BY ARCHER PARQUETTE, RICH ROVITO AND ALLI WATTERS
READ MORE BEST OF MILWAUKEE 2023
National Stagecraft
A shout out to Visit Milwaukee’s big year-plus
Here at Milwaukee Magazine, we’ve been singing our city’s praises for years (40 to be exact). There’s always been plenty to rave about, but this year it felt like you couldn’t scroll a feed without seeing Cream City getting some nice pub – thanks in no small part to the folks at Visit Milwaukee and their banner year.
Let’s start with the big one: beating out Nashville to land the Republican National Convention. After getting stiffed out of a real convention by COVID in 2020, we’re finally hosting a legit one, not a glorified Zoom call. Regardless of your political leanings, the RNC is bringing some great stuff to the city – tourism dollars, a national stage, local investment and more. Then there was “Good Things Brewing,” Visit Milwaukee’s television show that played across the Midwest, showcasing the best of MKE. We were a little skeptical until the first episode – it’s actually awesome, and really shows off the city in a fun and engaging way. As a tie-in to the show, the Visit crew (Visiteers, perhaps?) helped launch a new shoe with Nike (see above).
Visit Milwaukee also got us a billboard in none other than Times Square on New Year’s Eve, helped land Milwaukee a spot in National Geographic as a “Best of the World” destination, and had a hand in “Top Chef” coming to the Badger State, too. There’s a palpable and infectious excitement around all these developments, and we’ve loved watching it grow.
Editors’ Picks
Milwaukee Tool’s Big Splash
It’s not exactly public art, but Milwaukee Tool’s dramatic large-format signs on the company’s new Westown office building come pretty close. At five stories high, bright red and featuring the city’s name above a stylized white lightning bolt, is there a better fit for a Downtown Milwaukee business? The company remains headquartered in Brookfield, but as of late spring when the big signs went up on the North Fifth Street office, more than 700 employees were toiling inside, and the company plans to add hundreds more. It’s good news for the restaurants and shops that bank on Downtown workers.
Defending Milwaukee
In May, local favorite weatherman Mark Baden of WISN 12 took to Twitter (before its “X” rebranding) to spit some facts: “I do not understand the hate for the city of Milwaukee especially from people that live in Wisconsin. There is so much that is great about the city. Is it perfect? No. But how does disparaging Milwaukee help move the city forward?” The tweet sparked quite the debate between Milwaukee-lovers and the more skeptical, but Baden held the line, not sugar-coating the city’s problems, but also promoting it as the awesome place it is. Good on Baden – and all of those who do so in their forums of choice.
Chris Ponteri Runs All of MKE
In November, Tosa resident Chris Ponteri finished the lengthy and somewhat obsessive task of running every single block in the city of Milwaukee – a total of 1,424 miles. That’s impressive enough, but what really makes his effort cool is how he used the accomplishment to promote the city’s diversity. “There are so many areas of Milwaukee people consider dangerous, and I tried to show people that maybe you should open your mind to these neighborhoods,” he said.
A Fresh Take on MPM
There have been sharp questions about what’s being left out of the new iteration of the Milwaukee Public Museum, but it seems everyone’s a fan of the design by architects Ennead and Kahler Slater. If the white, wavy buildings evoking the rock formations of Mill Bluff State Park in west-central Wisconsin live up to the sharp renderings, we just might have a second landmark museum in Milwaukee.
Sneak Attack!
Not one, not two, but three pairs of very Milwaukee sneakers (all Nikes) hit the market this year. Here are our power rankings.
SLICK!
Freak 5
The fifth shoe in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s signature line dropped in July in two colorways that pay tribute to his Greek-Nigerian heritage. We’re partial to the green and red evoking Giannis’ rookie-season jersey.
IF I DON’T GET THESE, I’M GONNA CRY!
G.T. Cut 2 “Arike Ogunbowale”
There are two color options for this shoe – named after the Milwaukee native and WNBA star – but we only care about the bright, mandarin orange pair. On the back of these sleek sneaks is an imprint of the Milwaukee skyline. I know, right– the tears are welling up.
NEED!
Cream City Kicks
These hand-painted Air Force 1s come from a collab between Visit Milwaukee and local custom sneaker genius Noel Alvarado. The cheesy design was supposed to be a limited-edition offering but their popularity has them (at least temporarily) as a full-time offering on noelito.art.
