Milwaukee Rankings and Fun Facts

Milwaukee - The City on Everyone's List

Ever notice how a city's interesting quirks, cultural mix and historical perspective give it an aura, a vibe, an identity that sets it apart? We do. Milwaukee's been getting a lot of national and international media coverage due to our vibrant arts scene, diverse cultural events, unique visitor attractions and more than $2.5 billion in new tourism product investment since 1998. But these aren't our only claims to fame. Listed below are some of the many reasons why there's no place like Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Rankings in 2009

Milwaukee was named one of the top ten best cities in the United States for independent filmmakers to work in Milwaukee Magazine.   Milwaukee offers employment opportunities for filmmakers, reasonable costs of living, financial incentives and a superior quality of life. 

Since last year, Milwaukee is up 5 rankings in the Top 30 Most-Wired American Cities list by Forbes.com.  Forbes creates this list by computing the percentage of Internet users with high-speed connections and the number of companies providing high-speed Internet in the area.    

Milwaukee Rankings in 2008

Nickelodeon Parents Connect site featured Schlitz Audubon Nature Center as the "Best Place for Family Bonding in Milwaukee." Schlitz also won an Ideal of Environmental Excellence Award in the education category for "an organization that educates and teaches the principles and values of sustainability and environmental stewardship" from Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful Inc. in 2008.

Milwaukee was named among the top 50 "Next Great Adventure Towns" by National Geographic Adventure Magazine in September of 2008. The list is comprised of 50   innovative towns that aren't just prime relocation spots right now, but smart choices for the future.

A 6-year national online study by Cambridge University in England ranked Wisconsin among the top five states in America for "extraversion" and "agreeableness". The head research scientist summed it up: "It appears people who live there are healthy, friendly, socially outgoing...calm, even-tempered, down-to-earth and practical". Looks like Wisconsin is a hotbed of nice!

Milwaukee was named among the top ten cities for best value vacation on Hotwire. The city earns high marks with visitors of all ages looking to explore the city on a dime. Hotwire gives Milwaukee's breweries, sports teams, performing arts, exhibitions and casino high marks as reasonably priced, high-value visitor attractions.

Milwaukee has been named a 2008 Top Destination by Facilities & Destinations magazine. This is a reader's choice award in which nominations are based on such criteria as hotel accommodations, accessibility and attractiveness of the destination.

Milwaukee's Miller Park was ranked 2^nd in fan satisfaction among all MLB ballparks by SI.com. The rankings were based on an online survey of fans, when Sports Illustrated asked readers to rate their hometown ballpark in 10 categories, such as affordability, food, atmosphere and promotions, all of which Miller Park scored highest in.

Milwaukee was selected as a "Surprising Gay-Friendly Destination" by PlanetOut for their 2008 Travel Awards. Citing us as the host of the International LGBT Film Festival and the largest gay pride festival in the United States, Milwaukee was an easy choice for the list. Milwaukee also features The Gay Arts Center, which showcases visual and performing arts, and a vibrant queer nightlife scene.

Priceline.com released the results of its fifth annual survey of the 50 most popular destinations for Independence Day weekend. Milwaukee ranked No. 25, up 13 spots from Milwaukee's debut appearance on the list as last year's No. 38 rank. This is without a doubt due to the large draw of Summerfest, an 11 day music festival which takes place over the holiday weekend and can draw upwards of 800,000 visitors.

The New York Times has selected Milwaukee-brewed Sprecher Root Beer as the Best Tasting Root Beer in America. The panel of wine and dine critics and dining section staffers cited the drink's "wonderfully balanced and complex brew" and the addition of honey to the mix as the elements that put this hometown favorite ahead of the competition.

Milwaukee has been named to MSN.com's list of "12 unexpected urban areas that are doing good green stuff." Milwaukee now boasts several inner-city community-garden projects, a downtown public market, and an annual campaign to encourage residents to follow a 100-mile local-food diet. Current Mayor Tom Barrett's Green Team is working to keep sustainability at the fore, and has partnered with the Apollo Alliance to bring clean-tech jobs to the area.

Milwaukee was listed among the top twenty Most Walkable Neighborhoods in America. Milwaukee ranked number 13 on Walk Score's list of America's Most Walkable Neighborhoods. Walk Score ranks neighborhoods in the largest 40 U.S. cities by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, and measuring how easy it is to live a car-light lifestyle.

Miller Park is host to the world's largest tailgate party.

Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport ranked # 4 in the country by Conde Nast Traveler Readers.

AARP The Magazine has ranked Milwaukee among the top five places in which to retire.

In a survey coordinated by the American Institute of Architects, the Milwaukee Art Museum was ranked among the top 150 favorite structures in the United States.

Travel & Leisure magazine named Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines “Best Domestic Airline” in its 2007 World’s Best Awards competition.

Big-hearted Milwaukee residents lend a helping hand! The Milwaukee area was ranked eighth among 50 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas for its volunteer rate, said a first-time national report by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Women's Wear Daily has listed Milwaukee as #10 on its list as the top U.S. metro areas ranked by the highest retail business growth from 2003 to 2006.

Milwaukee was ranked eighth in Cooking Light magazine’s “20 Best Cities”.

Editors of MSN.com included Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, among the nation’s top ten ballparks in which to watch the boys of summer.

Milwaukee Fun Facts

The name Milwaukee comes from the Native American word "Milliocki" meaning gathering place by the water.

This Jewel of the Great Lakes is home to Summerfest, the world's largest music festival according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This eleven-day event boasts 10 ground stages and a 23,000-seat amphitheater.

The Allen Bradley Clocktower is one of Milwaukee's most recognizable landmarks. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Allen Bradley Clock as the largest four-faced clock in the world. It is actually four separate clocks, each with an octagonal face nearly twice the size of the clocks on London's Big Ben Tower.

Milwaukee's first larger brewery opened in 1841. By 1856, the city boasted 26 local breweries.

The typewriter was invented in Milwaukee in 1867 by Christopher Latham Sholes.

The skywalk over the Milwaukee River is the only skywalk in the U.S. that spans a river used by boats.

The exhibit hall of the Midwest Airlines Center can hold 555 city buses, end-to-end and side-by-side.

The Milwaukee Art Museum's Burke Brise Soleil (the "wings") wingspans spreads 217 feet at its widest point, wider then a Boeing 747.

The Milwaukee Public Museum is home to the world's largest dinosaur skull.

Acccording to Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac, Milwaukee has more parkland per capita than any other city in the country.

Three of Milwaukee's parks, including Lake Park, were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead--the legendary landscape architect and genius behind New York's Central Park.

Milwaukee is home to Harley-Davidson - the company began in a small machine shop behind the Davidson family's home at 38th and Highland.

America's Black Holocaust Museum is the only museum in the United States dedicated to educating visitors about the African American Holocaust.