sorry, but as of 5:00 a.m. CDT the article wasn't on line yet (I'm sure somoene can post later), but the Chicago Tribune's travel section had as its lead story an article about Milwaukee.....and why Chicagoans should be stopping and spending time as there instead of just driving through to other Wis tourist destinations.

The article portrays a city that is coming together and finding itself....and expiriencing the type of downtown revival that once it only dreamed about. It talks about cool restaurants and other urban pleasure, the skyrocketing cost of downtown residential real estate (particularly in places with loft renovation like the Third Ward) and how the old Milwaukee attractions can still be found. It heaped praises on the magnificent addition to the art museum.

As I said, others can post the article later. But it certainly was very impressive....and very much on the mark about a changing Milw

Thanks edsg25, as always!

Here's the article!

I must say, those enoki mushrooms sound good, UMMMMM!!!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-ga21tlkll.85jun19,1,3435397.story?coll=chi-travel-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

MILWAUKEE -- I'm guessing the last time you approached downtown Milwaukee, you did one of two things.

You hung a left just before you got there, stayed on Interstate Highway 94 at the I-94/I-43 split and enjoyed a ballgame and a brat and a couple of beers at Miller Park.

Or:

You stayed on I-43 at the split, slid past downtown and sped north to Kohler or Sheboygan or Door County.

There's a real good chance, if you're from the Chicago area, you've been doing this for a generation and thought nothing of it.

Well, here's what we've missed.

Here's the old Milwaukee:

Deteriorating, largely deserted (especially at night) downtown, four major breweries, Summerfest, and, for dinner: Sauerbraten. Marinated for 10 days and oven-roasted. Served with red cabbage and spaetzel. Mader's, since 1902.

Here's the Milwaukee waiting for us:

Recovering, increasingly lively downtown (especially at night), one major brewery, thousands of new downtown condos (at booming prices), the nation's coolest art museum building, a RiverWalk, virtually non-stop festivals (including Summerfest), resurgent neighborhoods and, for dinner: Tuna au Poivre. Ahi tuna, grilled to temperature and served on wasabi mashed potatoes with spiral julienne beets, enoki mushrooms served with a mirin gastrique and a chive-infused olive oil. Sauce, since 2000.

Fortunately, enough old Milwaukee (the city; we're not talking about that beer brand) is still left to give the onetime "Cream City"—named for the prevailing brick color, not the Wisconsin cow juice—a sense of place. We'll talk about most of those things later, but first, let's go back to Mader's, which is still around, still doing sauerbraten right and riding the revival.

Owner Victor Mader, 62, grandson of the restaurant's founder, has watched his hometown emerge from an image of economically challenged cultural backwater rocked by brewery closings—an image that's largely accurate—to what it's becoming today.

"The town's changing," he says. "We're a little late with the condos and people moving into the city, but it's been happening, I'd say, for between 5 and 10 years.

"There's musical stuff going on all the time. Between June and Labor Day you don't have to wait over 48 hours to have some sort of musical or cultural event going on. We've got so many new restaurants. We've got people who are well-educated and well-traveled who have begun restaurants, particularly in the Third Ward."

The Third Ward—now marketed as the Historic Third Ward District—was, until maybe five years ago, largely a collection of underutilized warehouses and factories separated from the rest of downtown by expressway structure. Now bursting with condo conversions and other signs of upscale life, it's catching up to the Skylight Opera Theatre, which has been doing amazing things in the ward's 358-seat jewel box called the Cabot Theatre since 1994. (On next season's schedule: "Man of La Mancha," "Carmen" and the Marx Bros. comedy "Animal Crackers.")

Just walking around this district of buildings dating mainly from the late 1890s (at least one, the Jewett & Sherman Company Building, is from 1875) and seeing what's being done here, and sampling its restaurants, is seeing what happens when people understand possibilities.

These days, you see that all over Milwaukee.

The former Blatz brewery downtown is apartments. The former Schlitz brewery, just north of downtown (and across the street from Golda Meir School, named for one if its star pupils), is a middle school and office park.

Ken Zdroik, 35, works maintenance at the Schlitz Park.

"I remember when I was a kid, you wouldn't even want to come down in this area, it was so bad," he said. "I mean, right up the street over there you had drug dealers and prostitutes—it was just horrible."

Now, he says, some of those streets have $450,000 condos.

