Milwaukee...According To Mitzi...

My colleagues here in Milwaukee have asked me to submit a weekly "Milwaukee...According To Mitzi" column that will be sent in the Wisconsin Avenue Chronicle to the corps members here in Milwaukee.

Here's this week's:

Walk Signals
Before I moved to Milwaukee officially on August 1, I had spent only 8 hours total in the city. During the 5^th hour – I signed my lease on my apartment and the other time was spent on a walking tour of my new neighborhood and a celebratory lunch with friends. So needless to say – I don’t know that much about Milwaukee and so I hope to bring my discoveries (little and big) of this city to you through this weekly column.

It may be weird, but I’m going to say it – the first “city feature” that impressed me the most about Milwaukee is the walk signal. Have you ever noticed that the walk signal flashes on a few seconds before the traffic light turns green? I cannot lie – I’ve done my fair share of jay-walking or walking against the light or running while the orange “don’t walk” hand is flashing, but all in all I try my best to not die while living the life a pedestrian and walk with the walk signal. So when I saw the walk signal flash on before drivers could technically lift up on their break pedal – I thought it was maybe just a glitch in the wiring. However, it kept happening at different intersections and the more I think about this tiny extra amount of time pedestrians get before right- or left-hand turns commence – it seems incredibly smart.

So thank you – City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works – for the extra crossing time, but just so you know I’m still going to look both ways.