Road trip: Milwaukee
Fiscal face-off
How Milwaukee stacks up against Chicago when it comes to cold, hard cash.
By Jake Malooley

Photo: Nicole Radja
| CHICAGO | MILWAUKEE |
| One-bedroom apartment in Hipsterville | $1,000 per month in Wicker Park | $750 per month on the East Side |
| Cab fare (flag pull/per mile) | $2.25/$1.80 | $2.75/$2 |
| Quarter-ounce of weed (hydroponic, not your uncle's skank weed) | $120 | $100 |
| Ticket to Spider-Man 3 | $10 at AMC Loews 600 North Michigan 9 | $8.50 at the Oriental Theatre |
| Daily newspaper subscription (one year) | $179.40 for the Chicago Tribune | $199.99 for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
| Gallon of regular unleaded | $3.65 | $3.49 |
| Pack of Marlboro Lights | $7.29 | $3.93 |
| Upscale dinner | $125 at Charlie Trotter’s (eight-course degustation) | $80 at Sanford Restaurant (eclectic prix-fixe meals from four to seven courses) |
| Ticket to rock out to High on Fire | $15 at Subterranean | $10 advance/ $12 door at Mad Planet |
| Bus fare | $2 | $1.75 |
| Three-pack of Trojans | $3 | $2.69 |
| 12-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon | $7.99 | $6.89 |
| Average parking ticket | $50 | $20 |