Revisiting Milwaukee

I recently had the opportunity to go back to Milwaukee without my family in tow, which slightly expanded the scope of how much of it I could see. I still love Milwaukee as a place to visit with a family, don't get me wrong! But I wanted to take the chance to speak a bit more about the city as an urbanist destination, with an emphasis still on downtown, and with a focus on the positive (rather than, say, on comparing it to New York).

A very pretty city on a very nice river (with giant parking garages).

1. Punching Above Its Weight

My main impression of Milwaukee urbanism is that, for a city in the US, it punches above its weight in terms of transportation and general urban principles. It's still a city in the US, so it still has our typical American issues: major downtown space used for freeways, an aversion to deeply meaningful rail transit despite opportunities, and car-centric street design. But what it makes of those would be a wonderful pattern for other US cities that share the same issues but don't manage to work around them as well as Milwaukee does.

In other words, my ideal city is not Milwaukee, but if the Quad Cities could be more like Milwaukee I would be over the dang moon.

Just look at how they make urban space underneath a giant freeway work:

Would it be better not to have the freeway? Yes. The exhaust fumes stink, the sound is oppressive at times, and the sight of the sky would be a bonus.

But compared to most urban freeway underpasses, this is Edenic.

2. Standout Attractions

I think Milwaukee's cultural amenities also stand above where you might expect a city of its size and location to be: despite proximity to Chicago, for instance, there's very little need to go to somewhere else for major attractions like the art museum, sports arenas, top-notch libraries, or (especially) a public market. 

Look, I'm from Seattle originally, so it's a major compliment when I say that the Milwaukee Public Market reminds me strongly of a smaller Pike Place Market. It's easily accessible but also justifiably packed. Should the parking lot be as large or larger than the market itself? Ideally not. But that's not the point: the point is that it rocks.

So do the art museum and children's museum. The reason having kids with me meant that I didn't get out as much isn't the kids: it's the awesome experience they were having in a small space of downtown and didn't want to leave it.

3. Good Transit Integration 

The flip side of my grumpiness about Milwaukee's transit app not working when I first used it is that when it does work it's great. Everything is well-integrated, the buses are clean, frequent, and predictable, and the bus stops are well-lit, visible, and basically everything I'd want bus stops to be.

Kudos on an effective system, Milwaukee.

And the free downtown tram, while small, is again frequent, well-integrated, and convenient where it does run.

Plus all of this integrates with Amtrak's downtown Milwaukee Intermodal Station.

I don't think I misrepresented Milwaukee in CityBracket, but I do think that the comparison it ended up in wasn't totally fair to what the city is doing. It's a thriving Midwest hub, and I am always glad to go to it.

In other words, much like these pink birds, I love it even though it's right next to a freeway.