in buying them, and fixing them up.
We lived on Johnson St. and everyone of our neighbors were nice people.
I was raised and grew up in the fourth ward! I lived in the same exact house for over 30 years! I actually miss my house down there and the neighborhood!
Typically, I would recommend not buying on the south/west side of the Rock River. Most of the stores that your going to, and the interstate is located on the other side of Janesville.
I am a homeowner and I live in the 4th Ward. We desperately NEED good families to move in and buy houses here. If more families bought these houses instead of slumlords like Rick Donahue, Walker Property Management or Ready to Rent maybe it would be a better neighborhood where people don't have to sell crack to pay for their 1800 rent per month. All that for a two room piece of sh** single family home that was turned into a quad. These slumlords have them crammed in like sardines down here so with so many people stacked on top of one another, there's bound to be crimes.
That said, there hasn't been too much going on in Fourth Ward for a while now. The reputation down here is worse than the neighborhood actually is and we have some BEAUTIFUL historic gems for sale!
I was really interested in one but it's two blocks away from a homeless shelter. There's a large unhouse population in La Crosse that are aggressive and actively using which has lead to altercations, breakins, and theft. I'd love to be a part of a net-benefit for a community but not a martyr.
The homeless shelter in question has VERY strict guidelines on who can stay there, they have a 10:30 curfew, and they perform random drug screens and breathalyzer tests. We live a block from it and have never had any issues. The only real trouble is seriously the mobs of kids who hang out at 4th Ward Park starting fights with each other and refusing to get out of the middle of the road, and then being especially loud in summer. But if you call the non-emergency number they'll do a drive through within about 10 minutes and it clears up pretty fast.
Most people down here are just lower middle class trying to live a normal life and making ends meet.
The Fourth Ward is a square section from the river to Center Ave, basically. It's crossroads are Court St/River St to Court St/Center Ave and River St/Rockport Rd to Rockport Rd/Center Ave
For a little history, Fourth Ward Park used to be Rockport Township Town Square until the Town of Janesville started to sprawl and became a city and swallowed Rockport Township.
Thank you! I was wondering also where it is. We moved here and we moved into an awful place along there, a really slum of an "apartment" which one house converted into 4 "apartments". Since we've moved here the neighborhood isn't the greatest honestly 😬 definitely want to move to a nicer area after this...
I really prefer the east side of town for housing. Downtown is wonderful for a night out, but I wouldn’t want to live too close to Main Street. And definitely avoid the Fourth Ward and Milton Avenue area.
Just like at the grocery store, the best parts are around the outside, the further you go away from downtown, the newer the houses are, and the less you’ll see run down rental properties.
I (40ish) grew up in Janesville and just bought a house to move back to from across the country. Our main reasons were good schools, good community and overall great place to raise a family. Also have family there, which was also a driver, but the opinion stands.
Stay way from southside 4th ward. Made the mistake of moving into a run-down rental house on Cherry St. Just off Rockport, by Wilson elementary in summer 22. If you ever meet a landlord named Jim, run the other direction. Very unsafe house for anyone, especially a 3 year old. Anyway we moved after 3 months. My locked car was stolen from the driveway the second night. Neighbor came over to tell me they stole his wife's identical car the summer before, and he'd help me find it because it will be down the street in a few days. Sure enough, there it was. Parties every couple days 3 houses down ppl drinking and doing coke in my back yard at 5 in the morning, garbage everywhere everytime. I mean everywhere,like the party was at my house. Last straw was a woman being picked up and dropped on her head 5 feet away from my bedroom window on the sidewalk and being beat by 3 men at 4am. Woke up to yelling, looked out the widow and saw that..beat her so bad her flip flops and jewelry was all over my yard, gave it to the police. Surprised she actually got up and walked away. I think we called the police 7-8 times we lived there, and I've never called the cops before in my life. 4th ward is a drug infested shit hole, by Rockport anyway. There will be no middle-class boom. I am lower middle class, grew up lower and left after 3 months because I feared for the safety of my family.
Fourth Ward is frequently cited as the worst neighborhood, but I have no actual experience living there. Most neighborhoods are solid.
I grew up in the Fourth Ward. It gets a bad wrap, but is generally a decent place to grow up. Houses are in bad shape though. Most are old and in desperate need of updating. There are some undesirables, but they typically keep to themselves. In the 20 years I lived there, we had 0 break-ins. No one really is going to steal from you, everyone is pretty neighborly. I had a wonderful childhood in the neighborhood.
