Milwaukee = Wow
I just returned from a 4-day trip to America’s Dairyland, as I had a family reunion in the Milwaukee area.
I was actually born there but my family moved to Oklahoma when I was about 3. Both my parents and all my grandparents were born and raised there.
I have always been impressed with the city on previous trips but had not been in about 10 years. Milwaukee has two fantastic things working in it’s favor: 1) A good part of the town was built up before cars became a dominant force and 2) the inner city stayed strong enough in the 50’s, 60’ and 70’s to stave off any wholesale bulldozing of older neighborhoods.
It’s really like a smaller Chicago (only 90 miles away) in many ways, in that its downtown is on Lake Michigan with a river running through as well and there is lots of nice housing – both high-rises and mansions – north of the city center.
My family was comprised of Polish immigrants that settled in an overwhelmingly Polish neighborhood a few miles north of downtown. As was the custom at that time, all the aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family lived in very close proximity, the furthest just a few blocks away.
My parents have been deceased for quite some time but my dad’s brother and sister and very sentimental (as am I) and are happy to spend hours touring the ‘old neighborhood’ which makes for great fun when I come to visit.
Fortunately, because the city has remained strong through the years and UW-Milwaukee is only a couple miles to the north, that particular area has always remained pretty strong and is now experiencing nothing short of a renaissance. All the old cafes, theaters, bowling alleys and taverns are still in tact but now operating as slightly updated “retro” spots that were absolutely overflowing with young hipsters.
Also, my parent’s old high school had been significantly renovated and expanded and turned into a public prep school that was recently listed as one of the top secondary schools in the nation.
Their old street still has several small taverns, restaurants and retailers actually imbedded in the neighborhood. This particular street is several blocks over from anything that would be considered commercial, yet there these places are, houses that were converted to businesses on just about every block and most were open and doing a thriving business! Take that zoning laws!
I can’t tell you how cool it is to drink a beer with my elderly aunt and uncle at a tavern on the street where they grew up and literally only a few doors down from their old house. On what was about 3 blocks, there were several taverns, a little store and a nice restaurant.
We weren’t planning to bother the new owners of their old family house, but as we were snooping around the outside we started talking to present owner – an artist – and before long he invited us in. From what my aunt and uncle told me, the place had changed very little in the 55 years since they had last lived there. My grandfather’s handmade millwork was still on display in the dining room and it was in fantastic shape. The floor plan had not changed since the place had been built in the late 1800’s.
What’s more, the entire neighborhood was filled with young families and college students. Some of the original families had passed down their respective homes to younger generations and there were still some elderly people as well, most likely the second owners. We learned all this because the people that worked in the tavern knew most the people in the area, as did the gentleman that was living in my family’s old house. This was truly a ‘neighborhood’ in every sense.
Besides this particular area, the rest of the city just blew me away. Older and wiser and certainly more well-read in the area of New Urbanization, I spent quite a bit of time in the Historic Third Ward (an old warehouse district teeming with performance venues, local cafes and coffee shops, public spaces and avant guard shops, all with condos above), the River Walk (dozens and dozens of restaurants, shops, hotels and retailers and that was navigable and highly used by local boaters) and the huge series of lake front museums, condos, parks, lagoons and beaches. There were people everywhere but it wasn’t crowded. The city really felt alive and thriving as rapidly rising real estate prices confirmed.
And addition to the beautiful new Bradley Center (for NBA’s Bucks) and the old Mecca (similar to OKC’s Myriad) they just built a gorgeous convention center adjacent to both. This in addition to Miller Park, the retractable-roof baseball stadium that is home to the Brewers.
The whole place impressed me beyond words. It’s very clean, green, historic and tons of people ride their extensive and efficient bus system. The railroad tracks next to the old ‘hood had been converted into a paved bike path, part of an elaborate system that takes you all through town and all the way out to Madison.
And speaking of Madison, I spent a day there as well it is impressive in its own right.
I have to say the place feels, much, much bigger and more sophisticated that OKC, even though the respective populations don’t reflect that. And while it’s not fair to compare the two places directly (because Milwaukee was originally developed quite differently) I have to say it depressed me because I wish OKC had *one* of maybe a dozen enclaves that would be great places to live, work and recreate.
It certainly provides a great model and goal to work towards.
Originally Posted by keving
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