Milwaukee is the largest city within the state of Wisconsin and 25th largest (by population) in the United States. The city is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. As of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, Milwaukee had a population of 573,378. Large numbers of German and other immigrants helped increase the city's population during the 1840s and the following decades.
Once known almost exclusively as a brewing and manufacturing powerhouse, Milwaukee has taken steps in recent years to reshape its image, in large part by reviving its downtown. In the past decade, new additions to downtown have included the Milwaukee Riverwalk, the Midwest Airlines Center, an internationally renowned addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Discovery World, as well as major renovations to the Milwaukee Auditorium and U.S. Cellular Arena. In addition, many new skyscrapers, condos, lofts, and apartments have been constructed in neighborhoods on and near the lakefront and riverbanks for the purpose of attracting new residents to the city.

History
The name "Milwaukee" comes from an Algonquian word Millioke, meaning either "Good/Beautiful/Pleasant Land" (c.f. Potawatomi language minwaking, Ojibwe language ominowakiing) or "Gathering place [by the water]" (c.f. Potawatomi language manwaking, Ojibwe language omaniwakiing).

Milwaukee's name

Geography
The city runs largely on the grid system, although in the far northwest and southwest corners of the city, the grid pattern gives way to a more suburban-style streetscape. This is no coincidence as former mayor Henry Maier sought to create "suburbs within the city" using recently annexed land to help counteract the urban sprawl that was damaging the city's economy. North-south streets are numbered, and east-west streets are named. However north-south streets east of 1st street are named, like east-west streets. The north-south numbering line is along the Menomonee River (east of Hawley Road) and Fairview Avenue/Golfview Parkway (west of Hawley Road), with the east-west numbering line defined along 1st Street (north of Oklahoma Avenue) and Chase/Howell Avenue (south of Oklahoma Avenue). This numbering system is also used to the north by Mequon in Ozaukee County, and by some Waukesha County communities.
It is crossed by Interstate 43 and Interstate 94, which come together downtown at the Marquette Interchange, which is currently under an extensive construction project set to be completed in 2008. The cost of the reconstruction will be around $810 million. The Interstate 894 bypass runs through portions of the city's southwest side, and Interstate 794 comes out of the Marquette interchange eastbound, bends south along the lakefront and crosses the harbor over the Hoan Bridge, then ends near the Bay View neighborhood and becomes the "Lake Parkway" (WIS-794).

Cityscape
Further information: List of Milwaukee neighborhoods

Neighborhoods

Main article: Climate of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Climate

Demographics
As of the census estimate of 2005, there are 578,887 people residing in Milwaukee. As of 2000, there were 232,188 households, and 135,133 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,399.5/km² (6,214.3 per square mile). There are 249,225 housing units at an average density of 1,001.7/km² (2,594.4 per square mile).
There are 232,188 households out of which 30.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% are married couples living together, 21.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.8% are non-families. 33.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.50 and the average family size is 3.25.
According to the 2000 Census, there were at least 1,408 same-sex households in Milwaukee which accounts for 0.6% of all households in the city.

Population
According to the 2000 census, 39.5% of Milwaukeeans reported having African-American ancestry and 38% reported German ancestry. Other significant population groups include Polish (12.7%), Irish (10%), English (5.1%), Italian (4.4%), French (3.9%), with Hispanic origin totaling 13.3%.
The metropolitan area has been frequently cited as being hypersegregated, and was long known as the most segregated metro area in the U.S.

Race and ethnicity
Milwaukee is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA and the headquarters of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis have their mother house in Milwaukee and several other religious orders have a significant presence in the area, including the Jesuits and Franciscans.
The Association of Religion Data Archives reported on the religious composition of the Milwaukee-Racine area as of 2000. Approximately 55% of residents were adherents to one of the 188 groups included in the data. Of them, 58% were Catholic, 23% Lutheran, 3% Methodist, and 2.5% Jewish. Others included adherents to other Protestant denominations, Orthodox churches, and Eastern religions. Historically African-American denominations were not included in the data.