"I couldn't afford to live down here," he said. "There's a lot of new things brewing at Schlitz now . . . "

The former Pabst brewery, which bottled its last Blue Ribbon in 1996, is being redeveloped as PabstCity, a $317 million residential, commercial and entertainment complex.

In the heart of downtown, on Wisconsin Avenue, the former Grand Avenue Mall—which foundered as an early attempt to keep retail alive in the center—has been reborn as the Shops of Grand Avenue and is 85 percent leased. Recent openings during this remarkable renaissance, credited in part to the new and anticipated flood of residents: Lane Bryant, Old Navy, TJ Maxx and Linens 'n' Things.

There are still dead patches (Milwaukee isn't Boston or San Francisco yet), but you can feel the energy everywhere.

David Gordon, director of the dazzling Milwaukee Art Museum (see accompanying story), said the addition to his building (opened in October 2001) has generated its own boom.

"See that crane?" The crane, idle in the late afternoon, was just south of the museum's lakefront campus. "They're building million-dollar condominiums overlooking the lake, and the selling point is the view of the lake—and the art museum."

The standbys haven't left.

The Capt. Frederick Pabst Mansion, built in 1892 by the onetime beer baron and eventual residence of Milwaukee's archbishops (including two—Samuel Stritch and Albert Meyer—who would be cardinals in Chicago), remains one of the country's more fascinating home tours. The theater the brewer built, the Pabst Theater (1895), is still a prime showplace across from the appropriately Teutonic City Hall that was dedicated the same year. Nearby, the Pfister Hotel, opened in 1893, continues as the city's most elegant hotel.

The surviving big-boy brewery, Miller, is still producing suds under its own labels and some others (including Pabst), and still doing tours. Once you get past the obligatory propaganda film ("Beer drinkers have always longed for [dramatic pause] Miller time!"), it's a pretty good tour. (Actually, the movie does have a highlight: The Bob Uecker Lite Beer commercial, in its entirety. "Oop, must be in the front row . . . ")

All over town are remnants of the other age. If you're walking the RiverWalk (a work in progress but with major potential), check out the building west of the Milwaukee River on Michigan Street. The massive Mitchell Building, completed in 1878, may be the most blatant (and splendid) ripoff of classic Parisian architecture in America (aside from maybe Philadelphia's City Hall).

A reminder: We're talking Milwaukee here. It's like French-speaking space aliens somehow grabbed this building off the Champs and plopped it in the middle of this once-German-dominated town just to annoy them.

Along the streets facing Lake Michigan, or facing the parks on bluffs above Lake Michigan beaches—how many of you knew Milwaukee had beaches?—are mansions to gape at. Here's one: the Miller House, at 1060 W. Juneau Ave., across from Juneau Park, built in 1886 by department store magnate T.A. Chapman for his daughter Laura as a wedding present. It's now headquarters of the Junior League of Milwaukee, and if you think it's a looker from the outside, you should see the inside (but you can't . . .).

Then there are century-old (and older) commercial facades, blocks of them, all over downtown. Many, five years ago, were empty storefronts and vacant storage. Today they're slick restaurants and throbbing clubs full of beautiful people that, again, blast Milwaukee stereotypes to smithereens.

One place on Milwaukee Street near the Pfister, called Tangerine, at 9 p.m. had as many servers (all gorgeous females, in black) as customers.

"It doesn't get going until, like, 10:30," said one, named Cathy.

I suggested this sounded very un-Milwaukee.

"I know," she said, failing to suppress a delighted giggle. "It's so . . . urban!"

It's a Milwaukee that, for too many of us, has been bypassed since the Interstate Highway System made the city just another traffic bottleneck to squeeze past. It was different when, to go north, traffic had to drive through Milwaukee.

"In summer," remembers Victor Mader, "we were just killed with business. We had waiting lines every lunch in summer, usually with the Chicago-area people.

"Then first they had 94. Then they had 594. Now they don't even get near downtown."

That's already changing a little, thanks to the art museum. When the word spreads, that will be good for Mader, and for Mader's, and for you.

"They're skipping a real treasure by not stopping in the city and spending a few hours," he says. "Checking the art museum, stopping for lunch . . . "

Or the opera. Or the ballet. Or the symphony. Or the beach.

This is, after all, Milwaukee.

asolomon@tribune.com

edit

Hooray!

I must say, those enoki mushrooms sound good, UMMMMM!!!




Neph, I'm not trying to be nit picky here, but technically speaking didn't you mean UWWWWWWWWMMMMMMMMMMMMM?

