Am I safe walking alone on the east side? (Milwaukee: low crime, neighborhood) - City-Data Forum

ultravioletfly · 09-05-2011, 01:44 PM

Hello all,

I'm currently attending UWM (living in Cambridge Commons) and am wondering if walking around the east side is a bad idea or not. I haven't really gotten to explore the city, even though the location is one of the main reasons I'm attending this school in the first place. One place in particular I want to walk to is Beans & Barley, mostly because I've been reading a lot about it (mmm vegan desserts) and Google Maps says it's only a five-minute walk from my dorm.

This probably sounds like a stupid question to you MKE regulars, but I've honestly never lived in a city before and don't know what the norm is! Thanks for your input

Edit: Should mention, I'm a male, although I hardly looking intimidating. And I don't really plan on going to Riverwest by myself, because that's... uh, well, yeah.

43north87west · 09-05-2011, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ultravioletfly

Hello all,

I'm currently attending UWM (living in Cambridge Commons) and am wondering if walking around the east side is a bad idea or not. I haven't really gotten to explore the city, even though the location is one of the main reasons I'm attending this school in the first place. One place in particular I want to walk to is Beans & Barley, mostly because I've been reading a lot about it (mmm vegan desserts) and Google Maps says it's only a five-minute walk from my dorm.

This probably sounds like a stupid question to you MKE regulars, but I've honestly never lived in a city before and don't know what the norm is! Thanks for your input

Edit: Should mention, I'm a male, although I hardly looking intimidating. And I don't really plan on going to Riverwest by myself, because that's... uh, well, yeah.

You're fine. I eat dinner on North avenue, and in Riverwest and Brewer's Hill all the time. Beans & Barley is one of my favorite restaurants. You just have to use basic street smarts, and that goes for anywhere in the city, not just in certain areas. Criminals travel to find soft targets even in areas of low crime. Criminals are opportunists, too--and students sometimes are a very easy opportunity, for a lot of reasons. I've lived in the area for 15 years, just a part timer for the last 8. I sometimes see students doing some very dumb things either out of inexperience or intoxication, which increase the chances of becoming a victim of some sort of crime.

The UWM police department has deep neighborhood penetration and takes an active role in east side police work (including off campus). The UWM PD's timely warnings give you a good picture of who is targeting students, and where. The tips that UWM PD offers under the Health and Safety are also very good. It's worth looking through the website if you haven't already.

UW-Milwaukee | Timely Warnings

ultravioletfly · 09-05-2011, 03:45 PM

Thanks for the response! It is a bit disheartening seeing crimes occur in what I believed to be a virtually crime-free part of the city, but it makes more sense when looking at the times of the incidents (12:15 AM, 10:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 5:35 AM, 3:02 AM, 12:20 AM). I would probably only be walking alone during the daytime, probably no later than 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I guess it probably would be a good idea to invest time in finding people to walk with... I honestly thought the lower east side was more like the U of MN's campus, but I'll have to use more caution than I thought.

43north87west · 09-05-2011, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ultravioletfly

Thanks for the response! It is a bit disheartening seeing crimes occur in what I believed to be a virtually crime-free part of the city, but it makes more sense when looking at the times of the incidents (12:15 AM, 10:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 5:35 AM, 3:02 AM, 12:20 AM). I would probably only be walking alone during the daytime, probably no later than 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I guess it probably would be a good idea to invest time in finding people to walk with... I honestly thought the lower east side was more like the U of MN's campus, but I'll have to use more caution than I thought.

You'll be fine. Just don't be stupid, don't walk around intoxicated, don't walk around wearing headphones.

Most importantly, to reduce your chances of being involved in any sort of crime, just remember that drugs attract crime. Avoid drugs, you just chopped your chances of becoming some sort of walking crime statistic.

U of M had much worse problems a few years ago, which seem to have been reduced significantly. Hopefully UWM is heading in that direction. I haven't looked at the overall crime stats recently.

ultravioletfly · 09-05-2011, 07:41 PM

Well, I don't drink or do drugs, so that should be pretty easy.

D-res · 09-06-2011, 01:41 AM

lol, yes you're fine. I'm also a guy, from a small wisconsin town, and I've lived on the upper and lower east sides and riverwest since 2005. I've never felt threatened. Welcome! Take advantage of your youth, it's a fun town! The summers here are amaaaazzzzzing

ladyblue09 · 09-07-2011, 11:10 PM

I agree with the others. I don't consider the area around Beans and Barley to be particularly dangerous.
Just use the typical amount of common sense in a city environment and I think you will be fine.
Enjoy. I definitely like Beans and Barley.

everwinter · 09-08-2011, 09:39 PM

Don't text and walk.

Angorlee · 09-09-2011, 10:11 PM

Find a reliable partner to walk around with. I wouldn't go alone if you feel that you might be vunerable.

D-res · 09-12-2011, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by everwinter

Don't text and walk.

However, if you feel uneasy, call someone... Or pretend you're on the phone with someone. It's the next best thing to actually being with someone.

And my downstairs neighbor works for Beans, is also a young, white male, and bikes/walks/buses to and from there daily. You'll be fine.