Waukesha, Wisconsin

Waukesha, Wisconsin
Location in Wisconsin
County	Waukesha
Government
• Mayor	Larry Nelson (D)
Area
• Total	70.4 km2 (27.2 sq mi)
• Water	0.2 km2 (0.1 sq mi)  0.26%
Population  (2000)
• Total	64,825
• Density	2,399.5/km2 (6,214.3/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (Central)
Website	http://www.ci.waukesha.wi.us

Waukesha [ˈwɑkəˌʃɑ] is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha CountyTemplate:GR, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, Waukesha had a total population of 64,826. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha.

In 2006, Money ranked Waukesha 36th on its list of the 100 best places to live in the United States.

History

The area that the city now encompasses was first inhabited in 1834. By 1846, the area was incorporated as the Village of Prairieville. On February 8, 1847, it changed its name to Waukesha. And in 1896, Waukesha incorporated as a city.

Waukesha was known for its extremely clean and good-tasting spring water and was called a spa town. This earned the city the nicknames "Spring City" and "Saratoga of the West". However, emissions have since ruined these springs, and a number have gone dry. But during this particular era in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many celebrities of their day came to reside there for a while, such as Mary Todd Lincoln after her husband's death.

During the Cold War Waukesha County hosted three Nike Missile batteries, which were located in the city of Waukesha as well as nearby Muskego and Lannon. In the city of Waukesha the US Army and later the Wisconsin National Guard operated the command and control center from 1956-70 at what is now Hillcrest Park on Davidson Road. The missile pits existed near the corner of Cleveland Ave and Hwy 164- first holding Ajax missiles with conventional warheads and later the nuclear equipped Hercules. The Hercules warhead provided a similar nuclear capability as that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in WWII. The Midwest Chapter of the Cold War Museum has promoted the preservation of the Hillcrest Park site as a local Cold War museum, honoring Cold War veterans and commemorating America's longest and costliest conflict. [1]

In 2006, Waukesha had a non-partisan election for mayor. Local pundits, however, labeled Ann Nischke as the Republicans' candidate and Larry Nelson as the Democrats' candidate. Larry Nelson won the election, which may show a change of politics in historically conservative Waukesha County.[2] Nelson is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Waukesha's name

The name of the city means "fox" or "foxes," either from the Ojibwe word Waagoshag or the Potawatomi word Wauk-tsha.

Geography and Climate

Waukesha is located near the center of Waukesha County in southeastern Wisconsin, 18 miles west of Milwaukee. Waukesha is also located 59 miles east of Madison. The city shares borders with City of Brookfield, Town of Brookfield, Genesee, New Berlin, City of Pewaukee, and Town of Waukesha.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 56.2 km² (21.7 mi²). About 55.9 km² (21.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.32%) is water.

The city is located on the banks of the Fox River, which starts near Menomonee Falls and flows into the Illinois River.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	58	66	82	91	93	100	109	101	101	88	77	68
Norm High °F	27	33	44	57	70	80	84	82	73	61	45	33
Norm Low °F	11	17	27	38	49	58	63	62	53	42	30	18
Rec Low °F	-27	-28	-14	7	26	34	42	39	28	17	-9	-23
Precip (in)	1.48	1.31	2.28	3.53	3.02	3.78	3.83	4.77	3.52	2.62	2.63	1.87
Source: Weather.com

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	1,456		—
1870	2,633		80.8%
1880	2,969		12.8%
1890	6,321		112.9%
1900	7,419		17.4%
1910	8,740		17.8%
1920	12,558		43.7%
1930	17,176		36.8%
1940	19,242		12.0%
1950	21,233		10.3%
1960	30,004		41.3%
1970	40,271		34.2%
1980	50,365		25.1%
1990	56,894		13.0%
2000	64,825		13.9%
2005 (est.)	67,658
Source: U.S. Census

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 64,825 people, 25,663 households, and 16,296 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,158.8/km² (3,000.5/mi²). There were 26,856 housing units at an average density of 480.1/km² (1,243.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.22% White, 1.28% African American, 0.33% Native American, 2.17% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.31% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.58% of the population.

Approximately 32.5% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. Some 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,084, and the median income for a family was $60,841. Males had a median income of $40,743 versus $29,279 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,242. About 3.0% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Waukesha is home to Carroll College, a private four-year Presbyterian school. Opening in 1846, it is the oldest college in the state. As a liberal arts school, it offers more than fifty areas of study at mostly an undergraduate level.

Additionally, the public two-year University of Wisconsin-Waukesha is on Waukesha's northwest side.

The School District of Waukesha serves the city and portions of other municipalities. It operates four high schools in the city: Waukesha South High School, Waukesha West High School, Waukesha North High School, and Harvey Phillip High School, an alternative school. It also runs three middle schools and 17 elementary schools.

The city is also home to Waukesha County's only Catholic high school, Catholic Memorial High School.

Notable natives

Listed are people or groups who are native to Waukesha, though they may not reside in the city anymore.

• Steve Miller, rock musician
• BoDeans, rock band
• Frank Caliendo, comedian
• Les Paul, guitarist, pioneer of the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording
• Alexander Randall, state governor, namesake of Camp Randall Stadium
• Tim Ward, American soccer player who currently plays for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer
• Paul Hamm, Olympic gymnastic gold medalist (born, but reside in the Town of Waukesha)
• Morgan Hamm, Olympic gymastic contender (born, but reside in the Town of Waukesha)
• Susan Hawk, Survivor: Pulau Tiga and Survivor: All-Stars contestant
• Austin Aries, professional wrestler
• Cullen Casey Orchestra, Founder Cullen Casey
• Kurt Bestor, composer, conductor, musician
• Vernor Vinge, renowned science fiction author
• Leslie Osborne, United States women's national soccer team

City technology

Cellnet Technology Inc (based in Alpharetta, Georgia) plans to make Waukesha the second community in Wisconsin outfitted with a city-wide Wi-Fi network blanket. (Midwest Fiber Networks is scheduled to make Milwaukee the state's first wi-fi municipality by summer 2006.)

Cellnet, which began working on a similar "blanket" for Madison, Wisconsin in early 2006, had planned to present their idea to Waukesha's Information Technology Advisory Committee in February 2006. If the proposed installation of the network goes through, city residents would only have to buy a wireless card (typically $50 USD) to gain access to the internet from any area in Waukesha.

External links

• City of Waukesha