Is Milwaukee a mini Chicago?

[JerichoHW]

You got a love the fact MKE and CHI are neighbors.

[RonnieJonez]

People in Chicago are significantly more outgoing and accepting of those from other states/parts of the world.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Alt Dach

No culture in Mpls??? If culture can be defined as classical music and theatre(which are usually considered main elements) Twin Cities have more than Chi. and Milw. combined.Bar and lounges are anti-culture.

Ummm, No. Not even close. Chicago blows Minneapolis out of the water a hundred times over for culture. The Art Institute alone has more notable works than you could find in the rest of the Midwest combined. The CSO is actually now, for the first time in history, considered better than the New York Philharmonic because of the high profile conductor they just imported from Italy and the high-level talent they are incubating. Theater? Have you been to downtown Chicago to see the Theater District? We've got so many large theaters it's unbelievable, and they're always selling out. And the smaller underground theater scene in Chicago is second only to New York in the U.S.

Nice try, though.

I actually prefer Milwaukee to Minneapolis. I think the Twin Cities are extremely overrated by Minnesotans, even though the area is largely overlooked by the rest of the world.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

They don't have it in their insular nature to move anywhere that drastically, but Chicago is certainly close enough and a good enough cultural compromise that they heed their "look at me, I am going to the Big Time" oats by "moving to Chicago". Of course, these same folks have a non-scientific but very educated guestimate of a 97% return rate to Wisconsin once they start having children.

That's a bit condescending. I moved to Chicago from Milwaukee for career reasons and because I prefered the lifestyle of larger cities after living in New York and Paris. It was New York or Chicago for me, and I got a better job opportunity in Chicago and was still able to visit my family without hopping on a plane. And there was a girl involved...

I work with several ex-Milwaukeeans, and I don't see much of a return rate at all. The net migration is definitely in Chicago's direction, and a lot of that is just plain economics. And there are enough Wisconsinites in Chicago to make football season tolerable for a die-hard Packer fan like me

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

That's a bit condescending. I moved to Chicago from Milwaukee for career reasons and because I prefered the lifestyle of larger cities after living in New York and Paris. It was New York or Chicago for me, and I got a better job opportunity in Chicago and was still able to visit my family without hopping on a plane. And there was a girl involved...

Well, I think it would condescending if I directed my comments as a blanket comment towards *all* that make the move from MKE to CHI. I didn't...so no condescension was intended at all - but I stand by my assertion that a very significant number of those - especially in the twenties-thirties age category - that make the move do so because they get to feel like they are "leaving little Milwaukee for a huge city" but still get to retain the insularity of essentially being a hop down I-94.

Surely I understand why folks would desire to live in CHI-town...Milwaukeeans included of course. Your situation sounds very sound. But I just think that sometimes people here that have grandiose talk about leaving "little Milwaukee" behind for a huge city in actuality would only really consider Chicago, and would never even think to consider other very large cities around the US - they are trying to look like they are being un-insular, but in fact, are still be quite.