Is Milwaukee poised for a big boom one of these years? (Madison: neighborhood, bankruptcy)

[Milwaukee City]

Business wise madison just cannot compete with a major city like Milwaukee, it's a place where we send our kids to get a great education then get a high paying real job in a city center like Chicago or Milwaukee.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Business wise madison just cannot compete with a major city like Milwaukee, it's a place where we send our kids to get a great education then get a high paying real job in a city center like Chicago or Milwaukee.

It depends. There are plenty of high-paying private sector jobs in Madison. One of the CEO's of the booming startup business Virent said it's really not that hard to recruit top talent from the coasts or around the world to move to Madison. I'll agree that it doesn't have the business presence nor capability of Milwaukee, but it is hardly Iowa City or something.

[tully]

The word "Milwaukee" (and "Wisconsin" in general) has a way of drawing either blank stares (as in, "oh.. I've heard of it") or chuckles/snickers for predictable reasons.. Laverne & Shirley, cheeseheads, obesity rep, massive ghetto, Dahmer) and I just don't see anything changing that.

As somebody mentioned earlier, Madison has escaped any 'greater WI stigmatization', and will always be seen as a worthy relo spot by educated, specialized talent from the coasts or abroad. But I fear the choice would be more wrenching for them if it was Milwaukee. If you were a neural network IT guy, clinical researcher, education specialist, etc.. would you think twice about Milw on your resume. Would you think 'Madison would look so much better'.

It would take something truly magical and extraordinary - eg. emergence of Microsoft-like startup, Obama-like national figure, etc - to give Milwaukee the mojo needed to break the stigma / re-cast its image

Here's one relatively straightforward way to nip away at Milw bad rep: Amtrak from Madison to Milwaukee. If it's one thing white-collars love, it's rail. Make it easier for Madison elite to day trip now and then. Might cut down on somewhat misinformed 'judgements from afar'. Might even result in positive chatter about Milw to their coastal friends.. you never know. Maybe the 2016 Chicago Olympic bid can be parlayed into Amtrak service (Madison being the tenative cycling village/events site)

[Milwaukee City]

Here's one relatively straightforward way to nip away at Milw bad rep: Amtrak from Madison to Milwaukee. If it's one thing white-collars love, it's rail. Make it easier for Madison elite to day trip now and then.

So Milwaukee's future depends on Madison white collar types that have out of state friends? What is Madison all of a sudden Manhattan! Milwaukee has plenty of white collar types hence all the tall buildings downtown and everywhere else. Speaking as a guy who works in Financials we don't need rail to make Milwaukee better by importing Madisonians. It's still amazing that people from Madison still view themselves as better than people from Milwaukee. I'm not saying that is what your saying but it's a gen observation. High inter-regional would be fine but it would have to be very fast. Twin Cities-Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago. I do like how people from Madison think Madison is white collar heaven and Milwaukee is 1980's and rusting.

[Metamucil]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

So Milwaukee's future depends on Madison white collar types that have out of state friends? What is Madison all of a sudden Manhattan! Milwaukee has plenty of white collar types hence all the tall buildings downtown and everywhere else. Speaking as a guy who works in Financials we don't need rail to make Milwaukee better by importing Madisonians. It's still amazing that people from Madison still view themselves as better than people from Milwaukee. I'm not saying that is what your saying but it's a gen observation. High inter-regional would be fine but it would have to be very fast. Twin Cities-Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago. I do like how people from Madison think Madison is white collar heaven and Milwaukee is 1980's and rusting.

tully makes a great point and this is what immediately gets shoved back in your face. And this is why MKE will never change.

what tall bldgs are you taking about? MKE is famous for having literaly ONE skyscraper and no real cityscape. Omaha and DesMoine have bigger sky scrapes than MKE. Seriously.

As discussed in previous posts in this thread MKE is so far behind in light rail (700K daily in Atlanta, Little Rock, MPLS, Dallas 65K, Houston 45K) it will never change. There's no way they'll hook up Madison to MKE when there's no interest in MKE to Kenosha, Racine, and on to the 3rd largest city in America. You'd think with all the amenities Chicago has and with the economy making a commute to all those (better paying) jobs a better prospect that there'd be a least some serious consideration but every time it's brought up a well rehearsed group of daytime conservative pundits bash it at every opportunity. You'd think you're living in Colorado Springs!

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by Metamucil

what tall bldgs are you taking about? MKE is famous for having literaly ONE skyscraper and no real cityscape. Omaha and DesMoine have bigger sky scrapes than MKE. Seriously.

In defense of Milwaukee's skyline, we can't build any towers much taller than 40 storeys because they would start sinking into the swampy ground near the lake. Chicago's downtown/lakefront was fortunate enough to have some help from the Army Corps of Engineers, which allows the Loop to have the tallest buildings in North America.

[jjacobeclark]

BTW, healthcare employs more people in Milwaukee than any other industry, not manufacturing.

