39th largest metro area??? (Milwaukee, Madison: neighborhoods, place to live, vs)

[sconnielove]

Sad that Milwaukee is only the 39th largest metro area in the U.S!!! Being from a small town in western Wisconsin, Milwaukee seemed like the biggest place in the world when going to state tournaments and traveling to the east side of the state! We'd obviously been to Minneapolis and St. Paul a billion times but Madison and Milwaukee are the two biggest cities in OUR state! To find out the area is smaller than PROVIDENCE, RI, VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, PORTLAND, OR and other crappy areas like that is depressing! Why isn't the Milwaukee area growing at all? It's on the same fricken lake as Chicago, the climate isn't any different, traffic is better and there's WAY less people! So why isn't Milwaukee growing? I don't get it. I understand that people in Milwaukee don't want the same hassles as people in Chicago and can't stand if a building blocks the view of the prescious lake but God forbid people move to our biggest city and make it relevant.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by sconnielove

Sad that Milwaukee is only the 39th largest metro area in the U.S!!! Being from a small town in western Wisconsin, Milwaukee seemed like the biggest place in the world when going to state tournaments and traveling to the east side of the state! We'd obviously been to Minneapolis and St. Paul a billion times but Madison and Milwaukee are the two biggest cities in OUR state! To find out the area is smaller than PROVIDENCE, RI, VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, PORTLAND, OR and other crappy areas like that is depressing! Why isn't the Milwaukee area growing at all? It's on the same fricken lake as Chicago, the climate isn't any different, traffic is better and there's WAY less people! So why isn't Milwaukee growing? I don't get it. I understand that people in Milwaukee don't want the same hassles as people in Chicago and can't stand if a building blocks the view of the prescious lake but God forbid people move to our biggest city and make it relevant.

deep down, most people just simply hate cheese

[Milwaukee City]

Well the US census only counts 4 counties of the 7 as the Milwaukee metro area and doesn't count the other 3 Racine, Kenosha and Walworth which brings Metro Milwaukee's population aka the Milwaukee 7(counties) to 2.1 roughly which puts us around 27-30th in terms of largest metro areas right there with Cincy, Orlando, Cleveland, Kansas City, San Antonio and Pittsburgh.

The US Census puts the 4 county area as the MSA and the 4 counties + Racine as the CMSA but still does not count Kenosha or Walworth county as part of the Milwaukee Metro area hence the shortage of true Milwaukee area population. Kenosha is technically or statistically part of the Chicago metro area but in reality and culturally is more part of the Milwaukee Area. The Milwaukee area at last estimates from the Government which includes the 7 counties has anywhere from 50-80,000 illegal immigrants and in some estimates 100K illegal immigrants. Milwaukee's safe bet population is 2.1M in 7 counties.

Milwaukee county at 953,000-1,000,000+ is the 12th most dense county in the US right behind Nassau County and Cook County. Also since the Chicago metro merges or touches Milwaukee's it is one big metropolis.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by sconnielove

Sad that Milwaukee is only the 39th largest metro area in the U.S!!! Being from a small town in western Wisconsin, Milwaukee seemed like the biggest place in the world when going to state tournaments and traveling to the east side of the state! We'd obviously been to Minneapolis and St. Paul a billion times but Madison and Milwaukee are the two biggest cities in OUR state! To find out the area is smaller than PROVIDENCE, RI, VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, PORTLAND, OR and other crappy areas like that is depressing!

Why is it depressing? I'm not sure I see why population growth is inherently a good thing. Las Vegas and Phoenix have ballooned past Milwaukee over the years, but that growth is unsustainable, and to me, Milwaukee is still far more interesting.

I don't know Virginia Beach at all, but I rather like Providence, RI and Portland, OR.

Why isn't the Milwaukee area growing at all? It's on the same fricken lake as Chicago, the climate isn't any different, traffic is better and there's WAY less people! So why isn't Milwaukee growing? I don't get it. I understand that people in Milwaukee don't want the same hassles as people in Chicago and can't stand if a building blocks the view of the prescious lake but God forbid people move to our biggest city and make it relevant.

The Great Lakes region in general hasn't been growing very much over the past few decades for a variety of reasons (stagnant economies, brighter prospects elsewhere, etc.) Milwaukee does share a lake with the more prosperous Chicago, but economic interchange via the Great Lakes system is no longer a major driving force in regional economies. Chicago's location on key railway lines, highway interchanges, and airport routes has been more important to its comparative success in the past few decades. The fact that Chicago is on a lake is nice, but it's kind of irrelevant in terms of the city's overall economic infrastructure.

[cfbs2691]

Wisconsin's an expensive place to live and many people aren't fond of brutal winters.

[pete6032]

Portland OR is not crappy. It's one of the nicer metropolitan areas in the U.S.

[Milwaukee City]

Milwaukee Metro Area 7 Counties:

Washington: 132,386
Ozaukee: 86,568
Waukesha: 390,730
Milwaukee 952,532
Walworth 102,931
Racine 195,388
kenosha 167,293

Total: 2,027,828 7 Counties which more accurately defines the MKE Area than the MSA by the US Census.


25. Sacramento 2,176,235
26. Orlando 2,171,360
27. Cincinnati 2,138,038
28. Cleveland 2,068,283
29. Kansas City 2,052,676
30. Milwaukee 2,027,828 (total of 7 counties)
31. Las Vegas 1,969,975
32. San Jose 1,865,450

Milwaukee County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

List of United States metropolitan statistical areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Milwaukee 7 County Area Regional Statistics

[SweethomeSanAntonio]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Well the US census only counts 4 counties of the 7 as the Milwaukee metro area and doesn't count the other 3 Racine, Kenosha and Walworth which brings Metro Milwaukee's population aka the Milwaukee 7(counties) to 2.1 roughly which puts us around 27-30th in terms of largest metro areas right there with Cincy, Orlando, Cleveland, Kansas City, San Antonio and Pittsburgh.

The US Census puts the 4 county area as the MSA and the 4 counties + Racine as the CMSA but still does not count Kenosha or Walworth county as part of the Milwaukee Metro area hence the shortage of true Milwaukee area population. Kenosha is technically or statistically part of the Chicago metro area but in reality and culturally is more part of the Milwaukee Area. The Milwaukee area at last estimates from the Government which includes the 7 counties has anywhere from 50-80,000 illegal immigrants and in some estimates 100K illegal immigrants. Milwaukee's safe bet population is 2.1M in 7 counties.

Milwaukee county at 953,000-1,000,000+ is the 12th most dense county in the US right behind Nassau County and Cook County. Also since the Chicago metro merges or touches Milwaukee's it is one big metropolis.

List of United States urban areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A good way to measure a city's shear size is urbanzed area. Milwaukee is an older more developed city, a mini Chicago.
Milwaukee has a larger urban area than Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Providence and New Orleans so it can't be that bad. I would say Milwaukee feels bigger than all those places. New Orleans also has a big city feel and its considerably smaller than Milwaukee. Comparing it to a larger metro/city such as San Antonio, Milwaukee county has about 974K within 242 sq miles vs S.A.(city proper) nearly 1.4 million within 330 sq miles.


List of United States urban areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sholomar]

I don't see the big deal. If it's not populated enough there's plenty of other areas that are. I don't see the appeal with exploding population figures. It's perfect the way it is.

[northbound74]

I don't think I'd like Milwaukee much if it were growing like a Sunbelt city.
It's a cool old city with lots of fairly stable old neighborhoods. You don't always see that kind of thing in other parts of the U.S.