Милуоки, Орегон: История и современность города вишни Бинга

Milwaukie /m//ɪ//l/'/w//ɔː//k//i/ is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 21,119 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city, known as the Dogwood City of the West, was incorporated in 1903 and is the birthplace of the Bing cherry. The city is now a suburb of Portland and also adjoins the unincorporated areas of Clackamas and Oak Grove.

Milwaukie was settled in 1847 and formally platted in 1849 as a rival to the upriver Oregon City by Lot Whitcomb, who named it for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time, the Wisconsin city was also frequently spelled "Milwaukie" before the current spelling was adopted. Some accounts also state that the Oregon city used an alternate spelling to prevent confusion at the post office. Whitcomb arrived in Oregon in 1848 and settled on a donation land claim, where he built a sawmill and a gristmill. Milwaukie rivaled Portland and Oregon City for a time, but Portland eventually became the bigger city because it had a deeper port. The Oregon and California Railroad named their station there Milwaukee in 1870 and corrected it to Milwaukie in 1892. Parks include Dogwood Park, Elk Rock Island, Kronberg Park, Milwaukie Riverfront Park, and Spring Park.

In 2015–2016, Milwaukie saw a boom in real estate. It was named the ninth hottest real estate market in 2016 by realtor. com. A big draw to the city was noticed right after the Orange Line from TriMet, a $1.4 billion project connecting the close in suburb right to the heart of downtown Portland, finished in 2015. A year after the opening of the Orange Line, housing prices had risen 12.2% and city officials said there were no vacancies for retail storefronts in Milwaukie's downtown area. In addition to the new Orange Line, Milwaukie finished a $2.2 million project to the city's waterfront park. The city had a grand opening on May 1, 2015.

Milwaukie is served by the North Clackamas School District and most children attend one of ten public elementary schools, Alder Creek Middle School or Wilbur Rowe Middle School, depending on area of residence, Rex Putnam High School, Milwaukie High School for regular high school education, and New Urban High School for alternative education. Since 1996, Milwaukie High School has annually hosted the nationally recognized Living History Day. On this day thousands of veterans are welcomed into the school to help educate students about the past. There is also a private Catholic high school, La Salle High School, named after St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle, and the Portland Waldorf School, a private Waldorf school, which serves grades K–12. The city is home to the Ledding Library, a public library that is part of the Library Information Network of Clackamas County. The city has one college campus, Clackamas Community College Harmony.

Milwaukie is within the TriMet transit district and is served by several TriMet bus lines. TriMet established a transit center in downtown Milwaukie in 1981, and by 2000 was served by as many as 12 routes, using on street stops around the intersection of Jackson Street and 21st Avenue, next to Milwaukie City Hall. Since 2010, the bus stops that previously comprised Milwaukie TC are no longer designated as a "transit center" by TriMet. In fall 2015, the focal point for rider transfers between routes shifted southward from the former transit center location, with the opening of a new light rail station at the south end of downtown. TriMet's MAX Light Rail service was extended to Milwaukie on September 12, 2015. Construction of the MAX Orange Line, a light rail connection between Portland and Milwaukie, began in 2011. Although this project had been planned for many years, it faced strong opposition by opponents of "Portland Creep"; in September 2012, opponents succeeded in passing a ballot initiative requiring that all Clackamas County spending on light rail be directly approved by the voters. The 7.3 mile (12 km) line was sufficiently complete by May 15, 2015, for 500 passengers to make an initial special run along its whole length. Regular passenger service began four months later. The company built a carbarn and workshop in downtown Milwaukie, on Jackson Street at River Road (now McLoughlin Blvd. at that location), which opened in December 1892. The following year, the company extended its line to Oregon City, and interurban service between Portland and Oregon City via Milwaukie began operating. At the time, the Portland–Milwaukie–Oregon City and Portland–Sellwood–Bellrose lines had been the last streetcar or interurban service operating in the Portland metropolitan area, and not until 1986 did interurban service return—in the form of MAX (light rail) between Portland and Gresham. Replacement transit bus service was introduced in 1955 by Intercity Buses, Inc., a member of a consortium of four bus companies collectively known as the "Blue Bus" lines, and Intercity expanded its service after the 1958 abandonment of the rail service. TriMet, a new government owned public transit authority, was established in 1969, and in September 1970 it took over all of the "Blue Bus" companies. TriMet has been the primary provider of transit service in Milwaukie since that time.

Amtrak passenger trains pass through Milwaukie without stopping. However, for a brief period in the early 1980s, an experimental Amtrak service named the Willamette Valley Express made a regular stop in Milwaukie, just east of the intersection of Harrison Street and Highway 224 (a location Amtrak referred to as East Milwaukie). The service, which ran twice a day in each direction and connected Portland with Eugene, was introduced on a trial basis in August 1980 and discontinued at the end of 1981.

In the United States House of Representatives, Milwaukie is in Oregon's 5th congressional district, which is represented by Republican Lori Chavez DeRemer. In the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Milwaukie is in the 21st Senate district, represented by Democrat Kathleen Taylor, and in the 41st House district, represented by Democrat Mark Gamba, a former mayor of the city.