Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This article is about Milwaukee in Wisconsin. There is also Milwaukie, Oregon.

Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin, United States and the county of Milwaukee. The city's population is 596,974 with an estimated total of 1,709,926 in the Milwaukee metropolitan area (2005). The city of Milwaukee is the 19th largest city in the United States. The city is located in the southeastern portion of the state on the western shore of Lake Michigan.

History

Picturesque Milwaukee; famous sites, 1880s

The Milwaukee area was originally inhabited by the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Winnebago Indian tribes. Milwaukee received its name from the Indian word Millioke which is thought to have meant "The Good Land", or "gathering place by the water". French missionaries and traders passed through the area in the late 1600s and 1700s. In 1818, Frenchman Solomon Juneau settled in the area. Juneau bought out his father-in-law's trading business, and in 1833 he founded a town on the east side of the Milwaukee River. In 1846, Juneau's town combined with neighboring rival towns (Kilbourn Town and Walker's Point) to incorporate the city of Milwaukee. Juneau was Milwaukee's first mayor. (His statue is part of the montage at the right - the frontiersman with the rifle, in the center of the montage. Juneau's statue gazes upon the buildings of downtown Milwaukee, with its back to Lake Michigan. A replica of his tiny log cabin is in the same park.) German immigrants helped increase the city's population during the 1840s and the following decades. Milwaukee still today has a large German-American population. The liberal tradition of these peoples led to decades of socialist government in Milwaukee during the twentieth century.

Economy

Although most people associate Milwaukee's reputation with its breweries, today companies like Miller Brewing employ less than one percent of the city's workers. Milwaukee's reputation as a blue collar town is more accurate, however, with 22 percent of the workforce involved in manufacturing -- second only to San Jose, CA and far higher than the national average of 16.5%. Service and managerial jobs are the fastest growing segments of the Milwaukee economy, and healthcare makes up 27% of all service jobs in the city.

Milwaukee is headquarters to six Fortune 1000 manufacturers and six Fortune 1000 service companies. Among these are Briggs & Stratton, Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, Manpower Inc., Marshall & Ilsley, Northwestern Mutual, Rockwell Automation, Roundy's and Wisconsin Energy. Milwaukee also has a large number of financial service firms, particularly those specializing in mutual funds and transaction processing systems, and a disproportionate number of publishing and printing companies.

Arts, culture and sports

The Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee's most visually prominent cultural attraction is the Milwaukee Art Museum, and especially its new $100 million wing designed by Santiago Calatrava in his first American commission. The museum includes a "brise soleil," a moving sunscreen that quite literally unfolds like the wing of a bird. The Milwaukee Public Museum and Milwaukee County Zoo are also notable public attractions.

Milwaukee is home to the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Skylight Opera Theatre, and a number of other arts organizations.

It is also home to a number of professional sports teams including:

• Milwaukee Brewers (Baseball—MLB) playing at the new Miller Park
• Milwaukee Bucks (Basketball—NBA) playing at the Bradley Center
• Milwaukee Admirals (Ice hockey) playing at the Bradley Center
• Milwaukee Wave (Indoor Soccer) playing at the U.S. Cellular Arena
• Milwaukee Wave United (Outdoor Soccer)

Milwaukee has advertised itself as the "City of Festivals," especially emphasizing an annual fair along the lakefront called Summerfest. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest music festival in the world, Summerfest attracts around 900,000 visitors a year to its twelve stages. Smaller festivals througout the year celebrate the city's German, Native American, African-American, Italian, Irish, Asian, French and Polish heritage.

Geography and layout

Milwaukee's downtown area is about 90 miles north of the Chicago Loop. Milwaukee lies along the shores of Lake Michigan near the meeting points of three rivers: the Menomonee, the Kinnickinnic and the Milwaukee. It is crossed by Interstate 43 and Interstate 94, which come together downtown at the Marquette Interchange.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 251.0 km² (96.9 square miles). 248.8 km² (96.1 square miles) of it is land and 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.88% water.

