Introduction
Once known as the Beer and Bowling Capital of the World (or as the ficti-tious home of Laverne, Shirley and the Happy Days gang), Milwaukee is a city working hard to reinvent itself. Moving into the 21st Century culturally, architecturally and economically, Mil-waukee is evolving from its blue collar roots into a more progressive and financially vibrant city. However, vibrant or not, Milwaukeeans are a hearty bunch. They need to be, as its northern U.S. location provides harsh winters full of snow and sub-zero temperatures.
Fast Facts
Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin with its population of more than 580,000 and a population of nearly 2 million in its metropolitan area (including suburbs, etc.). Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, about 90 miles north of Chicago.
According to the city’s Historical Society and the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Milwaukee area was originally inhabited by the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Winnebago Indian tribes. Milwaukee is the European interpretation of the area’s original name, Millioke or "The Good Land" or "gathering place by the water.” Years later, Milwaukee’s own Board of Tourism would use the city’s original name -- transforming it into the slogan, “Milwaukee -- A Great Place on a Great Lake.”
French missionaries and traders passed through the area in the late 1600s and 1700s, including Father Jacques Marquette, the namesake of the city’s top private university. The location of the city is a natural spot for commerce, even in centuries past -- a meeting of rivers emptying into Lake Michigan. A natural port, the city’s docking area, Joan’s Island, is a busy import/export area. Ironically, the city’s location on what was once a sandy beach spreading out from a river swamp makes it difficult for architects to build the kind of skyscrapers seen in other metropolitan areas. The ground below won’t take the weight. Therefore, the tallest building is the white Bank One building near the lakefront (40 stories).
According to the Historical Society, in 1818, Frenchman Solomon Juneau settled in the area. Juneau bought out his father-in-law's trading business, and in 1833 he founded a town on the east side of the Milwaukee River. In 1846, Juneau's town combined with two neighboring rival towns to incorporate as the City of Milwaukee: Kilbourntown to the west, which was founded by Byron Kilbourn, and Walker's Point to the south. However, the three towns maintained a rivalry after uniting, making sure their respective streets didn't quite line-up across the various rivers. To this day, the bridges along the Milwaukee River run at an angle to line-up the off-kilter street angles.
Juneau was Milwaukee's first mayor. German immigrants helped increase the city's population during the 1840s and the following decades. Milwaukee still today has a large German-American population. The liberal tradition of these peoples led to decades of socialist government in Mil-waukee during the twentieth century. In fact, Milwaukee is the only city in AMerica to have had two socialist mayors.
According to 2000 U.S. census figures, more than one third of Milwaukeeans reported that they were of German descent. Other large population groups include Polish (12.7%), Irish (10%), English (5.1%), Italian (4.4%), French (3.9%) and Hispanic (6.3%). The racial makeup of the city is 49.98% White, 37.34% African American, 0.87% Native American, 2.94% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 6.10% from other races, and 2.71% from two or more races. 12.00% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are more than 232,000 households out of which more than 30% have children under the age of 18 living with them. More than 41% are non-families. The median income for a house-hold in the city is $32,216, and the median income for a family is $37,879. Males have a median income of $32,244 versus $26,013 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,181. 21.3% of the population and 17.4% of families are below the poverty line.
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