Twin Cities - 16th largest metro area in the Country, can you feel it? (Minneapolis: living in, vs.)

[Aylalou]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

everything in the twin cities seems very spread out with parking lots and green areas which makes it very nice to look at but you don't get that big city feel.

That is why you can't really tell when you go into the suburbs, such as Golden Valley, Hopkins, West Saint Paul because the Twin Cities, except for a very few neighborhoods, give off like a small town feeling but with all the advantages of culture, universities/colleges, clubs. You wouldn't know you were in any of these old suburbs if you didn't see it the signs on the highway.

[ZenArcade]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Hey Pal! Haven't you read the title of this thread and the other 16 post talking about this very idea. The fact that I have heard this from native people from TC and this thread talks about it kind duh proves that this is somewhat of an issue. Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks this since there is a thread about it. I think being so close to Chicago helps Milwaukee feel like a bigger city than it is. They are widening I94 all the way down to Chicago from the south side of Milwaukee to 4/5 lanes on each side. I think that speaks to the truth that the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee corridor region is an area to recognize.



13 million +

Yup it's always about Chicago isn't it, Milwaukee.

[NowInWI]

Originally Posted by ZenArcade

Yup it's always about Chicago isn't it, Milwaukee.

I often come to the Minnesota forum just to see what the topics of discussion are. I was born in Minnesota (not raised in Minnesota), and I feel a strong bond.

I spent a lot of time in various parts of Minnesota with two of my former jobs, but most of the time was spent in the Twin Cities and the metro area. I thought the cities seemed like "big cities", and I don't know how anyone could think otherwise (by the way, I love the Twin Cities). What I found amazing, was how big the metropolitan area was. I could drive for miles and miles (I had probably 80 accounts in the metro), and still be in the metro area.

I wondered why the metro extended so far out from the actual cities - from what I can find on the internet, the metropolitan area square miles for the Twin Cities is 2,975. Milwaukee's metro area square miles are 1,460. The Twin Cities metro is vast. If Milwaukee's metro was that vast, it would include areas that are part of the Chicago metro.

In fact, my brother lives in Pleasant Prairie WI, which is closer to Milwaukee, but is part of the Chicago metro. The Chicago metro meets Milwaukee's metro - there is no break in between. That's probably the reason Chicago is often mentioned when someone is talking about Milwaukee - the two metro areas are connected. I'm not (and never have) tried to start a Twin Cities vs. Milwaukee discussion, but just wanted to give my thoughts on why "it's always about Chicago" - probably because (as I stated) the two areas are connected.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

The first trip I made to the twin cities I knew they had a million more people than the milwaukee area but the first comment I made was "I know I'm in a big city but it just doesn't feel like it". I have talked to other people from the twin cites and they have mentioned the same thing. The twin cities just don't have that big city feel unless your downtown. The fact that this topic is out here kind of proves it. There is a ton of trees, and it just doesn't have that urban grit feel. Where in Milwaukee on every busy street is buildings at least 2-5 stories high even far out in the city. We don't have a lot of houses on our busy streets. I feel like the twin cities are just one giant madison or suburb. I really enjoyed my time in the twin cities but I felt like I was in Columbus oh than twin cities 3 million +.

Having lived in both Milwaukee and the Twin Cities, I have to agree with you assessment. (I DO like living here in the TC anyway!)

[MRNorthSide]

Fact: Milwaukee is the Birmingham of the Midwest. The place is dirty and the people are backwards.

[Milwaukee City]

In fact, my brother lives in Pleasant Prairie WI, which is closer to Milwaukee, but is part of the Chicago metro. The Chicago metro meets Milwaukee's metro - there is no break in between. That's probably the reason Chicago is often mentioned when someone is talking about Milwaukee - the two metro areas are connected. I'm not (and never have) tried to start a Twin Cities vs. Milwaukee discussion, but just wanted to give my thoughts on why "it's always about Chicago" - probably because (as I stated) the two areas are connected.

I think you hit it right on the head, b/c we are right next to Chicago and get a lot of spill over affect Milwaukee seems bigger than it is. Let's keep this in mind also, Minneapolis and st Paul population, add it together and it equals Milwaukee population so Milwaukee City vs Minneapolis City pop, Milwaukee is the size of st Paul and Minneapolis combined it's only the twin cities suburbs that are bigger than Milwaukee's, but what's in the way of that...Lake Michigan. So if Milwaukee had the land available like the twin cities had our metro would be 4 million instead of 2 million.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

I think you hit it right on the head, b/c we are right next to Chicago and get a lot of spill over affect Milwaukee seems bigger than it is. Let's keep this in mind also, Minneapolis and st Paul population, add it together and it equals Milwaukee population so Milwaukee City vs Minneapolis City pop, Milwaukee is the size of st Paul and Minneapolis combined it's only the twin cities suburbs that are bigger than Milwaukee's, but what's in the way of that...Lake Michigan. So if Milwaukee had the land available like the twin cities had our metro would be 4 million instead of 2 million.

Maybe, but the Twin Cities grew initially because of flour milling and its location on the Mississippi, became a tech capital with companies like 3M, Honeywell, Sperry, Cray, and CDC having a strong presence, etc.

What would have driven Milwaukee to similar growth?

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Maybe, but the Twin Cities grew initially because of flour milling and its location on the Mississippi, became a tech capital with companies like 3M, Honeywell, Sperry, Cray, and CDC having a strong presence, etc.

What would have driven Milwaukee to similar growth?

Beer

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

Beer

I sit corrected. *burp*

[Milwaukee City]

Milwaukee and its suburbs are the home to the headquarters of 13 Fortune 1000 companies, including Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, Manpower Inc., Kohl's, Harley-Davidson, Rockwell Automation, Fiserv, Inc., Marshall & Ilsley Corp., Wisconsin Energy, Briggs & Stratton, Joy Global, A.O. Smith,[32], GE Healthcare Diagnostic Imaging and Clinical Systems and MGIC Investments. The Milwaukee metropolitan area ranks fifth in the United States in terms of the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters as a share of the population. Milwaukee also has a large number of financial service firms, particularly those specializing in mutual funds and transaction processing systems, and a number of publishing and printing companies. The Milwaukee area is also the headquarters of Midwest Airlines, Bucyrus International, the Koss Corporation, Harken, Evinrude Outboard Motors (Sturtevant, WI) and Master Lock.