Maybe you live in Milwaukee already, or you’re considering moving to the city; either way we’ve put together 5 interesting facts about the city… things you should know if you’re going to live here, and even things that are useful to know if you’re visiting on vacation.
1. Beer Flavored Nicknames
Residents of Milwaukee are very fond of their city; so much so that they gave it 10 different nicknames! But did you know that four of those nicknames relate to Milwaukee’s history as a brewing town? Brew City, Beer City, Brew Town, and Beertown all reflect the fact that Milwaukee was synonymous with beer, all starting way back in the 1850s. The Germans brought their recipes for beer with them when they moved to Milwaukee and established their own breweries. By 1856 there were around 25 breweries in Milwaukee, sending their beers out around the city and the rest of the nation. Despite this, there is only one major brewer left in the city today and that’s Miller. Even so, Milwaukee’s nicknames have stuck with the city, and its residents still have a liking for beer – there are numerous beer halls and taverns dotted all over the city.
2. Sports Teams
As well as the city’s association with brewing, Milwaukee has had a plentiful professional and non-professional history of sporting. What better name than the Milwaukee Brewers for the professional baseball team who play at Miller Park?! The city has a professional basketball team too, the Milwaukee Bucks, who play at the Bradley Center, and the Bradley Center is also home to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. Soccer and football are big in Milwaukee so there’s plenty of opportunity to get out there and support a team.
3. Cold and Snowy in Milwaukee
If you’re thinking of moving to Milwaukee you need to know about the city’s weather. Summers are really quite nice, but it’s the winters you need to worry about! Being right on Lake Michigan Milwaukee does suffer from cold, windy, and snowy winters so if you don’t like that kind of weather maybe you should consider moving to Florida instead! Seriously though, in the summer you can expect it to be warm and humid and relatively sunny, despite fairly heavy rainfall some days. The average high in July is 80 F, and the average low 63 F. By January the days are cold – there’s an average of 14.7 inches of snow in January and the average high is a chilly 29 F.
4. Movies and TV
Did you know that two of the best loved TV shows from the 1970s and 1980s were set here in Milwaukee? Yep, “Happy Days”, and “Laverne and Shirley” are Milwaukee classics, and if you’re a fan of the Fonze you should head down to the Riverwalk in downtown to see a life-sized bronze statue of him. Milwaukee has also appeared in, or been depicted in, many movies including “Bridesmaids”, “The Blues Brothers”, “Dawn of the Dead”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”.
5. City of Festivals
Another of Milwaukee’s nicknames is City of Festivals, given for the large number of festivals held in the city every year. If you enjoy culture, music, cuisine, and generally having a good time you’re going to love living in Milwaukee! Summerfest is probably the best known event – heralded as the largest music festival in the world, but there are many other smaller festivals too such as Pridefest, Polish Fest, German Fest, Festa Italiana, and Train Fest which is the largest operating model railroad show in America.
