Bear with us while explain the concept for this series of articles: we take two seemingly unrelated Milwaukee icons, then pit them against each other in 10 categories. In each category, we assign them points, one through 10, then add them up and name the winner.

No, it's not scientific, but yes, it's fun. How does our hub of highways, the Marquette Interchange, stack up against the newly renovated Bayshore? Read on to find out ...

Affordability:

Marquette Interchange, 3
The original interchange cost a mere $33 million when it was completed in 1968. The redesign, however, is slated to cost $810 million. It's vitally important, but also immensely expensive. On the other hand, it's free to use, unlike toll highways to our south.

Bayshore Town Center, 6
The $300 million renovation came from a combination of a Glendale TIF and private funds. So for Glendale residents, some of the project came from tax funds that will be paid back. For Milwaukee residents, it didn't cost us a dime. In terms of shopping, the mall certainly sports higher-end, more expensive stores than it did before. But it also has your typical, cheap mall fare, from Sears to Kohl's to Rocky Rococco, and is on average, only a little less affordable than your run-of-the-mill mall.

Value to city:

Marquette Interchange, 9
For commerce, you can't really overstate the important of a freeway design like the Marquette Interchange. It connects Milwaukee from points south, north and west. The only thing keeping it from scoring a perfect 10 is that doesn't incorporate mass transit, and like all highways, it forces drives to skip over neighborhoods en route to a destination.

Bayshore Town Center, 1
Bayshore isn't at all valuable to Milwaukee -- except as a shopping destination -- as it's located in Glendale. Instead, it's punch to the gut for anyone who wanted to see Pabst City come to fruition. It actually draws business into the suburbs. For Glendale, it would score a 10, but this series of articles is called the "Milwaukee Face Off."

Popularity:

Marquette Interchange, 10
By the early 2000s, the interchange carried 300,000 vehicles per day. It provided access to 37 percent of the state's jobs. It carried 7 million visitors annually to Downtown destinations. That's pretty popular.

Bayshore Town Center, 7
Bayshore has done a brisk business, with new shops that are one-of-a-kind in the area. Still, it's largely outside design has made winter weather shopping a little challenging.

National name recognition:

Marquette Interchange, 1
Engineers aside, most Americans have no idea what the Marquette Interchange is, and why should they?

Bayshore Town Center, 1
See above, but replace "engineers" with "retailers."

Design:

Marquette Interchange, 10
The interchange would be an engineering masterpiece if it had been built from scratch this time around. But considering that it stayed open (despite pesky detours) throughout the entire construction phase, and it's on time and on budget, the project is even more impressive.

Bayshore Town Center, 6
Bayshore looks great in the summer. Unlike any other mall in metro Milwaukee, it sports a convincing "village" feel, and busts out of the mold of Mayfair, Southridge, Brookfield Square and Grand Avenue. But Milwaukee is cold for at least half of the year. In the middle of January, walking outside from store to store is sheer lunacy.

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