Demographics

In the 2000 census, over a third (38 percent) of Milwaukeeans reported that they were of German descent. Other large population groups include Polish (12.7%), Irish (10%), English (5.1%), Italian (4.4%), French (3.9%), and Hispanic origin totaled 6.3%.

As of the census² of 2000, there are 596,974 people, 232,188 households, and 135,133 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,399.5/km² (6,214.3 per square mile). There are 249,225 housing units at an average density of 1,001.7/km² (2,594.4 per square mile). The racial makeup of the city is 49.98% White, 37.34% African American, 0.87% Native American, 2.94% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 6.10% from other races, and 2.71% from two or more races. 12.00% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 232,188 households out of which 30.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% are married couples living together, 21.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.8% are non-families. 33.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.50 and the average family size is 3.25.

In the city the population is spread out with 28.6% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $32,216, and the median income for a family is $37,879. Males have a median income of $32,244 versus $26,013 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,181. 21.3% of the population and 17.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 31.6% of those under the age of 18 and 11.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Climate

• Average January high/low temperatures: 26°F/11°F (-3°C/-12°C)
• Average July high/low temperatures: 79°F/62°F (26°C/17°C)

Milwaukee's proximity to Lake Michigan causes a convection current to form mid-afternoon, resulting in the so-called lake effect, causing the temperatures to be warmer in the winter, and cooler in the summer ("cooler by the lake" is practically boilerplate language for local meteorologists during the summer). Also, the relative humidity in the summer is far higher than that of comparable cities at the same latitude, meaning that it feels hotter than it really is.

Milwaukee's all-time record high temperature is 105°F (41°C) set on July 17, 1995. The coldest temperature ever experienced by the city was -26°F (-32°C) on both January 17, 1982 and February 4, 1996. The 1982 event, also known as Cold Sunday, featured temperatures as low as -40°F (-40°C) in some of the suburbs as little as 10 miles (16km) to the north of Milwaukee, although the city itself did not approach such cold temperatures.

Airports

• General Mitchell International Airport
• Lawrence J. Timmerman Airport

Colleges and universities

• Alverno College
• Cardinal Stritch University
• Marquette University
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Milwaukee Area Technical College
• Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
• Milwaukee School of Engineering
• Mount Mary College
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Wisconsin Lutheran College

