The landscape of Milwaukee's Upper East Side is a study in stark but satisfying contrasts. The homes on its eastern margin, overlooking Lake Michigan, are simply the finest in the city. Their counterparts near the Milwaukee River, many built for factory workers, range from moderate to downright modest. In between lies the second-largest university in Wisconsin, with an enrollment of nearly 30,000. The glacial ridge that forms the greater East Side is too large and various to be understood as a single homogenous neighborhood, but it is one world nonetheless.