This is making me happy. Milwaukee is actually getting good press from these major city newspapers. I believe the NYTimes did an article about how Milwaukee is greatly improving.

Neph, I'm not trying to be nit picky here, but technically speaking didn't you mean UWWWWWWWWMMMMMMMMMMMMM?

Hahaha!


"The town's changing," he says. "We're a little late with the condos and people moving into the city, but it's been happening, I'd say, for between 5 and 10 years.

The article was a fun read...it's nice to see that Chicago is starting to take its little brother seriously. But I have to ask...when was this condo boom in the rest of the Midwest? The one that people keep saying we're late for? Because as far as I know, Milwaukee's been keeping up with the pace, at least regionally speaking. Seriously, I'm beginning to think that I missed something. What is everyone talking about?

Milwaukee is thrieving!!!!!!! ;)

Good article.

I'm going to start carrying around a folder with all of these glowing newspaper articles about Milwaukee (NY Times, Washington Post, Chicago Trib). Then the next time I'm on the East Coast, and someone asks me where I'm from, I'll say, "Milwaukee, bitch," and slap the articles on their desk, and puff my chest out and say, "hell yeah, read that."

^hahaha...
Do you mind if I do the same thing, but in Madison? If I have to explain to one more person, why I prefer Milwaukee over Madison, one more time, while I'm here for the summer... I swear to God.

Why do you prefer Milwaukee over Madison? Is it the higher crime rate? Maybe the fact that the city is pretty much dead after 5:00 and on the weekends? Or is it because Milwaukee is lagging so far behind Madison in development and everything else?

Having lived in both cities I would have to say Madison is the one I would choose is I had to pick. Madison will pass Milwaukee someday as the "major" city for Wisconsin.

Why do you prefer Milwaukee over Madison? Is it the higher crime rate? Maybe the fact that the city is pretty much dead after 5:00 and on the weekends? Or is it because Milwaukee is lagging so far behind Madison in development and everything else?




Or is it the fact that you're an elitist cock? I just don't which one. I guess its a combination of factors.

Oh good Lord...

Hmm good one fiddler.

^shut up, newbie. Nothing you say has any credibility. At all.

Why do you prefer Milwaukee over Madison? Is it the higher crime rate? Maybe the fact that the city is pretty much dead after 5:00 and on the weekends? Or is it because Milwaukee is lagging so far behind Madison in development and everything else?

Having lived in both cities I would have to say Madison is the one I would choose is I had to pick. Madison will pass Milwaukee someday as the "major" city for Wisconsin.


1.Chicago has a higher crime rate than Milwaukee. Is Milwaukee better?
2.Saying Milwaukee is dead after 5 is bullshit. The Eastside is never dead, There are always people downtown...on Water Street bars, on the River, or even at the theaters etc. The Mexican resturants are always packed on weekends on the southside. There are always people at the lakefront. There are major summer festivals every weekend...including Summerfest. There are crowded bars and taverns all througout the city. There are always huge crowds at Meaux Park basketball courts. I could go on and on. Milwaukee is usually busy every night...always on the weekend. Shit, even Highway 100 is busy.
3.Lagging behind? Madison has some cool stuff on the boards..but so does Milwaukee. I bet we are building more condos.
4.Madison will get bigger...I hope it does. I dont think it will ever be more important culturally, economically than Milwaukee though. It always willl be more important in the areas of education and government. Milwaukee is much more urban, diverse, and populated--Mad still has alot of catching up to do.

Why do you prefer Milwaukee over Madison? Is it the higher crime rate? Maybe the fact that the city is pretty much dead after 5:00 and on the weekends? Or is it because Milwaukee is lagging so far behind Madison in development and everything else?

Having lived in both cities I would have to say Madison is the one I would choose is I had to pick. Madison will pass Milwaukee someday as the "major" city for Wisconsin.


Show us on the dolly where the bad man touched you.

Having lived in both cities I would have to say Madison is the one I would choose is I had to pick. Madison will pass Milwaukee someday as the "major" city for Wisconsin.

you've got to be kidding. madison is a nice enough place, but it's essentially a rest stop on the way to the twin cities. milwaukee on the other hand, now there's an actual city.

Why do you prefer Milwaukee over Madison? Is it the higher crime rate? Maybe the fact that the city is pretty much dead after 5:00 and on the weekends? Or is it because Milwaukee is lagging so far behind Madison in development and everything else?

