St. Louis (City) VS Milwaukee (City) (Value, Area, Benefits, LGBTQ Rights, etc) (live, cost)

[yourwolfsdengaming]

This question has been asked before, but most of those threads I've noticed appear rather old. I have an opportunity to either work in Saint Louis, or in Milwaukee, and I'm wondering which place will be better overall (ignoring the current corvid issue; imagine it doesn't exist right now) for me to move to.

Some Notes:
- I don't have a car and will be relying on public transportation and walking. I know Saint Louis has a metro and Milwaukee recently released The Hop tram system, but that's my extent of knowledge.

- Both job opportunities are as public school teachers, so teaching benefits and the treatment of teachers in the city/state matter. For the sake of comparison, we'll say that the salary and benefits offered to me are within margin of error of each other.

- Going by the 1/3 rent rule, my max rent would be $1100, and it'd have to have one hella view for me to pay that.

- I would be interested in investing in property within five years in whatever area I move to. Saint Louis has nicer looking duplexes (that also cost more), but Milwaukee's appear to be cheaper and in more abundance.

- Rent seems slightly cheaper for slightly nicer apartments in St. Louis, but I just browsed Zillow and Apartments.com, so feel free to chime in. The cheaper (and nicer), the better.

- I don't go out much, don't care for sports, and don't drink (because I'm so square that I'm cubed) so nightlife doesn't matter much right now, though I would be interested in nightlife later on if it means meeting new people . I do enjoy going to thrift stores (and garage sales) a lot, so having an abundance of those would be nice.

- The gayer and queerer, the better.

- I care about uncapped data and fast internet speeds. Don't know how much that matters for area.

- I live in Mass, where the weather is typically determined via a game of ethereal Yahtzee, so I'm used to the cold and I'm used to the heat.

- If you think there's something that I just gotta have in once city over the other that I didn't think of, I'm all ears.

[mjtinmemphis]

My knowledge of Milwaukee is minimal.

If you are moving to St. Louis without a car, I would look in to Downtown, Midtown and Central West End. Maplewood (good school district) has some pretty good options in your price range. Southside neighborhoods along Grand and also the south Kingshighway corridor should be good for frequent bus transportation as well with no LRT at this time. Do you know where you would be working? Traveling from city to suburb in St Louis can be over an hour commute. Traveling from suburb to suburb may be long or impossible.

St. Louis is pretty gay friendly as I'm sure Milwaukee is too. Sexual orientation should be a non issue in either city.

[Metal To The Core]

Yeah, it honestly sounds like either city would work well for you, but my biased ass likes St. Louis much better. You should definitely pick St. Louis if you like chess. Not familiar with this new Milwaukee transportation system, but I heard about a year ago or maybe two is that public transit was not that strong over there.

With more knowledge of your hobbies/quirks/traits/aspirations, maybe I can elaborate a little more haha.

[Koji7]

Either place but they’ll probably be a shock compared to Mass. The way I see it is you’re going to be working a lot and bars, restaurants and places to see and social life opportunities will be probably about the same. With Milwaukee you’re very close to Chicago and you have a beautiful lake to take advantage of and that would be the decider for me.

[Enean]

Not many from Milwaukee on this forum. Anyway, Milwaukee...no contest. Lake Michigan, proximity to Chicago, and the city, itself.

[Shakeesha]

I would choose Milwaukee. The city is better and the scenery is really nice. I would not want to live in a place that is declining.

[MassVt]

Another vote for Milwaukee. Lake Michigan, Madison, Chicago, etc. I think , esp coming from MA, that Wisconsin would be more compatible than Missouri. ( Disclaimer--I once lived in Madison, and have lived in MA for decades).

[STL74]

St. Louis has better cultural attractions and transit. Milwaukee (if you are good with cold) has the lake and proximity to Chicago. Both rate a perfect 100 on the equality index. Pretty even IMO.

[FloatOn]

Milwaukee is a highly underrated city imo. It's a pretty fun city, low COL, and has very nice scenery with the lake. It's kind of like a mini Chicago, but definitely its own animal. Chicago is so close too if you want to take a day trip.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

I would choose Milwaukee. The city is better and the scenery is really nice. I would not want to live in a place that is declining.

Are you writing that Milwaukee is healthier economically or the quality of life is better? What msa is in decline more? I personally don't think you like St. Louis at all and that is ok. But to think that St. Louis is in such decline over Milwaukee is beyond misinformed.