Welcome to Wauwatosa

It is my privilege to offer you a warm Wauwatosa welcome. Whether you’re a long-time resident or visiting for the first time, I invite you to explore and learn more about our friendly and dynamic community – an old city with something new for everyone.

Visitors flock to Wauwatosa for fine dining, shopping, and entertainment in our historic and charming Village, East Town, and MidTown areas. From all over Wisconsin, people come to shop at the state’s premier shopping center, Mayfair, and our new fashion corridor at the Mayfair Collection. Residents and visitors alike delight in our farmer’s markets and street festivals, summer outdoor concerts in Hart Park, and the Firefly Art Fair on the grounds of the Wauwatosa Historical Society. We’re just minutes away from the Milwaukee County Zoo and American Family Field, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, and our many hotels offer choices from affordable to luxury options.

Strategically located just west of the City of Milwaukee in the heart of the metropolitan area, Wauwatosa is a hub of biotechnology, academic, and medical research. The Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, Milwaukee County Research Park, UW-Milwaukee Innovation Campus, GE Healthcare, and campuses of six colleges and universities offer a wide range of educational and employment opportunities.

People love our diverse housing choices from historic Victorians, Cape Cods, and bungalows to mid-century modern homes and luxury apartments. Our excellent schools, city services, and 2,000 acres of parks (including a community pool and beer garden) are cherished by people of all ages and make Wauwatosa an ideal place to raise a family. In our community, neighbors support neighbors. More than 30 neighborhood associations welcome new residents and keep our neighborhoods strong.

Our community spirit is robust and our quality of life is high. We’re a city celebrating our past and embracing our future. Join us and you, too, will call Wauwatosa one of your favorite places. Welcome.

   – Mayor Dennis McBride

About Mayor McBride

Dennis McBride is Wauwatosa’s 17th Mayor, elected to four-year terms in 2020 and 2024. 

From 2008 to 2018, he served as 4th District alderman, winning election three times. In 2012 and 2014, his colleagues elected him to two terms as President of the Wauwatosa Common Council. During that time, he also served as a member of the Village Streetscaping Committee and as aldermanic liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission. Before his election as an alderman, he served 15 years on the Wauwatosa Civil Service Commission, including several terms as Chairman.

McBride graduated from Wauwatosa East High School and earned a journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University, and a law degree from New York University. He served as a Law Clerk to a U.S. district judge, worked for Boston and Milwaukee law firms, and taught part-time at Marquette University Law School. He spent 24 years as a Senior Trial Attorney and Supervisory Trial Attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and also worked as a public relations manager for a Fortune 500 corporation. He has been rated “AV Preeminent” (highest for legal ability and professional ethics) in legal community polls and was named a Fellow of the Wisconsin Bar Foundation for his professional accomplishments. 

A co-founder of Support Our Schools (SOS) Wauwatosa and the Pasadena Neighborhood Association, which he served as its first president, McBride also co-founded Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that has provided a swimming pool and beer garden for the Wauwatosa community for more than a decade. He also has served as Vice President of the Wauwatosa Historical Society and as a volunteer coach for Tosa East’s “We the People” team in competition on the U.S. Constitution. For 12 years, he was the Coordinator of the Hedge School at Milwaukee Irish Fest. In 2012 he received UWM’s Alumni Citizenship Award. 

He was a member of Tosa East’s state championship track & field team and twice won the Milwaukee Mayfair Marathon (predecessor to the Lakefront Marathon), and is a member of the UWM and Tosa East Athletics Halls of Fame. He is the author of A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization (2025) and co-author, with his twin brother, Dr. Patrick McBride, of Patrick's memoir, The Luckiest Boy in the World (2021).

McBride is a member of the Charles Jacobus Park Neighborhood Association and St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where he sings in the Senior Choir. He is married to Karen Barry and has three children and two grandsons.