The Big City Areas vs The Rest of the State: Wisconsin

[Mr. Smith]

So yeah, here's Wisconsin...wasn't quite sure how far Green Bay sticks out on its own, but to avoid the Colorado Springs issue, I included it anyway.

So between it, the beer/that city almost at Chicago land, the university town, and the rest of the state, which comes off best?

New York: New York City (58.3%)
Illinois: Chicago (53.8%)
Texas: Austin (52.2%)
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia (43.75%)
Ohio: Columbus (50%)
Indiana: Indianapolis (68.8%)
North Carolina: Raleigh/Durham (36.3%)
Washington: Seatac [Seattle/Tacoma] (55.6%)
Massachusetts: Boston (52.2%)
Oklahoma: Oklahoma City (52.9%)
Oregon: Portland (53.3%)
Kentucky: Louisville (53.8%)

[MasterJedi]

Milwaukee is the best, having a rebirth right now. It's the big city compared to the provincial feeling that Madison has.

[Torie]

I think I might be tempted to choose this place in Wisconsin. I think its vibe would be a bit like Hudson, albeit light on persons of color. I must visit it if I am ever in the area to check it out.

[Mr. Illini]

Madison and Milwaukee are both excellent cities. I don't know which I like better, but I voted Milwaukee because I know that Atlas will overrate Madison despite few ever having been there.

Northern Wisconsin is beautiful and is an excellent vacation spot. Rural Wisconsin in the southern half is very similar to Illinois - farms farms farms - which is pretty in its own way but not a superior to the cities.

Whoever voted Green Bay is sorely mistaken.

[YaBoyNY]

Madison is a beautiful city on a lake.

[MasterJedi]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

[Mr. Illini]

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

I tend to agree. I do like Madison and would be happy living there, but it is painfully overrated by people on Atlas that know only two things about it: it has UW and it is very liberal historically.

Milwaukee is an excellent city and quite liberal on its own. It is much more diverse than Madison and has a lot more to do - it ranks higher on the world-class scale.

But what would we that have actually spent extensive time in these cities really know?

[SATW]

Madison (sane)

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

I tend to agree. I do like Madison and would be happy living there, but it is painfully overrated by people on Atlas that know only two things about it: it has UW and it is very liberal historically.

Milwaukee is an excellent city and quite liberal on its own. It is much more diverse than Madison and has a lot more to do - it ranks higher on the world-class scale.

But what would we that have actually spent extensive time in these cities really know?

I'm glad to see you saying this because I was concerned by the vote totals. I also voted for Milwaukee as much as I love the flagship school. In spite of the alcohol industry, it's clearly a place with a lot more culture and entertainment. It's definitely a city I wouldn't mind living in. While anywhere in Wisconsin is likely to have a ton of natural beauty as well, I think Milwaukee probably gets bonus points for the coastline which must go unparalleled for most of the region. You can literally drive up the coast to so many beautiful places, but Milwaukee is where you'd want to come back to. Hard to pick a place in such a perfect state, but I think Milwaukee is probably best.

Oshkosh might be interesting too for a lot of those features. Centrally located, but perhaps just a bit too far from Milwaukee. Maybe Fond du Lac? I don't know if I could get a feel unless I live in those places. If it were easy to get to Milwaukee daily, it would also be a nice place to get a headstart onward to Lambeau. I'm not sure of the reputation for traffic though.

[Green Line]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

You call that a skyline?  Milwaukee is even worse than I feared

[MasterJedi]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

You call that a skyline?  Milwaukee is even worse than I feared

Chicago is close enough to depress the skyline. That's also just the business core, there's other towers to the right of that picture on up the coast but Milwaukee is still one of the densist cities in the country. Building boom is happening that's increasing the skyline a lot too. Doesn't help that Milwaukee metro area is overall rather small too.

Pretty elitist comment though, usually the opposite of Chicagoans. Milwaukee is vastly increasing in popularity and investment by the neighbors to the south.

[YaBoyNY]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

Albany has a better skyline and its got a few hundred thousand less people.

[MasterJedi]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

Albany has a better skyline and its got a few hundred thousand less people.

Looks like brutalist hell to me and even smaller:

[YaBoyNY]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:


Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

Albany has a better skyline and its got a few hundred thousand less people.

Looks like brutalist hell to me and even smaller:

When you count the mid-rises, it about evens out.

Albany's mid-rises also, on average, being better than those of Milwaukee.

[MasterJedi]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:


Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

Albany has a better skyline and its got a few hundred thousand less people.

Looks like brutalist hell to me and even smaller:

When you count the mid-rises, it about evens out.

Albany's mid-rises also, on average, being better than those of Milwaukee.

Albany only has lowrises for the most part and it's all brutalist except a few, who aren't even in any tower class. You can compare.

Albany: http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?
Milwaukee: http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?

[Green Line]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

You call that a skyline?  Milwaukee is even worse than I feared

Chicago is close enough to depress the skyline. That's also just the business core, there's other towers to the right of that picture on up the coast but Milwaukee is still one of the densist cities in the country. Building boom is happening that's increasing the skyline a lot too. Doesn't help that Milwaukee metro area is overall rather small too.

Pretty elitist comment though, usually the opposite of Chicagoans. Milwaukee is vastly increasing in popularity and investment by the neighbors to the south.

I was just joking around.  I love Milwaukee, great breweries

[Stockdale for Veep]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

But Madison does hold the title of most segregated city in the country. Wait, that's mke too...

[MasterJedi]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

But Madison does hold the title of most segregated city in the country. Wait, that's mke too...

Mostly by choice or economic circumstance, nobody is forcing it. Like wants to be with like, but if you break it down by neighborhood it's usually not as bad as reported in the media with lots of integrated neighborhoods.

The company I work for values diversity a lot and it is very mixed, every black person I have worked with has lived on the north side by choice since that's where they grew up/have family.

Can't really talk though since Madison is very segregated and it's amusing how much the "scared of the black folk" and "dangerous Milwaukee" is prevalent there. It's a good city, just small town/provincial in the grand scheme of things.

[Torie]

Partial Future Milwaukee skyline:



Doesn't include two other towers and a possible new tallest to the left of everything by Johnson Controls. Redoing an interchange, building a new park. We're getting a streetcar system. New Bucks arena and development is coming. Everything is being developed, city is having a rebirth.

Madison will win this vote because it's viewed as liberal paradise like San Francisco. It's a big university and government town that doesn't have much else to distinguish it. Also has a height limit. Has nothing on Milwaukee.

Albany has a better skyline and its got a few hundred thousand less people.

I have been most unimpressed with Albany. Rockefeller gutted it, and created this hermetically sealed complex of government buildings with most folks underground. So many blocks remain in a state of decay. The unplanned sprawl around it stretching out to Schenectady is depressing. Now downtown Troy is a real jewel.

[Mr. Smith]

Bringing this back from the dead, the old consensus clearly sides with Madison by a good margin.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Milwaukee (not a yuppie liberal).

[The Dowager Mod]

I lived in both Madison and Milwaukee (Shorewood), both had good points and bad, prefer Milwaukee though, more stuff to do.

[RINO Tom]

I love Milwaukee, but my heart lies with Door County.   Plus Madison is sweet, so definitely the rest of the state.