What comes to mind when you think of Milwaukee? (West Allis: wedding, theater)

[Milwaukee City]

People always said I have an accent where ever I went but they thought it was a California accent? I grew up in the inner city on the south side so I don't know where they got that from but I heard it from people in AZ to MN and even here in WI and Madison. I don't have a Cali accent maybe I do but I don't sound like everyone else around here and none of my friends have the "Grace the secretary" from Ferris Buellers Day Off accent. I have actually never heard people in Milw with the strong wi accent I still believe its by greenbay, of course I am only 26.

[Arkadin]

Originally Posted by karfar

I fell asleep during this post.

Exactly.....

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

I could not have said it any better. or as Garrison Keillor once said ,"MIlwaukee is Prague with bratwurst"

The culture is pretty much a big bottle of beer that serves as the axel of a merry go round that everything revolves around..summer summerfest. fall packer fans and deer hunting...wash rinse repeat

people with thick noses, south side clanish happy puppets, stubborn , hot tempered, loud german americans , nice parks..not much else, drunks like to start fights if you wear something that makes them feel inferor, which is just about everrybody..if you want to be remotely an indivdual, move out west...

a city filled with an exotic array of varying shades of gray....

Just out of curiosity, arkadin, how old are you? I ask because you're describing a Milwaukee that I vaguely remember, but have never really known. I'm 31, and while Milwaukee has not magically transformed into Seattle, the city has changed quite a bit. Your characterization of the city seems woefully out of date.

I can recognize a lot of the Milwaukee you're describing, but some of it seems right out of the 1970s. "Stubborn, hot tempered, loud German Americans"? "South Side clannish happy puppets"? Huh??

Surely there's a strong tavern culture in Milwaukee, and Summerfest is of course a big deal. But Summerfest is a major regional draw, which means that the drunks you encounter there are as likely to be from Chicago or Minneapolis as Milwaukee.

What I'm really scratching my head at is your assertion that "to be an individual," you must move west. Maybe this was the case when you left in, say, 1969, but it is now 2009. Again, Milwaukee is not as cosmopolitan and globally connected as San Francisco or New York. No one claims it to be. But I feel fairly secure in my individuality here, and have more than enough to engage my diverse interests in culture, music and the arts. I can attend a movie at the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and take in a show at the Latino Arts Center in the same night. Or I can go to a divey tavern and drink Pabst Blue Ribbon, then later go to a staid German restaurant for Knockwurst. You see, in the Milwaukee of 2009 I have options. A wide array of options that suit my individuality.

[tully]

I think arkadin's post was just a longwinded way of saying the West is more entreprenurial than Milwaukee, which I don't think anybody would dispute, although you could certainly argue the why's of it.. mentality/restrictions of gov't, mentality of the population itself, whatever..

[abymais]

Originally Posted by andrew61

The Safe House! Is that place still there?

I've been to Milwaukee a number of times and liked it. Although a big city, it still has a "small town" feel to it in some aspects. In size and scale it reminds me a lot of my native Cleveland. I felt very comfortable there.

Wow - that's a good one! Yep, the Safe House is still here and still very popular. I'd tell you the password, but they'd have to kill me....

[CHIP72]

Laverne & Shirley

[Milwaukee City]

Harley-davidson, miller, brewers, bucks, mam and festivals.

[Arkadin]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Ronnie

I can recognize a lot of the Milwaukee you're describing, but some of it seems right out of the 1970s. "Stubborn, hot tempered, loud German Americans"? "South Side clannish happy puppets"? Huh??

.

This was based on expereinces I had with a group of people from the southside, southwest side and west allis. There were certain little things that although didn't bother me, seemed to reflect a certain provincialism and lack of adventure and blatant rudeness among people who live there. Like if you order a pitcher of dark beer people wouldn't drink it, it was just to different. or one guy telling me he moved out of the city because "he didn't want his daughter to get knocked up by a black guy". Or once I was at the YMCA and women punched another in the arm because she lipped off to her while on the jogging track. And then there was the time when one of "milwaukee's finest" off duty officers harassed this guy because he didn't send the guy a thank you note for givng a wedding present . Also, I saw an inordinate amount of barfights.. so maybe it is a combo of a booze culture and people trying to live up to Lavern and shirley expectations. But in all fairness, this is probably common thruout the midwest. I wouldn't have even bothered posting this, but I noticed other people who had similar expereinces and views in other threads.


So yeah "seems right out of the 1970s" is correct...accept this all happened during the "new millenium".

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

This was based on expereinces I had with a group of people from the southside, southwest side and west allis. There were certain little things that although didn't bother me, seemed to reflect a certain provincialism and lack of adventure and blatant rudeness among people who live there. Like if you order a pitcher of dark beer people wouldn't drink it, it was just to different. or one guy telling me he moved out of the city because "he didn't want his daughter to get knocked up by a black guy". Or once I was at the YMCA and women punched another in the arm because she lipped off to her while on the jogging track. And then there was the time when one of "milwaukee's finest" off duty officers harassed this guy because he didn't send the guy a thank you note for givng a wedding present . Also, I saw an inordinate amount of barfights.. so maybe it is a combo of a booze culture and people trying to live up to Lavern and shirley expectations. But in all fairness, this is probably common thruout the midwest.

This sort of thing happens everywhere. I grew up in the SF Bay Area in a snobby little Silicon Valley university town, and underneath the sophisticated layers of wood-fired pizza, bookstores, sushi shops, and lattes exists exactly what you describe. The only difference is that such people, cultures, and attitudes in upscale and entrepreneurial places like SF/Silicon Valley are masked and even upstaged by the refined veneer. And if you leave that academic/tech area and hit less lofty places such as Milpitas, North Sunnyvale, Daly City, San Mateo, Redwood City, Alameda, etc., etc., you get something more akin to typical metro America (with high housing prices). And then go a little farther afield--Sacramento, Stockton, Merced, Fresno, etc.--and raw humanity is even more exposed. For every loaf of artisanal bread in upscale metros, you'll find dozens of loaves of Wonder Bread. For every pecan-encrusted this-and-that, you'll find dozens of fried fish. And for every tweed-wearing and laptop-toting sophisticate, you'll find dozens of average people trying to scrape by, getting in fights, committing crimes, and otherwise letting the wrath of their ancestors loose on the community.

If you had explored East Side Milwaukee or the North Shore or other places, you might have seen a different slice of Milwaukee life. But even "sophisticated" people lose their armor once in a while--battles between SUVs in the mall parking lot, pampered middle aged gossips engaging in throwdowns, and whatnot. Maybe there's less violence and physical aggression involved in scraps taking place in Fox Point and Brookfield (suburbs of Milwaukee), or in the tony burbs of California metros, but the sentiments are just as strong. In any case, judging Milwaukee by way of the southside is like judging the L.A. area by way of Compton or Long Beach, the S.F. area by way of Concord and South SF, and the United States after visiting Florida: it's only a partial impression, though the stereotypes gathered and confirmed may wrongly make the judge feel omniscient.

[jessysunshine]

When I think of Milwaukee I think of...

beer, brats, Brewers, old homes and buildings full of character and history, beauty, a lot to offer, and...my family.