During the French and Indian War, a group of "Ojibwas and Pottawattamies from the far [Lake] Michigan" (i.e., the area from Milwaukee to Green Bay) joined the French-Canadian Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu at the Battle of the Monongahela.

Kindergarten was created as a pre-school for children, and sports programs of all levels, as well as music and art, were incorporated as elements of the regular school curriculum.

[55] Although the German presence in Milwaukee after the Civil War remained strong and their largest wave of immigrants had yet to land, other groups also made their way to the city.

[57] By 1850, there were seventy-five Poles in Milwaukee County and the US Census shows they had a variety of occupations: grocers, blacksmiths, tavernkeepers, coopers, butchers, broommakers, shoemakers, draymen, laborers, and farmers.

As Mitchell Street grew more dense, the Polish population started moving south to the Lincoln Village neighborhood, home to the Basilica of St. Josaphat and Kosciuszko Park.

[61] In addition to the Germans and Poles, Milwaukee received a large influx of other European immigrants from Lithuania, Italy, Ireland, France, Russia, Bohemia, and Sweden, who included Jews, Lutherans, and Catholics.

[citation needed] Milwaukee's East Side has attracted a population of Russians and other Eastern Europeans who began migrating in the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War.

[69] By the late 1960s, Milwaukee's population had started to decline as people moved to suburbs, aided by ease of highways and offering the advantages of less crime, new housing, and lower taxation.

Milwaukee's terrain is sculpted by the glacier path and includes steep bluffs along Lake Michigan that begin about a mile (1.6 km) north of downtown.

These risks include worsened heat waves because many of its residents do not possess air conditioners, concerns about the water quality of Lake Michigan, and increased chances of flooding from intense rainstorms.

[116] Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan and other waterways, Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley has historically been home to manufacturing, stockyards, rendering plants, shipping, and other heavy industry.

[118] Reshaping of the valley began with the railroads built by city co-founder Byron Kilbourn to bring product from Wisconsin's farm interior to the port.

[125] Milwaukee is the home to the international headquarters of seven Fortune 500 companies: Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, Fiserv, Manpower, Rockwell Automation, Harley-Davidson and WEC Energy Group.

[135] Exhibits feature Africa, Europe, the Arctic, Oceania, and South and Middle America, ancient Western civilizations, dinosaurs, the tropical rainforest, streets of Old Milwaukee, a European Village, live insects and arthropods, a Samson gorilla replica, the Puelicher Butterfly Wing, hands-on laboratories, and animatronics.

[138] America's Black Holocaust Museum, founded by lynching survivor James Cameron, featured exhibits which chronicle the injustices suffered throughout history by African Americans in the United States.

Held generally on the lakefront Summerfest grounds, these festivals span several days (typically Friday plus the weekend) and celebrate Milwaukee's history and diversity.

Milwaukee's ethnic cuisines include German, Italian, Russian, Hmong, French, Serbian, Polish, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Ethiopian.

[157] Milwaukee was the host city of the International Cycling Classic, which included the men's and women's Superweek Pro Tour races, featuring cyclists and teams from across the United States and more than 20 other countries.

Milwaukee County Farmers Markets, held in season, sell fresh produce, meats, cheeses, jams, jellies, preserves and syrups, and plants.

[170] Tim Carpenter (D), Lena Taylor (D), Robyn Vining (D), LaTonya Johnson (D), Chris Larson (D), Alberta Darling (R), and Dave Craig (R) represent Milwaukee in the State Senate; Daniel Riemer (D), JoCasta Zamarripa (D), Marisabel Cabrera (D), David Bowen (D), Jason Fields (D), LaKeshia Myers (D), Sara Rodriguez (D), Dale P. Kooyenga (R), Kalan Haywood (D), David Crowley (D), Evan Goyke (D), Jonathan Brostoff (D), Christine Sinicki (D), Janel Brandtjen (R), and Mike Kuglitsch (R) represent Milwaukee in the State Assembly.

[citation needed] Milwaukee's major network television affiliates are WTMJ 4 (NBC), WITI 6 (Fox), WISN 12 (ABC), WVTV 18 (CW), WCGV-TV 24 (MyNetworkTV), and WDJT 58 (CBS).

[197][198] Journal Media Group merged with Gannett in 2016, while Scripps sold the radio stations in 2018 to Good Karma Brands, effectively splitting off the monopoly completely.

Other health care non-profit organizations in Milwaukee include national headquarters of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the Endometriosis Association.

The Borealis provides daily service to Chicago and Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is supplemental to the long-distance cross-country Empire Builder, connecting Milwaukee to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.

[204][205] As a result of the 2021 infrastructure bill and the "Amtrak Connects Us" initiative, the Milwaukee Intermodal Station is again projected to serve passenger trains to Madison and Green Bay, with the goal of the new routes being operational by 2035.

[212] A 1990s Wisconsin DOT plan determined the path forward for east-west transportation in Milwaukee to be a mix of a comprehensive light rail system, an expansion of I-94 with HOV lanes, and increased bus service to Waukesha County.

[223] Since October 2018, when it enacted a Complete Streets policy, the city continuously considers the addition of bicycle facilities to roadways as part of new road projects.

[234] On February 10, 2015, a streetcar connecting the Milwaukee Intermodal Station with the city's Lower East Side was approved by the Common Council, bringing decades of sometimes acrimonious debate to a pause.

[238][239] Fiserv Forum, a new multipurpose arena at 1111 Vel R. Phillips Avenue, has been built to accommodate the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette Golden Eagles, as well as college and professional ice hockey games.

The arena has a transparent facade and a curved roof and side that is meant to evoke the water forms of nearby Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River.