The downtown area has attracted most of the city’s apartment development for over two decades, with 86.6% of units built downtown between 2000–2009 and 85.3% from 2010–2019.

Matt Dorner, CEO of Milwaukee Downtown BID, said that since 2009, about 1,650 new residential units have been added on the RiverWalk, and nearly 1,000 more are in the works.

The city's downtown area is where you'll experience its yesteryear charms. You get a proper sense of its Midwestern roots here, where 19th-century buildings straddle brick footpaths.