What makes a big city feel like a big city?

[bullox]

There are a lot of things that make a place feel like a big city. . .

 

Pro sports teams

That's one thing that my current home, Las Vegas, is missing. But let me tell you, it definitely has a big city feel. There are over 2 million people in the metro area now and it is still growing at an out-of-hand rate. In my opinion the world class entertainment and 24 hour service for ANYTHING really makes this a big city.

[ewizabeff]

I think big cities need to have well-developed, population-dense "downtowns." From the few days I've spent in Phoenix and Las Vegas, I didn't get that feel. I do, however, like Milwaukee (although there's lots of room for development), NYC, Boston, and DC.

[bullox]

I think big cities need to have well-developed, population-dense "downtowns." From the few days I've spent in Phoenix and Las Vegas, I didn't get that feel. I do, however, like Milwaukee (although there's lots of room for development), NYC, Boston, and DC.

Las Vegas is a different type of city. You can't really measure it how you would other cities. For example, when you fly or drive in to other cities, you see a skyline dominated by office buildings. Here, there is a skyline, but it is all world-class hotel/casinos and condos. 17 of the biggest 20 hotels in the United States are in this city.

 

[SeriesFinale]

There are a lot of things that make a place feel like a big city. . .

 

Pro sports teams

Live theater

Art & history museums

Interesting architecture

Visible taxi service

Developed independent retailers

World class medical facilities

Street vendors

Mass transit

Ethnic neighborhoods

Multiple daily newspapers sold on newsstands

Tourists and things for them to see & do

 

Yeah, this sums it up succinctly.

 

As a resident of SF and a long-time Chicagoan before that I disagree with your taste in cities however!

[craigharmann]

I was reading a very interesting article in the San Antonio Express News this morning, as today is the 40th anniversary of the World's Fair in San Antonio. The fair was a huge step in San Antonio becoming a major tourist city. The civic leadership took some major risks, and they paid off. They were visionary folks and it seems like they tried to think years in advance. I don't really see that in Milwaukee. The visionary leadership, that is. The whole Pabst City debacle was something that would and could have added to the attraction, and it was shot down. Milwaukee just really strikes me as a large town, not a major city. It's better than Sheboygan, at least, but that's not really saying much. The traffic in San Antonio is not bad at all, for being a major metro area.

[dadofandrew]

Milwaukee would have to take a step forward to be just 2 decades behind. Abandoned warehouses taking up valuable downtown space, no signs telling you where the casino is, no transit to speak of, still lacking development around Miller Park, a jewel they fought every step of the way.

 

It's a textbook case of how not to run a metro area.

[homer]

Where are all these abandoned warehouses downtown? I used to live downtown and there are no warehouses period much less abandoned ones. Maybe you're thinking Menomonee Valley?

[tristarscoop]

Milwaukee would have to take a step forward to be just 2 decades behind. Abandoned warehouses taking up valuable downtown space, no signs telling you where the casino is, no transit to speak of, still lacking development around Miller Park, a jewel they fought every step of the way.

 

It's a textbook case of how not to run a metro area.

I don't think you could be more wrong. There isn't anything abandoned downtown, they've turned everything into condos. There are more signs pointing you to Potowatomi then there are signs to anything else in the city and the area around Miller Park has and continues to grow. There are businesses in the valley and indeed basically in the parking lot. Miller Park Way/44th street has been developed since the stadium was built. That entire area is new buildings up and down MPWay.

 

I'm not saying Milwaukee doesn't have it's issues, but I think you're way off base in those complaints. From the things you're complaining about, it sounds like you haven't been here in 5 -10 years.

[JimH5]

Sorry SeriesFinale. . .My critique of San Francisco is strictly on a small sample size of 4 days I spent there several years ago. . .

 

My complaints were that I was disturbed at how aggressive the homeless were on the streets. Not just panhandling, but blocking your way, demanding money, or sending insults your way. Pretty bad first impression.

 

I thought that Fisherman's Wharf was "eh". . .Never having been there, and hearing about it for so many years, I was expecting more.

 

And whenever we were seated at lunch or dinner, the neighboring tabletalk from other diners was very loud, with conversations about pretty superficial stuff, like complaints about one model of Porsche over another, and not getting better tables at last night's restaurant, etc. Loud talk about nothing substantive.

 

As for Chicago, I love the hotdogs, and that's about it. I came of age in the 1980s during great times for the Bears and Bulls, so my opinion of Chicago was formed when they were on top of the world, and we weren't. Plus the driving habits of cars with Illinois plates (in Wisconsin) was always an irritant. As for the city itself, there just seems to be so much space from the time you hit the tollway until you came upon something good.

 

It's pretty hilarious that Chicagoans have a superiority complex to Milwaukee, yet to the cities on the East Coast, Chicago doesn't even register a blip.

[SeriesFinale]

Sorry SeriesFinale. . .My critique of San Francisco is strictly on a small sample size of 4 days I spent there several years ago. . .

 

My complaints were that I was disturbed at how aggressive the homeless were on the streets. Not just panhandling, but blocking your way, demanding money, or sending insults your way. Pretty bad first impression.

 

I thought that Fisherman's Wharf was "eh". . .Never having been there, and hearing about it for so many years, I was expecting more.

