Minneapolis vs. Milwaukee (St. Paul, Madison: lawyers, theatres, school)

[Astron1000]

Regarding cultural amenities, I really like Milwaukee but it just isn't in the same league as Minneapolis-St.Paul. That's something to be expected since the Twin Cities are nearly twice the size. But it goes beyond just size.

The Twin Cities are huge theater towns (nearly 100 companies, with 3 of them having won Tony Awards) and classical music strongholds, with not one, but two internationally known Grammy-winning orchestras. The museums are first-rate. The Walker is arguably among the best 5 modern art museums in the country. Much of what you hear on public radio stations across the country originates in St. Paul with American Public Media, Public Radio International and Minnesota Public Radio based there. Other events like the Fringe Festival, Art-A-Whirl and the Pride Festival are among the nation's largest of their kinds as well.

(A big reason for this is the generous participation of the 5% Club - a consortium of the largest corporations that donate 5% of their pre-tax earnings to the community. It's a concept that originated with what is now Target Corporation.)

On the other hand Milwaukee is close to Chicago and that's hard to beat too!

[TheManWithoutQualities]

Having just got back from Minneapolis today (I was there for the holiday weekend), I definitely agree...

The cultural ammenties are just so substantial for a city its size. It's definitely something I'm factoring into my school search (and, eventually, my final decision)....

But my heart is sort of in the Twin Cities right now...as it has been for quite a while...

[kemachs]

We've lived in the Minneapolis area for 2 years now, originally from Chicago, and my feelings about the area are mixed. As far as the economy goes, it does seem to be growing quite a bit here in the Twin Cities, more so than Milwaukee. It's also much cleaner and nicer aesthetically than MKE, I'll admit that. However, to me, this almost makes Minneapolis seem like a plastic city built for yuppies and hipsters (the latter residing in the faux-funky uptown area). I like the grit Milwaukee has, and the fact that everyone isn't annoyingly liberal (I AM more to the left, but I enjoy some balance). Also, whereas people from Chicago/Milwaukee seem to be upfront about things, here they believe in Minnesota "fake"... er "nice." Nice to your face, not so much behind your back. Probably why visitors think Minnesotans are so gosh dang friendly? Not to say all the people share that attitude, I have met some very cool people here, I'm just talking overall.

Neither city is bad, but usually people who grow up in Minneapolis (also the people who remain here) love it, and will tell you Minneapolis is much better than Milwaukee, even if they've never been to Milwaukee. As another poster stated, Minneapolis tends to be overrated by Minnesotans, and living here I can say that is very true. It's nice, but it's not perfect, and I would rather live in an ever changing, up and coming city like MKE than than in this "utopia," which in most of its residents' minds is perfect the way it is. They can keep it, I'll be going to UW in a few weeks, and then moving on to anywhere but here. But visit both, if you like the vibe you get here, maybe it's your kinda place. Or maybe after a year you'll realize it really isn't the Minneapolis you fell in love with.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by TheManWithoutQualities

Yeah, St. Thomas is Catholic (and rather conservative) but I liked William Mitchell a great deal.

I know two people who went to St. Thomas. Both of them are extremely liberal and loved the school.

[RangerDuke08]

Although I like Minneapolis better for many reason, which you have listed, mostly lifestyle, if your priority is law school, you should definetly look into Marquette and Wisconsin out of the two, I would not cross out other schools in that region outside of Twin Cities and Milwaukee either. The cities may be the bigger environmental but the school is also a small environment where you will probably spend more than half of your time. Good luck!

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by kemachs

I'll be going to UW in a few weeks, and then moving on to anywhere but here.

That's all you needed to say kid.

[MILWCITY]

Minneapolis and St Paul together equal Milw's city pop however Minnie's metro is 3 million compared to Milw 2 million. Also Milwaukee has more Fortune 500 companies than the cities, 5th in the US per capita. Being close to Chicago Milw has a lot of people right off the boat from other countries, the cities from what I've seen is 98% white. Keep in mind the Milw area is connected to Chicago's metro so it's one big area from Milw to Indiana.

I really enjoyed how clean the cities were but it never felt like I was in a big city, I like the freeway setup and hate Milw's fear of freeways, we have a Boston kind of setup..."as few as we need" per our stupid politicans.

Overall I would rather live in Milw in part that my family is from Poland and I don't think the cities had a Eastern European influence at all, plus is only a hour train ride to Chicago 10million strong(including illegals).

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by MILWCITY

Minneapolis and St Paul together equal Milw's city pop however Minnie's metro is 3 million compared to Milw 2 million. Also Milwaukee has more Fortune 500 companies than the cities, 5th in the US per capita.

The Twin Cities metro has 18 Fortune 500 companies according to Fortune Magazine.

The whole state of Wisconsin only has 10. Total.

What am I missing?

[talktobrent]

Originally Posted by What!

