I’m not going to lie. This week, I have a very heavy heart.
Why?
From 1990 to 2005 I was employed by manufacturing companies that made their homes in the ‘burbs. Franklin, Sussex, Waukesha… I worked ’em all. Then, in late 2004 an opportunity arose for me to work in Walker’s Point neighborhood. Once I decided that the role was a good career fit, I was delighted to accept a position that permitted me to work daily in the city of my birth: Milwaukee.
It was perfect. I had a job for which I was well-suited, I was comfortably near my Wauwatosa home, and I got to work in the burgeoning and gentrifying neighborhood that is Walker’s Point.
While the job had its occasional shortcomings, working in the 53204 more than made up for it. To be gainfully employed in Walker’s Point was a benefit that never would appear in the employees’ handbook: dinners at great local restaurants, mind-clearing walks to The Milwaukee Public Market, lunch daily (if you wished) on marvelous Mexican food, happy hour on Wednesday nights at Steny’s with coworkers, lakefront runs after work and on and on.
I have loved it. And along the way (not entirely separate from the advent of social media), I have made and fortified some great friendships.
However, my nine-year run in Walker’s Point is done. The business for which I work (Federal Mfg.) is moving to Pewaukee this week. Last Friday was our last day at 201 W. Walker St.
*Sniff*
And I’m really gonna miss it.
If you haven’t been paying attention, Milwaukee is where it’s at. It’s not only my hometown, but it’s the place I want to be. It has so much going on and it’s been fun to be a part of its rebirth as a modern 21st century American city.
Here’s an example of one of the things that I’m really going to miss: coffee. Oh, not that I still won’t quaff voluminous amounts at our new corporate home, but the availability of good coffee from our city’s fine shops will be stunted. When I drive eight miles from Wauwatosa to Walker’s Point in the morning, with only the slightest deviation from a straight-line, I can hit the following:
• Highlands Café
• Valentine Coffee
• Stone Creek Coffee – Wauwatosa
• Rocket Baby Bakery
• Cranky Al’s
• Stone Creek Coffee – Downtown
• Colectivo — East Tosa
• Colectivo — Third Ward
• Colectivo — The Foundry
• Anodyne — Bruce Street (where I am currently authoring this blog)
• The National Takeaway
• Holey Moley Doughnuts featuring delicious Hawthorne Coffee
• Plus at least three Starbucks
My new route will take me straight west through Wauwatosa along North Avenue. Fortunately, there is a Colectivo at 92nd Street. After that, well…I do remember seeing a PDQ somewhere out on County F.
Me, west of Hwy 100. Imagine that. For the last nine years you had a better chance of spotting Elvis eating a banana split at Leon’s.
To get through the week, I’ll focus on the good stuff: our business does need modern facilities and the building that we will inhabit was built to our precise specifications. That will be nice and I am greatly looking forward to the updated facilities.
But dang, it sure would be nice if Cielito Lindo would drive that taco truck of theirs out every once in a while.
Plus, just a thought …. Steny’s West. 😉
Mike Collins is vice president of Federal Mfg.