Yeah, the homeless are a real problem here, probably THE problem, really--between the weather here, the overly-lassiez-faire attitude that the city had in the past, and the fact that a lot of them are drug casualties that first came out here in the late 60s, you've got not just an off-the-charts amount of them, but a huge percentage seem to be either extremely mentally-damaged from substance abuse or well on their way. Combine that with the fact that there are a lot of tourists here, you tend to find a more aggressive-breed of panhandler, bum, and crackpot. I personally have never been stopped or aggressively-panhandled here, but I imagine it happens. I often find Market Street an embarrassment because of these guys, but the city's doing better, rousting congregations, making arrests, etc.

 

Anyway, if I had caught you before you went, I could've told you to avoid the Wharf like the plague! Any Bay cruise or Alcatraz trip you're gonna go on will start there, but there's no reason to make the Wharf a destination in and of itself--it's just a tourist trap.

 

As far as Chicago goes, we'll just have to agree to disagree--I will say that the only people who I tended to find out sniffed at Wisconsin or Milwaukee generally lived in awful suburbs like Schaumburg or whatever! And I did always hold that Illinoisians were indeed much worse drivers than they themselves believed--speeding, weaving, tailgating, etc. Really unsafe stuff. I think they're just attuned to a more aggressive driving-style in the city and don't properly adjust once they get out of town and into Wisconsin. Ech.

[homer]

And to be fair, Wisconsinites do like to drive 55 in the left lane.

[Chio151]

Milwaukee would have to take a step forward to be just 2 decades behind. Abandoned warehouses taking up valuable downtown space, no signs telling you where the casino is, no transit to speak of, still lacking development around Miller Park, a jewel they fought every step of the way.

 

It's a textbook case of how not to run a metro area.

I personally have to disagree and think you are dramatically wrong on this one.

 

In a thirty year span, Milwaukee has transformed from a rust-belt manufacturing city to a textbook example of new urbanist development. The old warehouse district has been turned into a high-end loft living area. One of the world's premier architects has built a masterpiece on our lakefront as his first major American work. A handful of new luxury condo skyscrapers has started to dot the horizon. A freeway stub was removed, making way for billions of dollars in new downtown development. A former brewery has secured plans to revamp into a historical gem mixed-use development. A polluted valley and former home to the nation's 'toolbox' has been cleaned and turned into a park and light industrial system. Our baseball team has built one of the finest parks in the country and Harley Davidson chose downtown Milwaukee for a bike museum. We have a system of riverwalks and parks that is the envy of most cities. The city continues to house a world-class zoo and natural history museum. We have low commute times, and a generally high quality of life. Also, we have probably the greatest festival grounds and ethnics festivals of any major urban center. For anyone who grew up in or around old Milwaukee, the city's turn around is nothing short of miraculous.

 

I would argue that this is exactly how to run a city.

[I Heart Brewers]

Another thing to consider is that a city may have a large population - i.e. SF, but the surrounding metropolitan area is packed (that and SF is like 3 miles by 7 miles so population density is high, just not on a square mile radius). I know growing up in MKE, it was always thought that eventually the I94 strip to Chicago would turn into a megalopolis. It just doesn't seem to be happening. Living in the SF Bay Area the surrounding area does. I live 25 east of SF, but it still feels like a suburban city. I don't think there are really cities surrounding MKE that feel like that.

 

And Jim, I can echo your sentiments on the homeless in SF. There are so many things that it does have to offer though besides the wharf and panhandlers though. It's so diverse that it's hard to find things not like about it but if you polled people that lived here I would bet those are by far most everyones top 2.

[Katuluu]

And to be fair, Wisconsinites do like to drive 55 in the left lane.

The thing I liked about Chicago and Wisconsin drivers is you could generally tell what they are thinking. Chicago/Illinois drivers tend to be highly aggressive, and Wisconsin drivers tend to be fairly conservative. Minnesota drivers OTOH, are idiots and true scourges of the road.

 

[SeriesFinale]

As an outsider, I've been very impressed with Milwaukee's development along the river, from just south of downtown all the way up to Lakefront Brewery. You stay at a hotel right downtown and it doesn't feel nearly as dead as it did there 10-15 years ago.

[Chio151]

And to be fair, Wisconsinites do like to drive 55 in the left lane.

The thing I liked about Chicago and Wisconsin drivers is you could generally tell what they are thinking. Chicago/Illinois drivers tend to be highly aggressive, and Wisconsin drivers tend to be fairly conservative. Minnesota drivers OTOH, are idiots and true scourges of the road.

 

As someone who drove back and forth from La Crosse many many times, I would agree with this assessment. Wisconsin drivers are generally mild-mannered and make conservative mistakes. Illinois drivers are battle-scarred and reckless, but if you get out of the left lane quickly their boat-towing Escalades can be avoided. Minnesota drivers are entirely unpredictable and generally awful.

 

[homer]

"I know growing up in MKE, it was always thought that eventually the I94 strip to Chicago would turn into a megalopolis. It just doesn't seem to be happening."

 

I think it is. I drive that stretch monthly and it's getting more and more developed each passing year. Not to mention they are planning on expanding that stretch of highway to four lanes in each direction to handle increased traffic flow.