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It is the largest city in Wisconsin, Algonquian word for “the good land,” the only major American city to have ever elected three socialist mayors, and a place that Alice Cooper knows everything about... ever. It will also become the world's most romantic city by the next millenium.
Known as "Brew City" or "The Brew" for being headquarters of four major brewing companies throughout its history [1] and numerous manufacturing plants, the most famous of which is Harley-Davidson, a popular clothing company and restaurant chain that occasionally makes high-priced toys for wealthy executives.
Also known as "The City of Festivals," summers in Milwaukee are often referred to as "Festival Season" due to the numerous ethnic and sociocultural festivals hosted on the city's lakefront each weekend between May and September. The largest of which is Summerfest which began in 1967 and has since grown to become the world's largest outdoor music festival according to the Guinness Book of Records. [2]
Although most of the brewing and manufacturing jobs left the city during The Sixties, The Seventies and The Eighties, Milwaukee's economy finally began to stabilize towards the end of the millennium around the health care industry, of which it has since become a regional hub and is highly competitive. Though the city still has a long way to go if it is ever to return the economic and social prominence it had in the early 20th century and the absolutely brutal winters certianly don't help with this.
In pop culture, the Milwaukee area is Hollywood’s go-to setting for nostalgic sitcoms with Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and That 70s Show all taking place in various Southeast Wisconsin locales at least two decades before they aired. The portrayal of Milwaukee as a stodgy, blue-collar town in the former two series is a Berserk Button for many of its residents who feel that such a portrayal has stunted the actual city’s cultural and economic growth. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett even quipped that "Laverne and Shirley don’t live here anymore” upon being elected in 2004. Despite this, a statue of The Fonz was erected along the city’s riverwalk in 2008 much controversy.
Today, Cream City is experiencing a small renaissance in the way of art and culture. The aforementioned health care jobs helped sparked a wave of urban renewal from which neighborhoods such as the Third Ward, Riverwest, Bay View, Walker's Point and Brewer's Hill all benefited generously. The critically-acclaimed and Santiago Calatrava designed Quadracci Pavillion of the Milwaukee Art Museum was unveiled on May 4, 2001 and helped showcase Milwaukee's artistic and cultural viability. The city has since become a favorite of photographers and independent filmmakers due in large part to its forested parks, Lake Michigan's shoreline and authentic old-world architecture. The Art Museum itself [3] has been featured in a numerous films and commercials and as an American Idol judging setting. It is quickly becoming a landmark icon for the city.
University life has also grown significantly in Milwaukee over the past decade largely due to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee transitioning from a largely anonymous commuter school to a more traditional campus with just under 30,000 students which hopes to build a medical research school to help them rival their bigger sisters at UW-Madison. The city is also home to Marquette University [4], Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), the Milwaukee Insitute of Art & Design (MIAD) and a number of smaller, private colleges.
Famous people from Greater Milwaukee include Oprah Winfrey, Les Paul, Steve Miller, Gene Wilder, Heather Graham, Al Jarreau, Eric Benet and Speech (of Arrested Development... the hip hop group, not that one).
Fiction set in the Greater Milwaukee Area:[]
Comedy[]
- Lewis Black, a regular at Summerfest since 1991, has a monologue about drinking in Wisconsin where he tells a story about what happened one night after performing in Milwaukee.
Film[]
- Bridesmaids
- Dahmer
- Dawn of the Dead
- Mr. 3000
- Major League (Milwaukee County Stadium and Milwaukee's television/radio stations become the Suspiciously Similar Substitute of Cleveland in the film)
- Wayne's World (the Alice Cooper Scene)
Music[]
- "Milwaukee" by Al Jarreau
- "My Cousin In Milwaukee" was most famously recorded by Ella Fitzgerald
- "213" by Slayer was written about the Jeffrey Dahmer murders and named after his apartment number.
- "My Projects" by Coo Coo Cal
- "Man From Milwaukee" by Hanson
- "What Made Milwaukee Famous (Made A Loser Out of Me)" by Jerry Lee Lewis
Live Action TV[]
- Happy Days
- Laverne and Shirley
- Step by Step (took place in Port Washington, north of Milwaukee in Ozaukee County)
- That 70s Show (took place in a fictional Kenosha suburb)
- ↑ Pabst, Blatz, Schlitz and Miller... basically, if you see a Hipster drinking it, it probably originated in Milwaukee.
- ↑ Many locals will tell you that Summerfest suffers from a severe case of Seasonal Rot, although how true this is tends to vary from year to year.
- ↑ specifically, a sail-like structure atop the building which acts as a sunshade, known as a "brise soleil"
- ↑ whose famous alumni include Chris Farley and Dwayne Wade, among others.