Religion

Education
Higher education in Milwaukee is dominated by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on the East Side and Marquette University, located just west of downtown. In addition, Milwaukee is home to Alverno College, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Mount Mary College. Several additional colleges lie in Milwaukee's suburbs: Carroll College, Concordia University Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin, St. Francis Seminary, University of Wisconsin-Washington County, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha and Wisconsin Lutheran College. A January 2000 study from McGill University ranked Milwaukee 6th in a list of U.S. and Canadian cities with the highest number of college students per 100 residents.

Higher education

Main article: Milwaukee Public Schools Primary and secondary schooling
In 1990, Milwaukee became the first community in the United States to adopt a school voucher program. The program enables students to receive public funding to study at parochial and other private schools free of cost. The 2006-2007 school year will mark the first time that more than $100 million will be paid in vouchers, as twenty-six percent of Milwaukee students will receive public funding to attend schools outside the MPS system.

School voucher program

Main article: Government of Milwaukee Government and Politics
Milwaukee and its suburbs are the home to the headquarters of 13 Fortune 1000 companies, including Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, Manpower Inc., Kohl's, Harley-Davidson, Rockwell Automation, Fiserv, Marshall & Ilsley Corp., Wisconsin Energy, Briggs & Stratton, Joy Global, A.O. Smith, and MGIC Investments. The Milwaukee metropolitan area ranks fifth in the United States in terms of the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters as a share of the population. Milwaukee also has a large number of financial service firms, particularly those specializing in mutual funds and transaction processing systems, and a number of publishing and printing companies, including Quad/Graphics. Milwaukee is also the headquarters of Midwest Airlines, the Koss Corporation, Master Lock, and C&H Distributors.
Service and managerial jobs are the fastest-growing segments of the Milwaukee economy, and health care alone makes up 27% the jobs in the city.[2] Twenty-two percent of Milwaukee's workforce is involved in manufacturing, second only to San Jose, California, and far higher than the national average of 16.5%.

Economy
Milwaukee was once the home to four of the world's largest breweries (Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst, and Miller), and was the number one beer producing city in the world for many years. Despite the decline in its position as the world's leading beer producer after the loss of three of those breweries, its one remaining major brewery, Miller Brewing Company, remains a key employer by employing over 1,700 of the city's workers. Due to Miller's solid position as the second-largest beer-maker in the U.S., as well as basing its world headquarters in Milwaukee, the city remains known as a beer town despite now only representing a fraction of its economy. The historic Milwaukee Brewery, located in "Miller Valley" at 4000 West State Street, is the oldest still-functioning major brewery in the United States.

Brewing

Culture
Milwaukee's most visually prominent cultural attraction is the Milwaukee Art Museum, especially its new $100 million wing designed by Santiago Calatrava in his first American commission. The museum includes a "brise soleil," a moving sunscreen that unfolds like the wing of a bird. Milwaukee is also home to the America's Black Holocaust Museum. Founded by lynching survivor James Cameron, the museum features exhibits which chronicle the injustices suffered throughout history by people of African descent in the United States. The Milwaukee Public Museum, Discovery World Museum, Betty Brinn Children's Museum, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, the Charles Allis Art Museum, Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory and Milwaukee County Zoo are also notable public attractions.

Museums
Milwaukee is home to the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Festival City Symphony, the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Skylight Opera Theatre, First Stage Children's Theater, Milwaukee Youth Theatre, and a number of other arts organizations including the Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps. Additionally, Milwaukee is home to artistic performance venues such as the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Pabst Theater, The Rave/Eagles Ballroom, Riverside Theater, and Milwaukee Theatre. The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, a first-of-its-kind Arts-in-education facility, is a national model.

Performing arts
Milwaukee, "A Great Place on a Great Lake" has also advertised itself as the "City of Festivals," emphasizing an annual lakefront fair called Summerfest. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest music festival in the world, Summerfest attracts around 1,000,000 visitors a year to its twelve stages.
Along with Summerfest, Milwaukee is home to a variety of ethnic and socially themed festivals throughout the summer. Held primarily on the lakefront Summerfest grounds, these festivals span several days (typically Friday plus the weekend) and celebrate Milwaukee's history and diversity. PrideFest-a celebration of Milwaukee's LGBT community-typically kicks off the festival season in early June. The season is concluded with Indian Summer in early September. Polish, Greek, French, Italian, German, [African World Festival]African-American, Arab, Irish, Native American, Asian and Mexican heritages are celebrated throughout the summer.
The Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau publishes a schedule of major events.

