The sad side of the city

MILWAUKEE — The Republican National Convention brought about 50,000 people to this city for a week in mid-July. But of those, only one columnist ended up at County Clare Irish Pub on the night of July 16.

“Shitty,” was how bartender Patrick described business that night. “It’s been bad all week.”

County Clare is a 20-minute walk from Fiserv Forum, where the delegates, guests, politicians, and lobbyists all gathered, accompanied by hundreds of police, reporters, and vendors.

Businesses all over the city thought this influx would mean customers. Bars and restaurants in and near the Deer District — the new dining and drinking neighborhood around the arena, where the Bucks play basketball — certainly did rake it in. Hotels all around the region filled up. But many of the coffee shops, bars, and bookstores just outside the shadow of the convention saw none of this action. They saw less than normal.

“Anyone outside of that area is really f***ed,” said Josh, who tends bar at the Riverside Theater. "There are some people who are helped. Most people around here are hurt.”

Local businessman Daniel Cruz told BizTimes that it’s “the people well-connected with this convention that seem to be the beneficiaries as opposed to the neighborhood businesses and the local businesses that I’m seeing.”

The Historic Third Ward of Milwaukee, anchored by the Public Market, is usually a main destination for locals and visitors. A few television crews showed up at the Public Market Wednesday morning to do segments on “Real Milwaukee,” but not many other folks did.

I asked the barista at Anodyne Coffee inside the market whether they’re getting more business because of the convention.

“Less, actually. Much less,” she replied. They had expected a boom. “We even staffed extra,” she says. One on-duty barista idly played on her MacBook at the end of the bar.

Patrick’s regulars didn't show up at County Clare because “They’re all out of town” he said. Josh said that getting around the city is made harder by the security and closures, and so locals stayed home.

The security is the biggest problem. Entering the convention area requires standing in lengthy lines (often in the sun) and passing through metal detectors. Anyone who makes it inside the security perimeter is loath to leave until it’s time go to bed. Because that bed might be in Pewaukee, in Waukesha County, the delegates and reporters have to hop on buses — which leaves no time for wandering to the neighborhood joints.

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"It's been tough for Milwaukee," bartender Edgar said the Explorium Brewpub. The pub had staffed up for a surge, but got the opposite. Throughout Thursday at lunchtime, there were more employees than customers. "At least it's over today," Edgar said.

Even Airbnb operators struggled, the BizTimes reported, because the summer weddings they normally rely on weren’t happening on the two weekends around the convention.

The politicians' visit here provided a perfect metaphor for what happens whenever government shows up: the well-connected guys win, and the little guy loses.