^

I was born in Milwaukee and go frequently for family reunions. One of my traditions is to start in the historic 3rd Ward (like Bricktown on steroids; I would kill for their Public Market) and walk along the river, downtown, and lakefront to what they call the East Side, a great neighborhood where my parents grew up just south of UW-Milwaukee. The entire city is spotless; I often say it's America's most underrated city.

I also did Ironman Wisconsin so I swam in one of the big Madison lakes, rode my bike all throughout the countryside, then ran a marathon through the streets of the city. Gorgeous setting (at least in the summer).

Door County near Green Bay is pretty fantastic with tons of things to do. I rented a bike and spent a couple of days cycling from quaint town to quaint town.

Also, a friend from California has a summer lake house in northern Wisconsin, common with lots of people from Chicagoland. I once spent several days there among literally hundreds of lakes, most interconnected. People go everywhere by boat -- super cool.

^

I was born in Milwaukee and go frequently for family reunions. One of my traditions is to start in the historic 3rd Ward (like Bricktown on steroids; I would kill for their Public Market) and walk along the river, downtown, and lake front to what they call the East Side, a great neighborhood where my parents grew up just south of UW-Milwaukee. The entire city is spotless; I often say it's America's most underrated city.

I also did Ironman Wisconsin so I swam in one of the big Madison lakes, rode my bike all throughout the countryside, then ran a marathon through the streets of the city. Gorgeous setting (at least in the summer).

When we went it was a little misty and the high was in the 50s or so. Not too windy, but a tiny bit chilly that required actual fall clothing. It was amazing.

We went to 3rd Ward and were blown away. I was so impressed by Milwaukee. My family lives near Green Bay so I actually never visited Milwaukee growing up until now. Don't know why lol.

Just such a perfect example of an overlooked city. OKC is approaching MIlwaukee in metro population and may pass it by the end of the decade or so but Milwaukee just has things that far, far outmatch OKC and probably always will. A city is more than just raw population numbers. OKC has a very long way to go still in many areas. Especially in the beautification and quality of life department.

Excited to go back to Milwaukee/Madison. I'd love to go to a Brewers game.

^

Unlike almost all American cities in the 60s and 70s, Milwaukee never experienced the ravages of urban renewal where huge chunks of historic buildings were destroyed. A big reason is the several colleges right downtown (Marquette, MSE, and UWM just north) and lots of housing. Plenty of people fled to the suburbs but the core was never really abandoned. So, when new urbanism became all the rage, they had plenty of building stock to renovate and improve.

I've said many times that waterfront cities have a huge advantage when it comes to revitalization because there is a clear starting point and focus, then things ripple out in concentric circles. OKC has never had any focus and it shows; we are all over the place and our resources are spread too thin -- and I mean in the core, not just suburbia. The Summerfest grounds in MKE were one of the first things that happened along with their gorgeous museums, then the 3rd Ward and onward from there.

And now, you probably saw there are five or six 30-50 story residential buildings, all along the lakefront. It's all due to the laser focus on compact areas.


BTW, I have also been to Milwaukee in February. It's difficult to explain how incredibly depressing it was. So cold, so dreary, and it was dark at like 4 PM. I don't get depressed but after a week I felt like I was in a pit of despair.

Wisconsin and Minnesota are great places but for half the year, the weather is a complete dealbreaker for most. It certainly was for my parents. One of the reasons I love OKC so much is because I grew up listening to my dad talking about how great it was compared to Milwaukee, and he tried to recruit his entire family to live here.

^ That's a really good point. Forcing OKC to focus on a specific point would be nice. What's the closest equivalent OKC has? The river? Scissortail Park?


And good point about the universities. Looks like UW-Milwaukee alone has about 23,000 students. If OCU was even half that size I wonder what effects it would have on the surrounding area.

Imagine that OKANA was located at the Producer's Coop site and that the Wheeler District where Strawberry Fields is planned.

Beyond that, we still have massive holes throughout Bricktown, Deep Deuce, Auto Alley, Midtown, Film Row, Uptown and just about every other district. It's the OKC way and we never can seem to get to critical mass.

Imagine that OKANA was located at the Producer's Coop site and that the Wheeler District where Strawberry Fields is planned.

I think I've grown accustomed to things being so spread out living here but yes it is strange how some of the largest, most successful recent projects are so far apart from everything. Not that "everything" is in one particular place anyway.

Some people seem to have forgotten that this thread was started because of the MAPS 4 beautification projects that are being planned. We can't change the basic topography, climate, and natural amenities that we don't have that other cities do.

I don't know if it's related to this project, but OKC Beautiful advertised in my neighborhood's Facebook group that they were doing a tree planting program. I got a free redbud and sycamore planted in my front yard by them.

^

This is an area where OKC should be ashamed of itself.

I walk a ton throughout the city and going at that speed along sidewalks (where there are any) you really see all the weeds and trash and neglect. And speaking of sidewalks, my neighborhood had them installed about a decade ago and there has been absolutely zero maintenance since; weeds splitting the pavement, tree limbs blocking the way.

A big part of the issue is we keep our sales tax artificially low to accommodate MAPS and now the new arena. Even with that extra penny, the OKC sales tax is about average in the state.

That means the billions put towards MAPS and now the arena is basically taken from City operations, and sales tax is their only funding mechanism. It shows. While OKC residents have supported MAPS to "start" the transformation of the city, it seems "some" people could care less if the city is dirty and trashy. It is a poor reflection on "everyone". People need to demand and send emails to the city on how trashy and unkempt our city has become and clean up our medians and weeds growing out of every nook and cranny, lol.

While OKC residents have supported MAPS to "start" the transformation of the city, it seems "some" people could care less if the city is dirty and trashy. It is a poor reflection on "everyone". People need to demand and send emails to the city on how trashy and unkempt our city has become and clean up our medians and weeds growing out of every nook and cranny, lol.

Several months ago, my wife and I decided on our morning walks to take a couple Walmart plastic bags and pick up any litter on the Main Street next to our neighborhood. We do this on Mondays usually. We clean up about a mile, since we cross over and get both sides. We chose Monday because it gets mowed on Tuesdays usually which would complicate the problem.
It's amazing how much we collect, and we usually fill at least one if not both bags. It makes a difference in appeal to clean it up. A few weeks ago I picked up a bag that had a roasted, partially eaten chicken in it.