Kenosha, Wisconsin is ten minutes from our home in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois. Since Winthrop Harbor is a bedroom town to Chicago, it has limited offerings for shopping and dining. So, Kenosha has been “our city” for nearly thirty years.
Kenosha (“Keno”) was a manufacturing and shipping center and, in the early 1900’s, had one of the largest auto manufacturing plants in the country. As late as the seventies, American Motors cars were manufactured in Kenosha and shipped via Lake Michigan. The auto industry remained in Kenosha until 2003 when the Crysler Dalmer engine plant closed. At its peak the industry employed 14,000 workers.
I love the way this city has repeatedly re-invented itself. What was once a Simmons bedding factory and American Motors plant on Lake Michigan became Harbor Park with over a thousand units overlooking the big lake, plus two new museums, a marina, and green space for scores of festivals.
The engine plant in the middle of the city is now torn down, the soil has been remediated, and the first buildings are going up in what is now the Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood. It is a hundred and seven acres devoted to an incubator for new businesses with several local educational institutions, medical, commercial, residential, and recreational space.
Kenosha Harbor District, the newest of the large developments, is downtown near the lake encompassing nine blocks devoted to scores of new residential units, office space, and a new city hall. Construction has already begun on the first five-story building with one hundred and fifty-eight units.
The world headquarters of Jockey, Snap-on tools, and Uline reside in Kenosha. The city and its burbs host several industrial parks with manufacturing and warehouse space for domestic and international companies, including Amazon and Microsoft.
Kenosha is not just a city that looks ahead, it also benefits from a strong heritage, which is Italian, German, and Irish. That translates to great old, family-owned delis, bakeries, and restaurants. It is loaded with places to get a brew, gourmet burger, or pizza. It also is home to the oldest dining car in the country, and two very popular old timey car-hop burger joints. For something nicer, there are a handful of venerable old Wisconsin supper clubs in town and the surrounding area.
The summer is a special time because there are so many free outdoor festivals, many on the lakefront. There are several offerings for free concerts every week from standards to rock, blues, and jazz. Every year a giant car show encompasses the entire downtown and a frontier rendezvous occupies Simmons Island. Many years the tall sailing ships use Kenosha as their port. The background for these events is Lake Michigan, several museums, fountains, a marina, two historic lighthouses, electric street cars, and several parks and beaches.
It is a city of 100,000 with another 50,000 in its suburbs that is located just right on Lake Michigan and on I-94 between Chicago and Milwaukee. Companies looking for a friendly place with good logistics find it ideal. It is also becoming a tourist town because of its lakefront and many festivals.
For us, it is a convenient destination with its own unique character.
It’s “our city”.
