Moving to Milwaukee - Overwhelmed - Please help! (Wauwatosa, Winter: where to stay, apartments)

[SeaJay87]

I am moving to Milwaukee in August to go to Marquette. I have spent over a hundred hours researching where to live and just don't know what to do. I have read so much about where to stay away from and that most of the suburbs are pretty safe. But when I research crime maps I just don't see the safety in the suburbs either. Clealy there is less crime than other arfeas but it's still more than what I am used to. I thought that I had settled on Wauwatosa for reasonable balance of safety and commute time but after looking more into the crime maps I just don't feel comfortable anymore. I know that no where is free from crime, it can happen anywhere. But I am a bit on the paranoid side and at least need to feel safe in my own neighborhood. I have read so much specifics of places to avoid but so far have been unable to find anything specific enough to help with safer spots. If anyone can help with specific cross streets/boundaries that I should consider please help. Maybe some of you can help me by giving your approximate cross streets and how you feel in your area. I am stressing so much on this stuff because I will be renting sight unseen before I move and will not be able to get a feel for the neighborhood for myself. Thank you all in advance.

[Milwaukee City]

All of Milwaukee's suburbs are extremely safe take your pick you will have nothing to worry about in any of the 'burbs. I wouldn't rule out living close to MU, it's an urban campus but MU public safety and the MKE PD does a great job paroling that area their also police call boxes located all over the MU campus and off the campus especially where a lot of students live. Milwaukee crime has been falling greatly since 2007 with much thanks going to our new police Chief Ed Flynn(2008-). Milwaukee in the last rankings I could find in 2010 was 43rd most dangerous city in the US right in front of Minneapolis and since crime has fallen even more since that time I would say MKE has fallen lower on the list. Still Milw is a city of 600,000, Milwaukee County 950,000 and a metro of 2.1M in 7 counties so you will have major city crime issues to deal with. If you have basic common sense and a general awareness of your surroundings that alone will help you avoid being a victim of a crime. Don't leave a bunch of Cd's or brief case or a purse out in the open or on your back seat of your car. Don't walk home from the bar at 2am by yourself take a cab or walk home with a group. The immediate area around MU is nice, I'm talking about the campus and the student housing right next to campus. Father Wilde and MU back in the day bought up a lot of the apartment buildings and multi unit houses to convert to student housing and to make it more safe. Looking for an apartment close to MU I would stay in this boundary: Clybourn on the south. State on the North, 21st/20th/ish on the west and 21st/20th to the lake is all good. I have friends that lived west more on state and on kilbourn but they hardly spent anytime in their house and usually drove or bus/cabbed it to school and they never had any problems. If you stay in that area you should be fine since the majority of the people who live in that area are MU students. A few years back MU was ranked as having the 4th best urban campus in the US I wouldn't worry.

Hope this helps.

[Milwaukee City]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwauk...139455818.html

I would also suggest if you can move to Milwaukee a little earlier and find a month to month rental or a 3 month rental and drive around and walk around to find an area you like and check it out for yourself.

[nidex]

I would live by Marquette if I were you. Anywhere from the expressway (10th and 11th Streets) to about 21st Street, and Clybourn north to either Kilbourn or State. You could go north to Highland, but it's not very well lit in most parts and the hood begins once you get north of it. There is a police precinct on 18th & Wells, not to mention Marquette Police that are patrolling CONSTANTLY. Just driving down Wisconsin Ave at any time you're guaranteed to see at least one car, usually two, sometimes more. Perfectly safe.

[wpolorocker]

I'm actually in a similar situation, SeaJay. I am starting a grad program at MU at the end of May. I visited the city over the weekend. The campus itself seemed safe, and there are some garages and lots that you can park in during the day with a MU student permit. Maybe someone can enlighten us on how difficult it is to park at MU as a student?

However, I agree with what these people are saying. I toured a couple apartments at 21st and Wells and did not feel that the area was safe at all. Here is a link to a site that shows crime maps: http://spotcrime.com/wi/milwaukee. If you don't have any pets, there is a company called Schulhof that owns some apartments really close to the campus (like, on campus) that seemed like they would be alright. I wouldn't rent anything West of 20th or North of Wells, but then again, I'm a single white female who will be living by myself. The Wauwatosa area was nice and so was the East Side and the Third Ward. I put in an application at an apartment in the East Side last weekend. In that area, you are looking at less than a fifteen minute commute. If you don't mind small, the Shoreline company owns a few small, older buildings that are kept up really well. I toured three of them, and all of them except the Lieland building were very nice. Edgewater also owns some you could look at. Most of these places have laundry in the basement, and a few have dishwashers.

