How Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee Is Building a Regional Movement for Change
Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee on a walking tour of the city.
Something was stirring in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In early 2023, within days of each other, several residents independently reached out to Strong Towns asking how to bring the movement to their city. That kind of synchronicity suggested something deeper: a growing appetite for change — for safer streets, more walkable neighborhoods, and a stronger, more resilient Milwaukee.
The first meetup took place on a cold January night at a local brewery. Nine people, including one baby, showed up. They shared stories about their neighborhoods, concerns about reckless driving, and dreams for safer streets. That conversation marked the beginning of what would become Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee — now a thriving, metro-spanning community of doers.
In those early meetings, the dominant issue was clear: the danger and dysfunction of Milwaukee’s streets. “I’ve lived a lot of places,” cofounder Julie Emery says, “and I’ve never seen anything like it. People routinely blow through stop signs and red lights. As someone who prefers to bike and walk, it was scary.” The urgency of that problem attracted people who were ready to act.
The turning point came when the group launched a DIY bus bench program. “When we started building something tangible, that’s when people’s commitment really deepened,” says Emery. Since then, the group has built around 30 benches and continues to improve the program with features like QR codes for reporting damage and volunteer maintenance teams. New partners — including churches and neighborhood associations — are signing on to co-host builds. “That one program changed everything,” says Emery. “It got us out of the just-talking phase.”
A Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee member builds a bus bench (left); QR codes make it easy for people to flag maintenance needs on the benches.
Today, Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee often draws 30 to 40 people to its monthly meetings. The energy is positive, the attendees are vocal, and the structure is intentionally flat. There are no official titles, and leadership is distributed across a team of seven people, all of whom work full-time jobs. That model wasn’t an accident — it’s a deliberate strategy to keep the group welcoming, sustainable, and dynamic. “When someone says, ‘I want to take this on,’ our answer is always yes. We hand things off with joy.”
This openness has helped the group grow beyond city limits. “We started seeing other Strong Towns groups pop up around us — in South Milwaukee, Elm Grove, and elsewhere,” recalls Emery. “And these weren’t strangers. They were people who had come through our group.” Rather than hold tight to a Milwaukee-only identity, the leadership team embraced the broader vision and rebranded as Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee. “We want to be a launching pad for the whole region,” Emery says. “That’s how you build a movement.”
Now the group is turning its attention to bigger campaigns, including the proposed removal of Interstate 794. It also includes supporting the city’s “The Housing Element” plan (formerly known as “Growing MKE”), which aims to reverse decades of population decline by increasing housing options across the city and supporting walkable neighborhoods. The group’s strategy isn’t to lobby from the sidelines — it’s to show up in public spaces, build trust with neighbors, and help tell a different story about what Milwaukee can become.
“We think most elected officials are already on board,” Emery says. “But they’re not always hearing from the people who support these changes. Our job is to shift the public conversation.”
That grassroots energy may already be spreading. Julie has noticed that members of Metro Milwaukee are carrying Strong Towns principles with them as they move to new cities due to career changes. “What we’re doing here is going to spread,” she says. “And that’s pretty exciting too.”
Strong Towns is a member-supported movement. If you're inspired by the work of Strong Towns Metro Milwaukee — or want to help grow this kind of grassroots action in your own community — consider becoming a member by making a donation of any amount.
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John Pattison is the Community Builder for Strong Towns. In this role, he works with advocates in hundreds of communities as they start and lead local Strong Towns groups called Local Conversations. John is the author of two books, most recently Slow Church (IVP), which takes inspiration from Slow Food and the other Slow movements to help faith communities reimagine how they live life together in the neighborhood. He also co-hosts The Membership, a podcast inspired by the life and work of Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer, writer, and activist. John and his family live in Silverton, Oregon. You can connect with him on Twitter at @johnepattison.
Want to start a Local Conversation, or implement the Strong Towns approach in your community? Email John.