Quality of life in Milwaukee

Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin, United States. The city's population is 594,833 with an estimated total of 2,025,898 in the Milwaukee metropolitan area (2010). It is the 30th largest city in the U.S. and is in the southeastern portion of the state on the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Milwaukee's human history begins with American Indian people who lived near the confluence of Milwaukee's three rivers into Lake Michigan for centuries. Tribes who inhabited the area that is now Milwaukee included Menominee, Fox, Mascouten, Sauk, and Potawatomi. With the arrival of Europeans and an increasing population, large and often violent divides become more prominent. These settlers built three dueling settlements (Juneautown, Kilbourntown, and Walker's Point) around what is now Downtown. The two former communities were extremely competitive and created two non-aligning street grids. This is why 1st Street is west of the Milwaukee River and the reason that many of the city's bridges cross the river diagonally (connecting the two grids).

Milwaukee has historically been a major immigrant city. During the early 20th Century, German and Polish immigrants tended to dominate, and the city still strongly identifies with its German and, to a slightly lesser extent, Polish heritage. For part of the early 20th century German was even the main language of the city, and German names are still very common.