Milwaukee vs Minneapolis (Cleveland: homes, neighborhoods, construction)

[MPLS_TC]

Milwaukee vs Minneapolis both metros and cities. What are the differences for everything? Please post photos too. Milwaukee is the closest major city and metro to Minneapolis so I thought it would be an interesting topic.

[Milwaukee City]

I am not a fan of the twin cities overall but there are parts about it I like. I like the downtown and the neighborhoods around it but that's pretty much where it ends for me. I have always said the Twin Cities feels like a giant suburb to me. It's more spread out a lot of green space and trees and it seems most people like that I just prefer a more urban and gritty and older type of city and while most people in any poll choose the TC's over Milwaukee I like Milwaukee better. I know the numbers of density between MKE and TC's are close it just feels more urban than the TC's. I really like the far western suburbs west of 169 and Canterbury Park and the freeway layout it makes for an easy access to anywhere in the metro area. In MKE if you're between certain freeways it's better to just take side streets which makes a longer commute. I also like the fact that Milwaukee is very close to Chicago and the Milwaukee is on a great lake. I think I could survive in the TC's after all one of my favorite new ballparks is there! I love the new Target Field absolutely beautiful!

[pete6032]

Many differences.

Twin Cities grew up as a service based economy whereas Milwaukee was manufacturing, which creates huge differences in terms of urban form.

Twin Cities is one of the most prosperous metropolitan areas in the U.S. while Milwaukee metro experiences very high concentrations of poverty and much of the city is run-down by Twin Cities standards.

Much of Milwaukee was built way before the Twin Cities was, same with Milwaukee suburbus, so the Milwaukee suburbs are actually very nice, yet get a lot of beautiful stone/brick homes and a variety of residential architecture whereas Twin Cities suburban homes are basically cookie cutter. Some Milwaukee suburubs were their own towns before being absorbed by Milwaukee so you get suburban areas that have had their own downtown for 80+ years, unlike many Twin Cities suburbs that have only started building true downtown districts in the past 10-15 years.

Milwaukee being by the lake traditionally drew the rich/wealthy to all locate in pockets along the north shore and northern suburbs (note this is still sort-of true but now there are wealthy suburbs to the west along I94). In the Twin Cities there are many affluent suburbs regardless of the direction you drive. The lake also encouraged more dense development whereas the Twin Cities had very few natural boundaries to encourage density.

[MPLS_TC]

Statistically Minneapolis is a denser city than milwaukee. I do agree that milwaukee looks more urban than Minneapolis. there are parts of Minneapolis such as uptown and a few areas around lake street near 35w in south Minneapolis and also a few areas in northeast Minneapolis that are more urban and dense. There is probably more of gritty urban look in St. Paul along seventh street. I could see myself living in Milwauke. What's with downtown Milwaukee? Its larger than downtown Minneapolis but seems like there isn't much going on there. I was there on the weekend so maybe that was it. Water street was where I was told to go out for a good time on friday or Saturday but didn't seem very busy. I like south Milwaukee. I thought it looked really dense and seemed a bit more lively than the Northside.

[MPLS_TC]

I looked up metro populations from 1890, 124 years ago and The Milwaukee metro had a population of 212,000 and the Twin Citied metro had a population of 305,000 also Milwaukees density peaked at 7,718 and Minneapolis peaked at 9,472 . I am not sure why Milwaukee and its suburbs look so much older and clearly look denser than Minneapolis and its suburbs. What about growth in Milwaukee? What's the outlook for population growth, transportation, or major construction projects in Milwaukee? I also feel like Minneapolis is out of place in the Midwest as its not similar to any other city in the Midwest. Milwaukee seems more on par with Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, ETC.

[Pete.]

I think the Twin Cities are really nice, but I'm not a fan of all the suburban sprawl. There are way too many freeways in the Twin Cities, which helped to create that sprawl.

Although the river area in Minneapolis is nice, it does not compare to Lake Michigan.

Also, Milwaukee is really close to Chicago, and Minneapolis is quite secluded.

[mbradleyc]

Minneapolis/St. Paul is a river town(s). Milwaukee is seaside. Yes, it's a freshwater inland sea, but a sea nevertheless.

I've been to the twin cities a couple of times and it's nice, but I can't remember anything about it. Milwaukee has more character and nicer physical beauty.

If you can't find stuff to do in Milwaukee you're not trying.

[Steve Bowen]

The only thing I would add is a note on climate. Its lakeside location results in Milwaukee being warmer than the Twin Cities in the winter and cooler than the Twin Cities in the summer.

[sholomar]

Originally Posted by Steve Bowen

The only thing I would add is a note on climate. Its lakeside location results in Milwaukee being warmer than the Twin Cities in the winter and cooler than the Twin Cities in the summer.

indeed... considerably so during a typical winter. Not so much this winter though.. that cold Canadian air bubble has been a bit further east than normal. Although the lake does help it's actually Milwaukee's further east location that helps it more since it will get more warm air from the gulf when low pressure systems come through. Places further east are even warmer yet. Maine can be warmer than WI for this reason.

Since we have a service economy now and manufacturing is dead it makes sense that cities that had a heavy manufacturing past are doing poorly now. The twin cities are thriving by comparison but there are a lot of Milwaukee suburbs that are still nice areas to live in even if Milwaukee itself isn't so much. There's also the advantage of being nearby to Chicago.

[mbradleyc]

Manufacturing is not dead. It is simply evolving. Milwaukee is a fine place to live for single people and couples. Maybe families, but if I had children I wouldn't live in any large city.

Chicago, ehn. We're talking about Milwaukee and Minneapolis.