City with a heart.

ONE OF THE MOST admirable things about Milwaukeeans is that they are civic minded to a degree I haven’t observed elsewhere. People here get involved. They volunteer. If they see someone in need, they jump in and help out. If it’s a bigger need, they organize a non-profit to get the job done.

I’m not sure what the source of this can-do spirit might be. If I were to guess, I think one factor might be that in a city this size, an individual can make an impact, see the results of their good work and really feel like they made a difference.

But I’d wager an even bigger factor is this: Milwaukeeans are good people.

In this issue, we decided to shine a light on a dozen people who are making a difference in the community. Their stories run the gamut, from Margaret Stang, a recent college grad who uses beekeeping as a community-building tool, to John “Chin” Klein, who coaches a girls’ rugby team when he’s not teaching special ed. The subjects of our story, which starts on page 34, aren’t changing the world, but they are improving other people’s lives, a few at a time. This is our way of saluting them.

Our feature on the Milwaukee County Park System also speaks to this civic-minded character. The park system was founded over 100 years ago, with the goal of providing open spaces, nature and recreation for all local citizens. But its founders created much more than simple plots of land. Our forefathers did it right, enlisting Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of New York City’s Central Park, and later Charles Whitnall and Alfred Boerner to design nationally recognized landscapes. Today, the park system faces some tough challenges in terms of budget and maintenance. “No Picnic,” which starts on page 46, is a very informative article about those challenges and some possible solutions. Hopefully, it will inspire some of you to take an active role in helping preserve the parks for future generations.

That’s the thing about democracy: It works best when the citizenry is involved. In that way (and many others), Milwaukee has much to be proud of.

Best,