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Waukesha is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. In 2006, according to cnnmoney.com Waukesha ranks as the 36th "best place to live in the United States." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 64,825. It is the county seat of Waukesha County. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha. The name of the city means "fox" or "foxes," either from the Ojibwe word Waagoshag or the Potawatomi word Wauk-tsha.
Geography Waukesha is located at (43.009946, -88.237436). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 56.2 km² (21.7 mi²). 55.9 km² (21.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.32%) is water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 64,825 people, 25,663 households, and 16,296 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,158.8/km² (3,000.5/mi²). There were 26,856 housing units at an average density of 480.1/km² (1,243.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.22% White, 1.28% African American, 0.33% Native American, 2.17% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.31% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.58% of the population. There were 25,663 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.04. In the city the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $50,084, and the median income for a family was $60,841. Males had a median income of $40,743 versus $29,279 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,242. About 3.0% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over. History Waukesha was known for its extremely clean and good-tasting spring water and was called a spa town. This earned the city the nicknames "Spring City" and "Saratoga of the West". However, emissions have since ruined these springs, and a number have gone dry. During the Cold War Waukesha County hosted three Nike Missile batteries which were located in the city of Waukesha as well as nearby Muskego and Lannon. In the city of Waukesha the US Army and later the Wisconsin National Guard operated the command and control center at what is now Hillcrest Park on Davidson Road from 1956-70. The missile pits existed near the corner of Cleveland Ave and Hwy 164- first holding Ajax missiles with conventional warheads and later the nuclear equipped Hercules. The Hercules warhead provided a similar nuclear capability as that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in WWII. The Midwest Chapter of the Cold War Museum has promoted the preservation of the Hillcrest Park site as a local Cold War Museum, honoring Cold War Veterans and commemorating America's longest and costliest conflict. * In 2006, Waukesha had a non-partisan election for mayor with neither candidate representing a political party. Local pundits, however, labeled Ann Nischke as the Republicans' candidate and Larry Nelson as the Democrats' candidate. Larry Nelson won the election, which may show a change of politics in Waukesha country which is primarily conservative.* Education Waukesha is home to Carroll College, a private 4-year Presbyterian institute and the oldest college in the state of Wisconsin, which was opened in 1846, 2 years before Wisconsin became a state. Waukesha is home to the state school University of Wisconsin-Waukesha It is also home to Catholic Memorial High School, Waukesha County's only Catholic high school. Aside from Catholic Memorial High School, there are four other high schools located in Waukesha: Waukesha South High School, Waukesha West High School, Waukesha North and Harvey Philips High School. Waukesha School District operates the public school system in Waukesha. Waukesha also started Wisconsin's first online high school, iQ Academies. Businesses The following businesses have headquarters in Waukesha: Notable natives Listed are people or groups who are native to Waukesha, though they may not reside in the city anymore. City technology Cellnet Technology Inc (based out of Alpharetta, Georgia), plans to make Waukesha the second community in Wisconsin outfitted with a city-wide Wi-Fi network blanket. (Midwest Fiber Networks is scheduled to make Milwaukee the state's first wi-fi municipality by summer 2006.) Cellnet, which began working on a similar "blanket" for Madison, Wisconsin in early 2006, had planned to present their idea to Waukesha's Information Technology Advisory Committee in February 2006. If the proposed installation of the network goes through, city residents would only have to buy a wireless card (typically $50 USD) to gain access to the internet from any area in Waukesha. | ||||||||
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