Milwaukee is getting high praise on the national stage. Both the New York Times and the Huffington Post called Brew City 'America’s best-kept secret' this week.
Both articles offer glowing reports of Milwaukee’s downtown makeover; namely the new Northwestern Mutual tower and the Milwaukee Bucks arena construction.
In downtown Milwaukee, it's hard not to find construction cranes along the skyline. Now Wisconsinites aren't the only ones noticing.
"People around the country or on both coasts tend to fly over Milwaukee and don't recognize what we see here which is a great place, beautiful lake," said Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Tim Sheehy.
Sheehy said he wasn't surprised to see Milwaukee make headlines on two of the country’s largest publications.
First, a Huffington Post editorial highlighting a downtown resurgence with new skyscrapers and an arena popping up. In between them is a city seeing the impact of the skills revolution.
Then Tuesday, Milwaukee received similar praise from the New York Timesoutlining a downtown residential growth spurt.
"It has affordability, access and it has a population with great values and ethics," Sheehy said.
Despite Milwaukee’s accolades as a great place to live, work, play and learn, Brew City saw its population drop by more than 4,300 between 2015 and 2016.
"I think Milwaukee has an aging population so what we need to do is to get the message out," Sheehy said.
Sheehy said there are a couple factors holding Brew City back.
"Quite frankly, focus on the lack of racial diversity that we have in our workplace here," he said.
It's Sheehy's job to improve Milwaukee’s product to attract businesses across the country. He hopes articles like these help draw thousands to the area.
