Only In Milwaukee

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 vibrant arts scene, diverse cultural events, unique visitor attractions and more than $2.5 billion in new tourism product investment since 1998 make it a place where you’ll find stories that editors want. Check out some of the many reasons why there’s no place like Milwaukee:

• General Mitchell International Airport was the fastest growing airport in the country in the first quarter of 2010, and services 55 markets nonstop.

• Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion is #1 on the list of Top Ten Sexiest Buildings compiled by virtualtourist.com in 2010.

• The Greater Milwaukee Area ties for 6^th place in the nation for Fortune 500 headquarters with 8 companies, among them Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, Kohl’s, Manpower, Harley-Davidson and Rockwell Automation.

• The world’s only Harley-Davidson Museum is located in Milwaukee.

• The 11-day music festival Summerfest, along with Irish Fest, German Fest and Festa Italiana are the largest festivals of their kind in the country.

• The Milwaukee County Parks Department has won the 2009 National Gold Medal for Excellence in the Park and Recreation Management Program

• Travel & Leisure ranks the Milwaukee RiverWalk third among its Top Ten Coolest River Walks of 2010.

• Bizjournals ranked Milwaukee as 25^th most fun city in the country in 2010.

• Milwaukee ranks 13^th among the nation’s most walkable cities, according to walkscore.com. 

• Bicycling named Milwaukee 25^th in its list of America’s Best Bike Cities.

• The Downtown population is growing with more people living in the downtown area than Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Memphis or Nashville.

• In 2009 Milwaukee was designated a U.N. Global Compact City as an international hub of water research and technology. It is one of only thirteen cities in the world and the second city in the U.S. behind San Francisco to receive this designation. 

• Potawatomi Bingo Casino was named No. 1 in a ranking of nine casinos within 100 miles of Chicago by the Chicago Tribune in 2009.

• Lakefront Brewery was ranked #4 on a 2010 list of Top Brewery Tours by TripAdvisor.

• The 2010 James Beard Awards named 4 semifinalists from Milwaukee in the categories of Outstanding Restaurant (Sanford), Best Chef Midwest (Dan Van Rite of Hinterland Gastropub and Peggy Magister of Crazy Water) and Rising Star Chef (Justin Aprahamian of Sanford).

• No other city can boast a life-size “bronze Fonz” statue of Fonzie of “Happy Days” fame.

• Holler House, a legendary south side neighborhood bar, is home to the oldest certified bowling alley in the country. Two lanes of wooden planks were laid by hand in 1908 and are serviced by a personal pin setter.

• Bango, the Milwaukee Bucks' mascot, was named the 2010 NBA Mascot of the Year!