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| McKinley Beach and the skyline of Milwaukee |
Nearby nature
and the arts combine for a high quality of life
Recently
Milwaukee Magazine, for which I write a column called Urban Wilderness, asked
contributors to list reasons why we love Milwaukee. My slightly amended answers
are listed below. The magazine used one of my own photos to illustrate the
first of my answers and then a couple of stock photos after that. I’ve included
all of my own photos in this version—as you would expect!
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| Warnimont Park, Milwaukee County Parks, Cudahy |
1. Lake Michigan.
Not only does Milwaukee
have public beaches and parkland for a
front yard in its downtown but also miles of lakefront parks that stretch the
length of Milwaukee County.
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| Milwaukee River Greenway, view north from Locust St. Bridge |
2. Four rivers.
All four of Milwaukee’s rivers—the Milwaukee, Menomonee, Kinnickinnic and
Root—have been endowed with parkways that enable citizens to hike and bike long
distances in natural settings.
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| The Big Bang over the Calatrava wing of the Milwaukee Art Museum |
3. Calatrava.
The newly improved Milwaukee
Art Museum is the place to go to for outstanding art, and even after 16
years the Calatrava wing with its kinetic roof still seems like a miracle—a
very worthy setting for fireworks!
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| The tropical dome in winter, Mitchell Park Conservatory |
4. The Domes.
The
Mitchell Park Conservatory is the best place to go when the weather is
lousy; of course they need to be repaired!
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| The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts |
5. The theater scene.
Milwaukee has so
many theatrical offerings it’s impossible to
keep up with them all: the Milwaukee Rep, Pabst Theater, Renaissance Theater,
and Next Act, to name just a few.
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| Scenic Route: MKE in Riverside Park |
In fact, on occasion my favorite things overlap, as in this
performance of “Scenic Route: MKE” wherein the dancers used Riverside Park and
the Milwaukee River as a stage.
The original version of this story was posted by Milwaukee Magazine on April 12, 2017.
To see more reasons why I love Milwaukee go to my Flickr albums.