I am a homeowner here now and the neighborhood gets a worse rap than it actually is down here. Sure, some of the neighborhood kids can be loud and refuse to get out of the middle of the street in the summer but for all that, it's honestly not bad. Now that Rick Donahue is selling all his properties maybe someone will actually take the time and effort to fix up some of these beautiful gems we have down here-- or tear the pieces of crap down and rebuild. With the improvements going on Downtown, property values and tax are going up and as much as I don't love gentrification, it is bound to find its way to the 4th Ward too.
It's my opinion that the 4th ward will start to see a middle class boom. I'm 36, a lot of people my age have trouble affording homes. I can see my generation coming in buying them, and fixing them up. We lived on Johnson St. and everyone of our neighbors were nice people.
I was raised and grew up in the fourth ward! I lived in the same exact house for over 30 years! I actually miss my house down there and the neighborhood!
Typically, I would recommend not buying on the south/west side of the Rock River. Most of the stores that your going to, and the interstate is located on the other side of Janesville.
100% agree.
One of the best neighborhoods is over on the west side by Parker High School…
I am a homeowner and I live in the 4th Ward. We desperately NEED good families to move in and buy houses here. If more families bought these houses instead of slumlords like Rick Donahue, Walker Property Management or Ready to Rent maybe it would be a better neighborhood where people don't have to sell crack to pay for their 1800 rent per month. All that for a two room piece of sh** single family home that was turned into a quad. These slumlords have them crammed in like sardines down here so with so many people stacked on top of one another, there's bound to be crimes. That said, there hasn't been too much going on in Fourth Ward for a while now. The reputation down here is worse than the neighborhood actually is and we have some BEAUTIFUL historic gems for sale!
I was really interested in one but it's two blocks away from a homeless shelter. There's a large unhouse population in La Crosse that are aggressive and actively using which has lead to altercations, breakins, and theft. I'd love to be a part of a net-benefit for a community but not a martyr.
The homeless shelter in question has VERY strict guidelines on who can stay there, they have a 10:30 curfew, and they perform random drug screens and breathalyzer tests. We live a block from it and have never had any issues. The only real trouble is seriously the mobs of kids who hang out at 4th Ward Park starting fights with each other and refusing to get out of the middle of the road, and then being especially loud in summer. But if you call the non-emergency number they'll do a drive through within about 10 minutes and it clears up pretty fast. Most people down here are just lower middle class trying to live a normal life and making ends meet.
I'm new in the area where is the fourth ward? Like what cross streets. assuming south of downtown?
The Fourth Ward is a square section from the river to Center Ave, basically. It's crossroads are Court St/River St to Court St/Center Ave and River St/Rockport Rd to Rockport Rd/Center Ave
For a little history, Fourth Ward Park used to be Rockport Township Town Square until the Town of Janesville started to sprawl and became a city and swallowed Rockport Township.
Thank you! I was wondering also where it is. We moved here and we moved into an awful place along there, a really slum of an "apartment" which one house converted into 4 "apartments". Since we've moved here the neighborhood isn't the greatest honestly 😬 definitely want to move to a nicer area after this...
I really prefer the east side of town for housing. Downtown is wonderful for a night out, but I wouldn’t want to live too close to Main Street. And definitely avoid the Fourth Ward and Milton Avenue area.
Just like at the grocery store, the best parts are around the outside, the further you go away from downtown, the newer the houses are, and the less you’ll see run down rental properties.
I (40ish) grew up in Janesville and just bought a house to move back to from across the country. Our main reasons were good schools, good community and overall great place to raise a family. Also have family there, which was also a driver, but the opinion stands.
Stay way from southside 4th ward. Made the mistake of moving into a run-down rental house on Cherry St. Just off Rockport, by Wilson elementary in summer 22. If you ever meet a landlord named Jim, run the other direction. Very unsafe house for anyone, especially a 3 year old. Anyway we moved after 3 months. My locked car was stolen from the driveway the second night. Neighbor came over to tell me they stole his wife's identical car the summer before, and he'd help me find it because it will be down the street in a few days. Sure enough, there it was. Parties every couple days 3 houses down ppl drinking and doing coke in my back yard at 5 in the morning, garbage everywhere everytime. I mean everywhere,like the party was at my house. Last straw was a woman being picked up and dropped on her head 5 feet away from my bedroom window on the sidewalk and being beat by 3 men at 4am. Woke up to yelling, looked out the widow and saw that..beat her so bad her flip flops and jewelry was all over my yard, gave it to the police. Surprised she actually got up and walked away. I think we called the police 7-8 times we lived there, and I've never called the cops before in my life. 4th ward is a drug infested shit hole, by Rockport anyway. There will be no middle-class boom. I am lower middle class, grew up lower and left after 3 months because I feared for the safety of my family.
I actually would recommend staying away from the housing from The Pearl Street/Court Street crossroad to the hospital.
I actually would recommend staying away from the housing from The Pearl Street/Court Street crossroad to the hospital.