June 6, 2008

Class war in Brookfield

Some town commissioners in suburban Brookfield, WI don't want a discount food store setting up shop there. You can get a flavor of the general outrage in this here comments thread, complete with sarcastic comparisons of Bluemound Road, Brookfield's main shopping drag, with Rodeo Drive.

I think that may be the first time I've seen Whitefish Bay referred to as "White Folks Bay" in print. "North Shore Nancies"* turns up a few times too.

Most of the outrage and sarcasm comes from non-Brookfield residents, however. If Brookfield doesn't want an Aldi then they don't need to have one, I suppose.

They've already got enough problems with mom and dad smoking crack and shooting up in the bathroom at Chuck E. Cheese.

What I want to know is, if the good burghers of Brookfield want to keep out the indigent, how did they ever allow Second Swing in there?

Second Swing is a "previously-enjoyed" golf club store where poor people can go and buy used Callaway drivers and Scotty Cameron putters for only a few hundred dollars each.

* "Mequon is a suburb of Milwaukee. It has no discernable character, no downtown, few areas to walk around. It is often thought of as the 'elite' of Milwaukee's elite suburbs. Very wealthy community. The derogatory term 'North Shore Nancy' refers to the bored wives of rich doctors, lawyers and businessmen who live in Mequon and other North Shore communities. These 'North Shore Nancies' are known for collecting art, dabbling in self indulgent and expensive hobbies, impeccably groomed toy dogs and fine fur coats."
Milwaukee Ronnie

If you live in Mequon, it's only ten minutes by Cadillac Escalade from the North Shore Country Club to the Aldi in Brown Deer. And if you remove the second and third bench seats from an Escalade, there's 108.9 cubic feet of luggage space, which is a lot of Kraft Dinner.

h/t McIlheran.

8 comments:

Sam Sarver said...

I think some of those people want to wall off Brookfield to keep the savages out. You know, us dirty people from the city.

illusory tenant said...

Well I won't be denied my Brennan's cheese.

Jay Bullock said...

There's plenty of good cheese at the Milwaukee Public Market. You can even get there--get this!--for free by public trolley!

illusory tenant said...

Yabut the cheese is free at Brennan's.

Sam Sarver said...

You like Brennan's cheese too? I love the stuff. And the pineapple there is to die for.

As for the Milwaukee Public Market, the oyster bar is what brings me to that place.

Other Side said...

I would like to point out that not all residents of Brookfield (in my case, THE city of) are so snooty.

Display Name said...

If I go to Aldi and Trader Joe's, do they cancel each other out? I'm still a little irked at my last Aldi trip, though. I bought what I thought was olive oil but in fact it was a 85/15 sunflower/olive blend, as described in the purposefully low-contrast parts of the colorful Italian-ish label. The bastards!

I hadn't been there in a long time, but I think it was a recommendation from a conservative Wisconsin blogger/commenter that made me pay a visit recently: they said the el cheapo Aldi brand "Mama Cozzi" frozen pizzas were quite good. I agree! The kids thought they had a little more zip to the sauce.

As for pineapples, us ultra-smart, ultra-snooty go to the Mexican markets. Limes for a dime, ripe pineapples for $2, ripe Manila mangos, tacos al pastor, carnitas mmm mmm, and what seem to be hunks of deep-fried bacon... You'll be chattering like a Chihuahua in no time!

Public Market and Brennan's are best for food porn, but Kopp's is next to Brennan's, and Penzey's isn't far...

Anonymous said...

Funny thing is, Aldi and Trader Joe's are both from the same company. So you can bet your bippy that TJ's will never come to Brookfield after this!