Remains of earliest German settlements in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- German place names in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German commerce in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German institutions in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German ways of life in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- German footprints on the physical terrain in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Efforts to remove German footprints in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Restoring Milwaukee's German essence.

German immigrants began arriving to Milwaukee in the 1830s. By 1859, over one-third of the city was German. They opened schools and churches, started businesses, ran for office, and introduced professional German theater, art, and music to the city. Milwaukee soon became known throughout the United States--and even abroad--as the "German Athens of North America." There is a reason Milwaukee is known as the city of beer and brats, why it is here that the biggest Germanfest in the country takes place, and why still today the German language can be seen and heard throughout the city. As the well-known German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine stated in 2008, "Deutscher als Milwaukee ist nirgendwo in Amerika" (There is nowhere in America more German than in Milwaukee).

Documents 170 years of Riverwest, a Milwaukee neighborhood "tucked neatly into a long curve of the Milwaukee River, north of downtown ... echoes some of the dominant themes in American history, from European immigration to racial integration and from urban decay to urban rebirth"--Foreword, p. [v]-vi.

Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods is the most comprehensive account of grassroots Milwaukee ever published. Based on the popular series of posters published by the City of Milwaukee in the 1980s, the book features both historical chronicles and contemporary portraits of 37 neighborhoods that emerged before World War II, an ensemble that defines the city of Milwaukee. Richly illustrated, engagingly written and organized for maximum ease of use, the book is a fine-grained introduction to the community.

Milwaukees Brady Street neighborhood, bounded by the Milwaukee River, Lake Michigan, Ogdon Avenue, and Kane Place, is arguably the most densely-populated square mile in the state of Wisconsin. A mix of historic shops, single-family homes, apartments, and condos, Brady Street boasts of great diversity that draws from many distinct eras. It began in the mid-19th century as a crossroads between middle-class Yankees from the east and early German settlers. Polish and Italian immigrants soon followed, working the mills, tanneries, and breweries that lined the riverbank. After these groups had assimilated and many of their descendents moved to the suburbs, the hippies in the 1960s arrived with their counterculture to fill the void. By the 1980s, the area fell into blight, neglect, and decay; now, a true model for new urbanism, the Brady Street neighborhood is in the midst of a renaissance.