The downside of all of these places is that you have to pay for a parking space (if you want it) as well as the apartment, which really sucks. There is street parking, and the permits are really cheap (about $100/year). I have looked on the Milwaukee City website and have had a really hard time figuring out how street parking works. Can anyone on here could explain how the parking situation works? I will be living on N Prospect Avenue near Brady St. If I get the day permit and the night permit, can I park in metered spaces during the day and the night? How often do I need to move my car? And what are the "Winter" regulations?

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by wpolorocker

The downside of all of these places is that you have to pay for a parking space (if you want it) as well as the apartment, which really sucks. There is street parking, and the permits are really cheap (about $100/year). I have looked on the Milwaukee City website and have had a really hard time figuring out how street parking works. Can anyone on here could explain how the parking situation works? I will be living on N Prospect Avenue near Brady St. If I get the day permit and the night permit, can I park in metered spaces during the day and the night? How often do I need to move my car? And what are the "Winter" regulations?

Any daytime parking permits are not valid at meters.

The night permit allows you to park overnight but you have to watch for alternate side of the street parking. In some neighborhoods its practiced and others it isn't, here's a map:

http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibra...arkingMap2.pdf


You might want to look over this page too for other questions:

Parking Regulations

Also, scroll down to parking maps here:

http://city.milwaukee.gov/district3

[wpolorocker]

Thanks for that, Jesse!
For clarification, if I have a day parking permit I cannot park at a meter (well, unless I pay the meter), but I can park at a 2 hour parking spot for 2 hours. However, with the night parking permit, I can park at a meter after the meter's hours, or at a 2 hour parking spot overnight. Is that correct?

[SeaJay87]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

All of Milwaukee's suburbs are extremely safe take your pick you will have nothing to worry about in any of the 'burbs. I wouldn't rule out living close to MU, it's an urban campus but MU public safety and the MKE PD does a great job paroling that area their also police call boxes located all over the MU campus and off the campus especially where a lot of students live. Milwaukee crime has been falling greatly since 2007 with much thanks going to our new police Chief Ed Flynn(2008-). Milwaukee in the last rankings I could find in 2010 was 43rd most dangerous city in the US right in front of Minneapolis and since crime has fallen even more since that time I would say MKE has fallen lower on the list. Still Milw is a city of 600,000, Milwaukee County 950,000 and a metro of 2.1M in 7 counties so you will have major city crime issues to deal with. If you have basic common sense and a general awareness of your surroundings that alone will help you avoid being a victim of a crime. Don't leave a bunch of Cd's or brief case or a purse out in the open or on your back seat of your car. Don't walk home from the bar at 2am by yourself take a cab or walk home with a group. The immediate area around MU is nice, I'm talking about the campus and the student housing right next to campus. Father Wilde and MU back in the day bought up a lot of the apartment buildings and multi unit houses to convert to student housing and to make it more safe. Looking for an apartment close to MU I would stay in this boundary: Clybourn on the south. State on the North, 21st/20th/ish on the west and 21st/20th to the lake is all good. I have friends that lived west more on state and on kilbourn but they hardly spent anytime in their house and usually drove or bus/cabbed it to school and they never had any problems. If you stay in that area you should be fine since the majority of the people who live in that area are MU students. A few years back MU was ranked as having the 4th best urban campus in the US I wouldn't worry.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your first hand input. I have pretty much ruled out the marquette area because safety seems hit and miss plus I'm married and we just want a quiet place, don't really want to deal with the general college crowd. We've been there before living close to a college campus and hated the disrespect and noise at all hours of the day and night. Honestly we want to live on the most boring street in the most boring neighborhood to have peace and quiet and safety. We can go visit the entertainment when we are in the mood.

[SeaJay87]

Sorry, meant to quote wpolorocker.

[nidex]

Originally Posted by Jesse276

Any daytime parking permits are not valid at meters.

The night permit allows you to park overnight but you have to watch for alternate side of the street parking. In some neighborhoods its practiced and others it isn't, here's a map:

http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibra...arkingMap2.pdf


You might want to look over this page too for other questions:

Parking Regulations

Also, scroll down to parking maps here:

Alderman Kovac - 3rd District

Good advice, but I can tell you without you needing to look at the map, that there is no alternate side parking on Prospect & Brady. I speak from experience as I lived on that corner for a little while. Only thing you need to watch out for is when the city delegates a snow emergency... seems Prospect is the first stop for the tow trucks at 12:01am.