Having lived in both cities I would have to say Madison is the one I would choose is I had to pick. Madison will pass Milwaukee someday as the "major" city for Wisconsin.

I've lived in both cities as well, and I liked Milwaukee better within the first 2 months of me living here (I lived in Madison for 18 years). Of course Milwaukee is going to have a higher crime rate, it's actually a city.

Ignorants bloaks like yourself need to realize that Milwaukee is not the city it was 5 years ago. If the city was dead at 5 at night, why would a college student like myself live here? (F that)

Milwaukee is lagging behind Madison in development? "In the last three years, nearly 2,500 new condos, lofts, town homes and apartments have been constructed in the downtown Milwaukee area, representing 40 building complexes and more than $530 million in investments. As a result, downtown Milwaukee's population has boomed more than 20% and it is still growing every year!" SOURCE (http://metromilwaukee.org/quickfacts.html)

Milwaukee has neighborhoods Madison can only have wet dreams about: 3rd Ward, Beerline B...you can't even scrape the surface.

Madison will never pass Milwaukee as the "major" city in Wisconsin. Milwaukee is three times the size of Madison. Peace out, you're an idiot.

Why do you prefer Milwaukee over Madison?


more to do... more to see...


Is it the higher crime rate?

with a metorpolitan area population 6 times bigger (mad=300,000 to mil=1.75 million), its kind of expected... ass


Maybe the fact that the city is pretty much dead after 5:00 and on the weekends?

incorrect... i was in milwaukee till 1am... still lot of traffic. lot of people walking around... drunk.haha...

hell, i saw a guy on a bike with racing gear on cruising down the street at about 1130.

Or is it because Milwaukee is lagging so far behind Madison in development and everything else?


clearly you havent visited the recent milwaukee developement threads.. markitect, i think you can take this one

Ok I didn't say Milwaukee wasn't building anything. However, there is way more going on in Madison then Milwaukee. Take a trip to Madison and count the cranes. Now do the same in Milwaukee.

As far as Milwaukee's population, it is not growing at this rapid pace. Not to sure where you got that from. Maybe Madison's population will not surpass Milwaukee anytime soon or ever but it will be the key city in Wisconsin.
Madison has way more going on downtown and continues to expand it. Madison has a far lower unemployment rate then Milwaukee. It also has one of the best schools in the country. ect, ect, ect.....


And I am sticking to my statement about Milwaukee being dead. I lived a block off brady street. One of the few streets where there is any kind of nightlife. Water street is the other one. However, Water street is maybe a few blocks of nightlife. Most of the time except for the weekends there is not much going on at these places either.

One last thing. I think Pabst city is pretty cool. I do like the fact that Milwaukee is "trying" to improve. However, this place is just going to a haven for Milwaukee's ghetto population. You can't put an entertainment complex on the border of the ghetto and think the ghetto will not invade it. Kind of like the crappy mall downtown.

Kind of like the crappy mall downtown.

the shops at grande avenue?

i was there yesterday and saw a lot of businessmen and businesswomen walking around in suits, families, teens of all nationalities...



yeah... sure is ghetto there



idiot

Crane counting, eh?

Let's keep in mind that not all developments require the use of cranes for construction. So the number of cranes one sees erecting buildings in any city (Milwaukee, Madison, Timbuktu, wherever...) is not indicative of the total amount of development going on in a city at any one time.

D-res when you go to the mall during the day of course your going to see people in suits ect.. walking around. they go to the food court for lunch. I have been to the mall a lot and it is very ghetto.

Ok I didn't say Milwaukee wasn't building anything. However, there is way more going on in Madison then Milwaukee. Take a trip to Madison and count the cranes. Now do the same in Milwaukee.
EastSider has already proved you wrong on that when he wrote this...

Milwaukee is lagging behind Madison in development? "In the last three years, nearly 2,500 new condos, lofts, town homes and apartments have been constructed in the downtown Milwaukee area, representing 40 building complexes and more than $530 million in investments. As a result, downtown Milwaukee's population has boomed more than 20% and it is still growing every year!" SOURCE (http://metromilwaukee.org/quickfacts.html)
Now, since you insist that we are wrong and your opinions are right. Prove what EastSider said as being wrong. It's good to have opinions and then willing to share them but when opinions are then held up next to the cold hard facts and shown not to be accurite, then maybe it's time to change those opinions?