Newspapers

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• Shepherd Express

Neighborhoods

• Bay View Known for its affordable rents, views of the city skyline and proximity to Lake Michigan. Features a heavy concentration of trendy stores and music venues. Located about 3 miles south of downtown on the lake, within the area including Kinnickinnic Street. [1]
• Brady Street Another neighborhood in Milwaukee noted for its trendiness. The neighborhood is filled with coffee houses, nightclubs, trendy restaurants, vintage clothing and thrift stores. [2]
• Brewers Hill A small, diverse community north of downtown on the Milwaukee River. The name is derived from the large amount of breweries that once blanketed the area. Some of the factories are still intact. The neighborhood is bordered by the Riverwest neighborhood on the north, the East Side on the east, the Milwaukee River on the south and I-43 on the west. The area near the river, especially along Commerce Street, has been significantly revitalized in the past few years with upscale residential and commercial development, the most notable being the Beerline Development.
• Capitol West
• Concordia
• East Side One of the most diverse neighborhoods in Milwaukee, the "east side" is a broad area that basically refers to anything east of the Milwaukee River, north of downtown and south of the suburb of Shorewood. This area includes Brady Street, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, the lakefront, and the marina. The streets and buildings in this neighborhood range from towering, expensive high rises and condominiums along the lake to brownstones and walkups a few blocks inland to cheap duplexes near the river. An economically and ethnically diverse group of people live in this neighborhood.
• Eastown
• East Village
• Granville A working class neighborhood located on Milwaukee's far northwest side.
• Havenswoods A working class, mostly African-American neighborhood on Milwaukee's north side, centered near Silver Spring Drive and 60th Street. The neighborhood itself is moderately urban in character, with a mix of strip malls, older retail buildings and townhouses. Within the neighborhood's boundaries lie Havenwoods State Forest and the US Army Reserve Center.
• Hillside/Lapham Park
• Jackson Park Neighborhood on the south side of Milwaukee, located about 6 miles south of downtown. Jackson Park's architecture consists largely of two-story wood frame houses that were constructed in the early 20th century. Jackson Park's makeup is mostly Caucasian, lower middle class and blue collar, though in recent years, it has seen a growing number of Hispanic residents.
• Jacobus Park A neighborhood on the far west side of the city near the city limits of Wauwatosa. It is is a moderately urban neighborhood, with brick bungalows and two story brick apartments being the main housing stock. The area's populace is mostly Caucasian and middle class.
• Jones Island A peninsula located underneath the Hoan Bridge, began as a fishing village populated by Polish settlers from the Kaszubes region in 1870. Having never officially obtained a deed for the land, they were considered squatters by the City of Milwaukee and evicted in the 1940's to make way for a shipping port. This is where MMSD and United Water Works have the main water treatment plant.
• Town of Lake Located near the airport, this neighborhood is based on its namesake township which was established by the Territorial Legislature in 1838 and covered much of what is now the south side of Milwaukee. The old Lake town hall on 6th & Howard, now called the Anderson Water Tower officially by the City of Milwaukee, but still refered to as the "Town of Lake Water Tower" currently serves as a municipal building and water treatment facility. The Town of Lake was officially annexed in 1954
• Layton Park
• Martin Drive
• Metcalfe Park An area bordered by North Avenue on the north, Walnut on the south, 18th Street on the east, and 25th Street on the west. The neighborhood has had problems with crime in recent years.
• Piggsville
• Riverwest A neighborhood located west of the Milwaukee River, near Milwaukee's east side. Riverwest is noted for its ethnic diversity (including a growing Iranian, Asian and Hispanic population), as well as its increasing numbers of artists and musicians. [3]
• Sherman Park A north side middle class, mostly African-American neighborhood, that was once the heart of Milwaukee's Jewish population.
• Story Hill A neighborhood locatedly directly north of Miller Park on the west side of Milwaukee. The housing stock consists of ornate early 20th century houses, usually made of brick. The neighborhood itself lies on a hill just south of Wisconsin Avenue and is characterized by quiet, tree-lined streets and an isolated feel, in sharp contrast to the busier and more depressed neighborhoods that surround it. Most inhabitants of this neighborhood are Caucasian.
• Third Ward An increasingly upper middle class neighborhood located just to the south of downtown, the Third Ward is noted for a large number of condominiums and loft apartments, antique stores, and art galleries. It is also a center of Milwaukee's gay community.
• University Hill A downtown neighborhood that is the home of Marquette University
• Walker's Point A neighborhood that lies south of the Third Ward, it is noted for being the center of Milwaukee's Hispanic community, as well as the location of most of the city's gay and lesbian nightclubs and bars.
• Walnut Hill An inner-city, predominately African-American neighborhood on the north side, near Center street and Teutonia. The neighborhood is economically mixed, ranging from impoverished to middle class.
• Washington Heights
• Washington Park A predominately African-American neighborhood bordering Metcalfe Park
• West End
• West Town An area west of the Milwaukee River and downtown, bounded by I-1794 on the south, Marquette University on the west, Mckinley Avenue on the north and the river on the east. This neighborhood makes up part of downtown Milwaukee. Downtown's Grand Avenue Mall, along with various theaters, restaurants, nightclubs and condominiums, lie along Wisconsin Avenue, the busiest street that runs through downtown. Other attractions in this neighborhood include the Bradley Center, the US Cellular Arena, the Milwaukee County Courthouse and Old World Third Street. The area has also become a focal point for Milwaukee's booming urban scene. Pabst City, a multimillion dollar complex on a hill near the boundary of the neighborhood, will be developed over the next several years, and will include hotels, movie theaters, upscale shops and restaurants, and a House of Blues entertainment complex. Also, the Park-East corridor, an area named for the now demolished park east freeway, sits in this neighborhood. Though completely vacant now, this six block area is schedueled to be devopled in the near future.

Notable denizens

See List of Milwaukeeans