Festivals

Main article: Music of Milwaukee Music
Through its Milwaukee Wireless Initiative, the city has contracted with Midwest Fiber Networks to invest $20 million in setting up wireless infrastructure city-wide. Full wireless coverage is expected by March 2008. Under the plan, the city will designate numerous government and public service websites for free access, and city residents will be able to access unlimited content for a monthly fee.
The city had previously established free wireless networks in two downtown city parks: Cathedral Square and Pere Marquette Park.

Municipal wireless

Main article: Sports in Milwaukee Sports
See also: Milwaukee (Amtrak station)
Two of Wisconsin's main Interstate highways intersect in Milwaukee. Interstate 94 comes north from Chicago to enter Milwaukee and continues west to Madison. Interstate 43 enters Milwaukee from the southwest and continues north to Green Bay. Milwaukee has two branch interstate highways, Interstate 894 and Interstate 794. I-894 extends from the western suburbs to the southern suburbs, bypassing downtown. I-794 extends east from the Marquette Interchange to Lake Michigan before turning south over the Hoan Bridge toward the airport, turning into Highway 794 along the way.
Milwaukee is also served by three US highways. U.S. Route 18 provides a link from downtown to points west. U.S. Route 41 and U.S. Route 45 both provide north-south freeway transportation on the western side of the city.
U.S. Route 41, connects the city with the Fox Valley, is being considered for expansion which will qualify it for an upgrade to Interstate status. The proposed Interstate 41 would become Milwaukee's third main Interstate.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, serves Milwaukee, operating its Empire Builder daily in both directions between Chicago Union Station and the Pacific Northwest. The city is also served by the Hiawatha Amtrak express service six times daily between Milwaukee and Chicago.
The Milwaukee County Transit System provides a bus transit system. In addition, Milwaukee is home to two airports, General Mitchell International Airport on the southern edge of the city, and the smaller Timmerman Field on the north side.
A tram system known as the Milwaukee Connector was proposed and passed by the common council, but mayor Tom Barrett vetoed the bill over problems of cost and availability. Currently, a 0.5% sales tax is being proposed for the counties of Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha by the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to fund a commuter rail from Kenosha to downtown Milwaukee. The tax would also be used to fund the bus systems in those counties which currently rely on property taxes.[3]
In recent years, Milwaukee has become one of the more bicycle friendly cities in the Untied States. In 2006, it obtained bronze-level status from the League of American Bicyclists [4], a rarity for a city its size[5]. The city has over 65 miles of bicycle lanes and trails, most of which run alongside or near its rivers and Lake Michigan.

Transportation
Milwaukee's leading newspaper is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The most prominent weekly is Shepherd Express, a free publication. Other local newspapers, city guides and magazines with large distributions include M Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE (magazine), The Onion, and Riverwest Currents. OnMilwaukee.com is an online magazine providing news and events.
Milwaukee's major network television affiliates are WTMJ 4 (NBC), WITI 6 (Fox), WISN 12 (ABC), WVTV 18 (CW), WCGV 24 (MyNetworkTV), and WDJT 58 (CBS). WMLW 41 is a popular independent commercial station in Milwaukee largely due to its coverage of local collegiate sports teams. Spanish language programming is on WBWT 38 (Azteca America) and WYTU-LP 63 (Telemundo). Milwaukee's public broadcasting stations are WMVS 10 and WMVT 36.
There are numerous radio stations throughout Milwaukee and the surrounding area.
See also:

List of Milwaukee area television stations
List of Milwaukee area radio stations Sister cities

List of mayors of Milwaukee
List of Milwaukeeans
Flag of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Seal of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sewer Socialism
Third Coast
Miller Park