As far as Milwaukee's population, it is not growing at this rapid pace.
You have a point there. But I believe D-res was just talking about downtown population. If so, then D-res would be correct.


Maybe Madison's population will not surpass Milwaukee anytime soon or ever but it will be the key city in Wisconsin.
Mearly your opinion, or do you have evidence of owning a prophetic mind?


Madison has way more going on downtown and continues to expand it.
I would agree that Madison streets seems to have busier foot trafic but when it comes to which city has more "going on" Milwaukee wins by a landslide. The question is what part of downtown are you talking about? Madison really only has one part of downtown and that's around the capitol square. Milwaukee on the other hand has several parts and I do consider all the festivals that are on the lakefront as being apart of downtown. In my opinion, to compare the two cities is really unfair to Madison.


Madison has a far lower unemployment rate then Milwaukee. It also has one of the best schools in the country. ect, ect, ect.....
Madison's unemployment rate is lower than most cities across the nation. very few cities can claim to have a lower unemployment rate. And yes, the UW is one of the best in the nation. You then say "ect, ect, ect..." but please be specfic because after stateing those two facts I see nothing else that Madison has over Milwaukee. Public schools maybe but Madison isn't a big city like Milwaukee and everyone would more or less expect them to have better scholls. You want to talk natural beauty? Milwaukee can compare just the same, in my opinion.


And I am sticking to my statement about Milwaukee being dead. I lived a block off brady street.
How long ago was that? You know, this thread is about how the Chicago Tribune views Milwaukee and the changes it has gone through in the last few years. If you haven't lived in Milwaukee in the last few years I would say your opinions are obsolete. It may not be as busy as some places in Chicago but downtown Milwaukee and vicinity is certainly not "dead".


One of the few streets where there is any kind of nightlife. Water street is the other one. However, Water street is maybe a few blocks of nightlife. Most of the time except for the weekends there is not much going on at these places either.
And what does Madison have? Please be specfic!


One last thing. I think Pabst city is pretty cool. I do like the fact that Milwaukee is "trying" to improve. However, this place is just going to a haven for Milwaukee's ghetto population. You can't put an entertainment complex on the border of the ghetto and think the ghetto will not invade it. Kind of like the crappy mall downtown.
You maybe right about this...time will tell how successful Pabst City will be.

Nicholas Richardson seems to be hung up on this "ghetto" aspect of Milwaukee. He sounds like one of these people who sees four young black men at the Grand and feels threatened. Because, everyone knows from the local news and MTV that young black males are inherently dangerous. People who take rap videos literally are apt to feel uncomfortable within three miles of "the ghetto," and therefore are more apt to move to the suburbs. Or to Madison.

The notion that Madison is outpacing Milwaukee is ridiculous, and can be refuted by simply perusing the Milwaukee Development thread and the Madison development thread.

When I drive through Madison these days I see cranes. But half of these cranes are being used to construct state government building projects -- State office buildings and University buildings. Some might see a booming city. I see government pork.

Downtown Madison is putting up some nice condo projects. And as a UW alum I enjoy State Street and the Capitol Square area. But you cannot escape the fact that there only two major employers in Downtown Madison -- State government and the University. For the Isthmus to be able sustain this development, you're going to need more private sector employers. And Anchor Bank doesn't cut it.

Milwaukee is more than "trying" to improve. It is improving. Milwaukee's crime rate experienced the fourth greatest decline in 2004 among major cities. But of course, you won't read about this in the Wisconsin State Journal. They would rather sell newspapers to Cheeseheads with the "ghetto" image of Milwaukee. That's what sells airtime on the 6 pm news.

Wow, this is a first. I've never seen anyone argue that Madison > Milwaukee before. Even when I went to school in UW, everyone knew very well that Milwaukee was a MUCH, MUCH larger city than Madison with a ton more going on. Madison will never, ever be the state's most important city. NEVER. Mark my words. Milwaukee's proximity to Chicago and the spillover growth from that metropolis will ensure that on it's own, not to mention the fact Milwaukee's infrastructure, airport, etc., are a whole 'nother league above Madison's. And Milwaukee is so much more diverse than Madison it is impossible to call both "cities" IMO. Madison is more of a "white college town." Milwaukee is actually a city, with major league teams, diversity, neighborhoods, etc.

Do you mind if I do the same thing, but in Madison? If I have to explain to one more person, why I prefer Milwaukee over Madison, one more time, while I'm here for the summer... I swear to God.


