The Good Land: An Honest Portrait of Milwaukee

I want to paint you a picture of the city that I love and call home.

I could soften the edges, blur the lines, and only share Pinterest-worthy vignettes to make that picture as perfect and easy to digest as the Internet wants it to be, but I won’t. I could lessen the contrast and apply highlights in strategic places, but like I said, I can’t. 

I love this Wisconsin town too damn much to do it that disservice, because the picture in its original state is stark and gritty and beautiful.

Photography by Luke J. Rosynek

Milwaukee is a city of just under 600,000 people — a sort of blue-collar little sister to Chicago. Some people say we're the next Portland, but I don’t know if I like that or if that’s even true. 

Milwaukee is affectionately referred to as “Smallwaukee” by some (including myself). If six degrees of separation is standard, try two in Smallwaukee. You can run (off the fried cheese curds), but you can’t hide from old boyfriends.

Milwaukee boasts tons of incredible history and breathtaking architecture. We’ve got a completely unexpected food (and drink) scene here. Summertime is magic with festival after festival after festival… we are officially nicknamed the "City of Festivals," after all. (We're also "Cream City," "Brew City," and "The Good Land," amongst others.) Our parks system is out-of-this-world great, and you can even surf on Lake Michigan. And coffee… are you kidding me? It’s batty how great the coffee is 'round these parts. Community exists for real in the form of true public houses, co-ops, and collaborative endeavors. It's all sustainability-times-ten, and yes, the requisite beer, cheese and brats… but really good beer, cheese and brats.  

Despite these oft-overlooked merits and high points, problems continue to plague Milwaukee. I'd be remiss not to mention them (I told you, no airbrushing). Public transit desperately needs a facelift. Socioeconomic inequality is a harsh reality. Public education is in dire need of attention and overhaul. Many civic leaders tend to "play it safe," so cultural development is outpacing civic development exponentially. 

Milwaukee is a vital city, full of possibility. Some of that possibility has been actualized, some not yet realized. It’s all there though, just waiting in the wings, trickling into being, slowly but ever so surely.

Milwaukee is a city that has a bronze statue of Arthur Fonzarelli gracing its Riverwalk. Yes, that would be the Fonz.  

Milwaukee is very real city, full of very real people, with real, blue-collar roots. A melting pot of European immigration, we've always been a town of pubs and pews, and the spirit and sense of hardworking community has been with us ever since. The Sewer Socialism movement started in Milwaukee, too... wicked-cool, real-deal "for the people by the people" kind of stuff. And this... this is exactly what I love about Milwaukee so much. To me, there’s no city more beautiful in physicality or concept, and right now I believe we're in the throes of a renaissance. 

Milwaukeeans love Milwaukee with a spirit and fervor that might be unmatched, because the heart of a city that’s more than surviving but not fully thriving has only itself, its past, and some unwritten potential to rely upon. We haven’t boomed and we haven’t busted, so we’re working for something. I don’t know if even we know what that something is yet, but we’re working, and hard. (Because Midwestern work ethic, eh?)

Milwaukee's spirit lives in the preservation and commitment to rehabbing and repurposing our historic structures. It’s in our robust culture of solar energy, urban agriculture and freshwater research and development. It’s in that Midwestern farm-to-table reality when it comes to food. It’s in the people that are doing things to make the city work  — long-term — because if you do things here, they really matter. They really count. 

Milwaukee is authentic. Call it real, call it honest, call it what you will, but the people and businesses that make up this city can’t seem to be anything but. Milwaukee will welcome you and love you and buy you a beer and make you feel right at home, but we aren’t overeager to prove anything to you. Authenticity abounds in many forms in this city; sometimes it’s sexy, and sometimes it's sweatpants. I like all of it. 

After landing here by chance and staying by choice, Milwaukee's certainly a part of me and I a part of it. Despite the challenges (or maybe even partly because of them), I adore this scrappy city with all my dang heart. And I'm sure you will as well, should you find yourself here by choice or by chance.

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Words by Rachel Fell
Photos by  Luke J. Rosynek