According to Forbes: "It has the fifth-highest concentration of top companies in the country, by our count."

[quijote]

I agree with Tully that for a lot of outsiders, the mention of Milwaukee only brings a blank stare or stereotyped visions from tv; I was one such outsider years ago, and several people I know who haven't been here have shown such reactions.

However, people who get to know the place realize that Milwaukee has a lot to offer. Friends of mine who've come to visit have left visibly impressed, and didn't realize that this city actually has most amenities of the larger cities.

In my line of work (education) Madison has the cachet--it has a bit of prestige, and many people seem to think it's supposed to be a kind of pastoral-academic idyll that ought to have been located in California or Oregon. Frequently, when friends visit Madison, they go away slightly disappointed--it's a pretty place with lots going on for its size, but it's not Berkeley after all. Imagine that.

I know it's trendy to want light rail now, and if there were a way to do it without busting the budget and taxpayers, that would be great. But the success of light rail depends on many pre-existing factors, such as population density, state and direction of the local economy, physical geography, etc. Buffalo is an example of where light rail did more harm than good--the city tore up Main Street and dislocated hundreds of businesses with hopes that light rail would make a positive difference. And it hasn't. It's still easier for people to drive, business on Main hasn't rebounded, the downtown is still dying....problems such as political in-fighting, community competition, moribund industry, white flight, etc. have made the light rail corridor irrelevant. Other factors have to be present to make the system a success.

I agree that better linkage between Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison would help some industries in the long run. From what I hear, progress is being made on extending Amtrak, so perhaps that signals good news.

[FreeSpirited1]

Milwaukee is way behind in incorporating modern life and attempts to bring world-class dining and entertainment cannot be sustained by the majority, who refuse to pay for good service.

I've been to places - highly regarded restaurants here - where the service was so terrible, we did not leave a tip.

To Adamadaman: I respectfully disagree that Milwaukee area restaurants can compete on a national scale. In fact, the dishes served and the poor service provided would be kicked off of Top Chef in the first episode.

Not enough people here care enough about the quality of service or food or entertainment to make Milwaukee interesting. There, I've said it.

What is Milwaukee's culinary attraction? Brats??? You are kidding, right? If Milwaukee hasn't noticed, German cooking has not exactly taken the food world by storm. Milwaukee has no definitive style, at all, except drinking, which is the only thing I can think of.

In addition, the big businesses in the Milwaukee area are actually in the Metro Milwaukee area, spanning all directions. Only a handful of these companies are accessible by public transportation, so the poorer people, who might actually be able to work in the flourishing businesses, are left out if they do not have reliable transportation. That is an outrageous disservice by the city, by which one can be discriminated against by class, and "incidentally" by race.

My opinion is Milwaukee is run by generations of farmer families who have no idea how to run a city...it's this "simple" mentality that will keep Milwaukee in a rut and always behind other cities. People here are frugal and have been and will be; with that, you get fewer things around town to do because it is not deemed "worthwhile" to the simpletons who are most happy with a few beers and a sportsgame. Women are happy just doing the Mary Kay, Magic Chef and Tupperware parties.

This is enough for the average Milwaukeean, and why the city will never stretch beyond its comfort zone.

Also, the downtown skyline is empty, which would be fine if that was the intention; I believe that Milwaukee is just too CHEAP, plus businesses don't want to build here, and that is the real reason there are no interesting skyscrapers.

In fact, Milwaukee is the little misfit sibling who will never measure up to it's bigger brother & sister cities, but still attempts to have the image without providing the substance.

That is from the heart what I believe.

[Milwaukee City]

While I don't go after other cd'ers however I will argue or defend my point here vigorously!

I've been to places - highly regarded restaurants here - where the service was so terrible, we did not leave a tip.

I have also been to many of the "highly regarded" spots here, did you know that most of the "highly regarded" restaurants have chef staffs that aren't from here??? such as chefs from Chicago, your LA, Paris and New York. Not b/c they can't make it there but b/c it is easier and cheaper to open a place in Milwaukee than SoHO in NYC. IE: Elsa's owner has his own spot in SoHO. That is Highly Regarded" in NYC.

Not enough people here care enough about the quality of service or food or entertainment to make Milwaukee interesting. There, I've said it.

Wrong again, I could just pick your argument apart on so many levels. Maybe in West Allis where the only nice restaurant is Johnny V's. I'll just use my 5th Ward neighbor's. There is a restaurant close to my house that attracts people from Chicago on a normal basis, If I were to take a picture of every Ferrari that was parked in front of my house I would have enough to field a large car dealership. Most people on here make allegations about certain things so I will name the spot: Crazy Water! I have friend from Chicago and friends currently that are surprised every time I bring them up here on the train b/c they are financial Clients of mine so I pay for their trip and recommend places for them to got and not once have I had a bad review. This has worked so well for me I have met new clients through this process b/c they bring up friends for the only reason of trying the restaurant that I sent them to last.