Could you be more specific and give some specific examples? Are people knocking Milwaukee there in Madison? And who is this coming from (Wisconsinites, East Coasters, etc.)?

And I am sticking to my statement about Milwaukee being dead. I lived a block off brady street. One of the few streets where there is any kind of nightlife.


Brady, Water, North, Oakland, Downer, parts of Farwell, W. Wisconsin, National, and the KK are all still busy after the sun goes down. And that's just the part of Milwaukee I know well enough to know the nighttime traffic patterns of. Madison has...State Street. And legions of house parties.

Could you be more specific and give some specific examples? Are people knocking Milwaukee there in Madison? And who is this coming from (Wisconsinites, East Coasters, etc.)?

Yea, I was talking about Madisonites griping about Milwaukee. Some, who live there their whole life, have trouble seeing outside their bubble. However, some see the city as what it is as well, it totally depends on the person (of course).

I was donating plasma the other day and the guy asked me where I went to school. I told him I attendted Milwaukee, and he asked why I was living in Madison. After I explained to him that I moved home for the summer to make money he gave me a weird look and said "isn't it normally the other way around? People move to Madison to get out of Milwaukee?..."

^typical...he probably visited the city once, and the big factories scared him away.

These people are goofy in my opinion....making Milwaukee out to be this horribly crime infested city. And yet they seem to find the balls to go down to Flordia. Milwaukee has somewhat of a high murder rate....but cmon. Where do these murders all occur? Outside the Calatrava Art Museum? In Miller Park? The Zoo? Third Ward? 9 outta ten they happen in the ghetto, or its surrounding area-like most major cities. Also, 9/10--these murders are due to drugs, gangs, or a pesonal problem between people.
Are people THAT stupid to realize this? If you were going to Chicago for a couple days...would you spend most of your time on the Southside--where being the victim of a crime is much higher of a percentage? Its all common sense...and these forest creatures up there dont seem to have it sometimes. Maybe I should be afraid to go up there because of the fear of some crazy Hmong from Saint Paul is going to gun me down. Or get eaten by some wolf or bear or something.

D-res when you go to the mall during the day of course your going to see people in suits ect.. walking around. they go to the food court for lunch. I have been to the mall a lot and it is very ghetto.


You seem like a very racist, close-minded person. Are you sure you live in Chicago? Because it sounds like you're from Schaumburg.

Wow, this is a first. I've never seen anyone argue that Madison > Milwaukee before. Even when I went to school in UW, everyone knew very well that Milwaukee was a MUCH, MUCH larger city than Madison with a ton more going on. Madison will never, ever be the state's most important city. NEVER. Mark my words. Milwaukee's proximity to Chicago and the spillover growth from that metropolis will ensure that on it's own, not to mention the fact Milwaukee's infrastructure, airport, etc., are a whole 'nother league above Madison's. And Milwaukee is so much more diverse than Madison it is impossible to call both "cities" IMO. Madison is more of a "white college town." Milwaukee is actually a city, with major league teams, diversity, neighborhoods, etc.

I would agree about the Madison being greater than Milwaukee is a strange concept.

The real joke here is that comparing itself to Milwaukee is not in Madison's best interest because of what Madison strives to be: the best of the mid-size cities. And you can make an arugment that is is.

So many wonderful things can be said about what Madison has to offer because it is \not Milwaukee or Chicago....and wouldn't want to be either.

Ok first Fiddler I am not racist and I am not from Schaumburg. It doesn't make someone a racist because they state that a certain area or place is ghetto. Are you racist for asuming that when I say ghetto I'm speaking of a certain race?

One last thing before I stop talking about this topic of Milwaukee. What I have been say is my opinion about Milwaukee and Madison. You are are entitled to have an opinion also which you do. I did not live in Milwaukee a long time ago, I moved out at the end of may. So when I say it's dead and there is not much to do, well thats how I saw it. I have also spoke with many people besides myself who see it this way.

