Is Milwaukee Worth It?
I admit it. I’m not a big fan of Milwaukee. To be honest, if one day the poo floating in Lake Michigan swelled up, developed life of its own and managed to suck the city of Milwaukee into the lake, I don’t think Wisconsin would suffer that great a loss.
In a way, we’re all to blame for Milwaukee’s downfall. We’ve let our state government’s odd distaste for business drive all the good businesses away. Manufacturing is an industry of the past. When our oppressive laws and taxes drove corporate headquarters away, they took their manufacturing jobs with them.
Milwaukee is nothing without manufacturing. The city was singly focused on manufacturing for so long, that they didn’t prepare for the technological revolution that sustained other cities when the blue collar jobs “Schlemiel, schlimazel”ed themselves out of Milwaukee.
For many of us, the city is something that we have to go around on our way to Chicago. There’s nothing really special about Milwaukee that can’t be found elsewhere. Sure, the art museum is cool, but there are other art museums. The beach is nice to look at, but I wouldn’t want to swim there. The restaurants there aren’t anything special. The universities there are okay, but nothing about them makes them better than any other university. The sports teams are nothing to write home about. The stadium is cool, but it’s either an enclosed stadium or an open stadium, not the cool convertible stadium we were promised. There are theaters and performing arts centers, but nothing that can’t be found in other smaller cities in the state.
In essence, the things that made Milwaukee “Milwaukee” are gone. The city used to be a center for manufacturing. With that gone, Milwaukee has lost its soul. Now it’s just a sputtering big small town with no hope.
What makes me so sad for Milwaukee is that when the city has a chance to be in the spotlight, the city quashes any hope of success. School choice is a shining example of this creepy trend. Milwaukee pioneered school choice, yet even though it has been a success, people are coming at it from every angle trying to shut it down.
And Pabst City is another gleaming example of Milwaukee’s attempt to be sub par. Maybe Pabst City as proposed wasn’t the perfect answer, but the idea was laughed out of town. Instead of encouraging outsiders to come in and give the city a boost, restaurateurs and entertainment company owners huddled together and shunned outside help. Perhaps they were afraid that successful companies would come in and shake up the status quo.
It seems that Milwaukee is scared to be anything better than mediocre. They don’t want to risk things being worse, so they don’t try to be better. It also appears that Milwaukee is its own worst enemy. They make it hard for business to come in. They attempt to raise the minimum wage, they try to make smoking in public illegal. They dump poo in the lake, for cripe’s sake.
If Wisconsin is to compare better to other states, we need to clean up Milwaukee. Since I doubt Illinois will annex the city, we need to do it ourselves.
The best way to raise the city from the ashes, or the manufacturing soot, so to speak, is to make the city appealing for business to come here. On the state level, that means undoing years of anti-business legislation. In Milwaukee, it means staying competitive with other cities of its size by not over-ordinancing every ridiculous action a person makes. Leave the minimum wage where it is. Clear out some of the buildings that are falling down. Make it easy for traffic to flow to and from places. Quit spending money on things that aren’t necessary and make the city appealing for business.
And when you do that, when you invite businesses in to a city that wants them, they give back. Look at all the things Miller did for Milwaukee before they left. Look what Harley has been doing. Businesses give back to their communities.
Milwaukee is a city with no hope. Businesses with jobs see that and move on. But if the city makes an effort to make change and doesn’t scoff at every attempt to become more than second-rate, maybe we can turn this thing around. Then we won’t need to set up “cultural districts” and ask neighboring counties to carry the load. Businesses will be clamoring to help out. Maybe then people will know that there is more to Milwaukee than the exits along 894.
**Disclaimer** I don't dislike the people who live in Milwaukee. Heck, I lived there myself. Don't get all pissy at me. I also dislike Kokomo, Indiana, so please focus your rage on the people in that poor excuse for a city.
In a way, we’re all to blame for Milwaukee’s downfall. We’ve let our state government’s odd distaste for business drive all the good businesses away. Manufacturing is an industry of the past. When our oppressive laws and taxes drove corporate headquarters away, they took their manufacturing jobs with them.
Milwaukee is nothing without manufacturing. The city was singly focused on manufacturing for so long, that they didn’t prepare for the technological revolution that sustained other cities when the blue collar jobs “Schlemiel, schlimazel”ed themselves out of Milwaukee.
For many of us, the city is something that we have to go around on our way to Chicago. There’s nothing really special about Milwaukee that can’t be found elsewhere. Sure, the art museum is cool, but there are other art museums. The beach is nice to look at, but I wouldn’t want to swim there. The restaurants there aren’t anything special. The universities there are okay, but nothing about them makes them better than any other university. The sports teams are nothing to write home about. The stadium is cool, but it’s either an enclosed stadium or an open stadium, not the cool convertible stadium we were promised. There are theaters and performing arts centers, but nothing that can’t be found in other smaller cities in the state.
In essence, the things that made Milwaukee “Milwaukee” are gone. The city used to be a center for manufacturing. With that gone, Milwaukee has lost its soul. Now it’s just a sputtering big small town with no hope.
What makes me so sad for Milwaukee is that when the city has a chance to be in the spotlight, the city quashes any hope of success. School choice is a shining example of this creepy trend. Milwaukee pioneered school choice, yet even though it has been a success, people are coming at it from every angle trying to shut it down.
And Pabst City is another gleaming example of Milwaukee’s attempt to be sub par. Maybe Pabst City as proposed wasn’t the perfect answer, but the idea was laughed out of town. Instead of encouraging outsiders to come in and give the city a boost, restaurateurs and entertainment company owners huddled together and shunned outside help. Perhaps they were afraid that successful companies would come in and shake up the status quo.
It seems that Milwaukee is scared to be anything better than mediocre. They don’t want to risk things being worse, so they don’t try to be better. It also appears that Milwaukee is its own worst enemy. They make it hard for business to come in. They attempt to raise the minimum wage, they try to make smoking in public illegal. They dump poo in the lake, for cripe’s sake.
If Wisconsin is to compare better to other states, we need to clean up Milwaukee. Since I doubt Illinois will annex the city, we need to do it ourselves.
The best way to raise the city from the ashes, or the manufacturing soot, so to speak, is to make the city appealing for business to come here. On the state level, that means undoing years of anti-business legislation. In Milwaukee, it means staying competitive with other cities of its size by not over-ordinancing every ridiculous action a person makes. Leave the minimum wage where it is. Clear out some of the buildings that are falling down. Make it easy for traffic to flow to and from places. Quit spending money on things that aren’t necessary and make the city appealing for business.
And when you do that, when you invite businesses in to a city that wants them, they give back. Look at all the things Miller did for Milwaukee before they left. Look what Harley has been doing. Businesses give back to their communities.
Milwaukee is a city with no hope. Businesses with jobs see that and move on. But if the city makes an effort to make change and doesn’t scoff at every attempt to become more than second-rate, maybe we can turn this thing around. Then we won’t need to set up “cultural districts” and ask neighboring counties to carry the load. Businesses will be clamoring to help out. Maybe then people will know that there is more to Milwaukee than the exits along 894.
**Disclaimer** I don't dislike the people who live in Milwaukee. Heck, I lived there myself. Don't get all pissy at me. I also dislike Kokomo, Indiana, so please focus your rage on the people in that poor excuse for a city.
posted by Anonymous @ 9:10 PM
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