1. Many people bike ride in Minneapolis. Driving in general can be a hassle. In Milwaukee people generally take cars.

Ok... it's not exactly Amsterdam here. MPLS is considered a top bike friendly city, but you still won't see hoards of bike commuters. I think it's still less than 2% that commute to work via bike. We have cars and freeways as much or more so than any other American city.

[BlackOut]

Originally Posted by MILWCITY

Minneapolis and St Paul together equal Milw's city pop however Minnie's metro is 3 million compared to Milw 2 million. Also Milwaukee has more Fortune 500 companies than the cities, 5th in the US per capita. Being close to Chicago Milw has a lot of people right off the boat from other countries, the cities from what I've seen is 98% white. Keep in mind the Milw area is connected to Chicago's metro so it's one big area from Milw to Indiana.

I really enjoyed how clean the cities were but it never felt like I was in a big city, I like the freeway setup and hate Milw's fear of freeways, we have a Boston kind of setup..."as few as we need" per our stupid politicans.

Overall I would rather live in Milw in part that my family is from Poland and I don't think the cities had a Eastern European influence at all, plus is only a hour train ride to Chicago 10million strong(including illegals).

I must correct you on a few of your comments. First of all, in regards to city and metropolitan populations, Milwaukee is not bigger than Minneapolis-St. Paul combined. As of the 2000 Census, Milwaukee had a population of 596,974 (96.1 sq. miles) while Minneapolis - St. Paul had a population of 669,769 (107.7 sq. miles. Keep in mind that Minneapolis and St. Paul are two central cities that literally border one another. They are not completely separated by the Mississippi River.

Here are the metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) and combined statistical areas (CSA) for Milwaukee and Minneapolis:
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis WI MSA: 1,544,398 (2007 estimate)
Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha WI CSA: 1,739,497 (2007 estimate)

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA: 3,208,212 (2007 estimate)
Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud MN-WI CSA: 3,538,781 (2007 estimate)

Next, Milwaukee isn't even close to the Minneapolis area in terms of Fortune 500 companies. Here is the total number of Fortune 500 (2008) companies per metro area:

Minneapolis-St. Paul area:


1 UnitedHealth Group 25 Minnetonka
2 Target 31 Minneapolis
3 Supervalu 62 Eden Prairie
4 Best Buy 66 Richfield
5 Travelers Cos. 93 St. Paul
6 3M 100 St. Paul
7 U.S. Bancorp 122 Minneapolis
8 CHS 145 Inver Grove Heights
9 Northwest Airlines 213 Eagan
10 General Mills 214 Minneapolis
11 Medtronic 217 Minneapolis
12 Xcel Energy 260 Minneapolis
13 Land O'Lakes 294 Arden Hills
14 Ameriprise Financial 296 Minneapolis
15 C.H. Robinson Worldwide 341 Eden Prairie
16 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans 398 Minneapolis
17 Mosaic 422 Plymouth
18 Ecolab 438 St. Paul
19 Nash-Finch 504 Minneapolis


Milwaukee area:

1 Johnson Controls 72 Milwaukee
2 Northwestern Mutual 110 Milwaukee
3 Manpower 120 Milwaukee
4 Kohl's 152 Menomonee Falls
7 Harley-Davidson 397 Milwaukee
8 Marshall & Ilsley Corp. 425 Milwaukee
9 Rockwell Automation 450 Milwaukee
10 Fiserv 468 5,021.7 Brookfield


Finally, in regards to foreign-born population, the Milwaukee foreign-born population is much smaller than the Minneapolis-St. Paul foreign-born population. Here are the numbers:

Milwaukee-Racine: 2000 Census
Mexico: 27,640
Puerto Rico: 10,077
Germany: 6,175
Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos): 5,139
India: 4,151
Poland: 2,393
Yugoslavia (former): 2,373
Canada: 2,214
China, People’s Republic of: 2,189
United Kingdom: 2,049
Korea, Republic of: 1,951
Thailand: 1,740
Philippines: 1,704
Russian Federation: 1,686
Italy: 1,587
Viet Nam: 1,545
Ukraine: 1,117
Hungary: 955
Jamaica: 891
Pakistan: 862
Austria: 815
Greece: 697
Japan: 680
Iran, Islamic Republic of: 654
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 601
Romania: 592
Total Foreign-Born: 89,284

Minneapolis-St. Paul: 2000 Census
Mexico: 29,554
Laos: 23,979
Viet Nam: 13,228
India: 9,072
Korea, Republic of: 9,063
Canada: 8,540
Thailand: 7,894
China, People’s Republic of: 6,167
Germany: 5,290
Russian Federation: 4,457
Ethiopia: 4,411
United Kingdom: 3,905
Cambodia: 3,559
Philippines: 3,484
Ukraine: 3,128
Ecuador: 2,476
El Salvador: 2,295
Nigeria: 2,211
Puerto Rico: 2,025
Guyana: 1,982
Japan: 1,698
Poland: 1,644
France: 1,607
Colombia: 1,568
Egypt: 1,535
Iran, Islamic Republic of: 1,427
Total Foreign-Born: 210,344