Anyways you guys asked for me to show where my view of all this comes from.
Here is a link to an article in todays paper. I'll post more if I can find them.Article (http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=39108&nt_adsect=edit#)

Ok and if that link doesn't help show you were I'm coming from maybe this one will. Eastsider you had said in the past 3 years Milwaukee had built 2,500 condos with an investment of over 500 million. Well look what Madison has done in the last year and a half and what is coming in the near future. Compare the amount of new condos and apts. And also compare the dollar amount. Then compare one last thing, the size of the cities and tell Madison is not doing more and does not have more on the table. 2nd source (http://www.thedailypage.com/boomtown/)

Do we really need to go item for item here to show that, while Madison is developing, Milwaukee is also developing? This place is far from dead, pancho. Along comes Pabst City and we're actually in the position of being able to evaluate it, to decide whether or not we want it. Lemme tell ya, if this were '95, a project even half the size of Pabst City would have been rammed through with no discussion out of sheer desperation for something, anything new.

I will agree with you that there's a little something, a little spark, still lacking from Milwaukee's street scene. It comes and goes. Some days you see full sidewalks, other days, I don't know why, there's just no one out on the street.

But I've never been bored in Milwaukee. I've always found something to entertain myself around here. And I drink beer maybe once or twice a month, if that.

^^^agreed

as im moving to milwaukee this fall for school, I come to milwaukee more and more so that i become aquainted with the city and so i know what there is to do, and to say the least, im never bored. theres always someplace to go, something/someone to see, and if at the least, you can just go to a park, sit down by the water and just chill.

I've learned a lot from these forums and i used to have similar views as you, richardsonhomebuyers, but once i stopped running my mouth and just trolled around, reading about milwaukee and everything thats great about it, i've learned to love the city.

Now you seem more stubborn and set in your ways than even me, so i doubt that your opinions will ever change but thats fine. You just stay in Chicago and keep your shit talking there. Everyone up here in Milwaukee will have just as much fun without listening to your whining...

Richard, the figures I gave you were for condo development in downtown Milwaukee, not the surrounding area. Also note, the information I gave you only listed condo development, nothing more.

Those who are familar with the developments going on in Milwaukee (most on this thread), are underwealmed by the second source you provided. Yes, we know Madison lives in an economic bubble, and his having a building boom right now (I lived there for 2 decades).

Madison's boom is fueled by institutions (both goverment and educational), Milwaukee's is not. The reason Madison can be fueled by such sources lies in the fact that it's a mid-size city, Milwaukee is not.

Educate yourself on Milwaukee. Newbies come on here once a week, knowing shit about what they're talking about, most change their tunes after a while. In the case of Milwaukee, this has happened almost everytime (I'm a perfect example). Once you actually know what's going on, you're going to feel foolish for disagreeing with people. We'll see if you come around.

Ok first Fiddler I am not racist and I am not from Schaumburg. It doesn't make someone a racist because they state that a certain area or place is ghetto. Are you racist for asuming that when I say ghetto I'm speaking of a certain race?

One last thing before I stop talking about this topic of Milwaukee. What I have been say is my opinion about Milwaukee and Madison. You are are entitled to have an opinion also which you do. I did not live in Milwaukee a long time ago, I moved out at the end of may. So when I say it's dead and there is not much to do, well thats how I saw it. I have also spoke with many people besides myself who see it this way.

Anyways you guys asked for me to show where my view of all this comes from.
Here is a link to an article in todays paper. I'll post more if I can find them.Article (http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=39108&nt_adsect=edit#)

Ok and if that link doesn't help show you were I'm coming from maybe this one will. Eastsider you had said in the past 3 years Milwaukee had built 2,500 condos with an investment of over 500 million. Well look what Madison has done in the last year and a half and what is coming in the near future. Compare the amount of new condos and apts. And also compare the dollar amount. Then compare one last thing, the size of the cities and tell Madison is not doing more and does not have more on the table. 2nd source (http://www.thedailypage.com/boomtown/)

You sound like the biggest mama`s boy ever!

You seem like a very racist, close-minded person. Are you sure you live in Chicago? Because it sounds like you're from Schaumburg.

HAHAHA

Fiddler, ever since I got past the BD thing your comments have been nothing but pure entertainment for me! rock on!

You sound like the biggest mama`s boy ever!


Yes. And you speak as if you are a very independently-minded individual. I can tell because of all of the highly intelligent and useful things that you have to contribute to the conversation over in the Milwaukee Development Thread. I can totally see where you'd be in the place to call someone else a mama's boy.

Yes. And you speak as if you are a very independently-minded individual. I can tell because of all of the highly intelligent and useful things that you have to contribute to the conversation over in the Milwaukee Development Thread. I can totally see where you'd be in the place to call someone else a mama's boy.

Let him stand up for himself!!

The misspelled "thriving" is starting to piss me off.