Developers say they are committed to preserving its pedestrian-friendly character. Old industries dying off, workhorse river polluted, downtown faded, population shrinking. If it sounds a lot like Milwaukee in the late 1980s, it was also, until recently, Bilbao. Today, thanks to a massive investment in path-breaking architecture and visionary planning, this urban invalid in northern Spain has come back to life with a bang. Tourists who flock here from around the globe to see Frank Gehry's shimmering, titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum also find a reborn city, its waterfront in the throes of renewal, its bustling downtown streets lined with swank shops, its ancient center being restored.
Industries are cleaner, jobs are plentiful and the population is no longer hemorrhaging.
And, for all the cultural and political differences between the two cities, there may be lessons in it for Milwaukee, as our own community tries to reinvent itself with a Santiago Calatrava-designed museum addition and a boom in redevelopment downtown. Some Bilbao architects, in turn, think their city could learn a thing or two from Milwaukee. Industries were in decline. People were moving away. Hotels were only 10 percent to 15 percent occupied on weekends.