I have to leave Milwaukee (transplants, felons, neighborhoods)

[jakegeesr]

As for the original post, I've been looking at Queen Creek, Arizona. I want to leave Milwaukee for the same reasons. The city was ok when it was just me, but I have a family now and I don't want my son to do, or see the same things that I did. I want to start over somewhere warm and safe! I want to give him a fighting chance in life.

[WhiteSandsYucca]

I want to visit Milwaukee, eventually. I've been to Madison, and it was scenic and nice. I like Milwaukee's riverfront. That striking new art museum added so much to that town!

Well, no one can blame you for wanting to try some place new. However, if you've lived in Milwaukee your entire life, and you're almost 30, you may be more attached than you realize. Sometimes, it takes moving away to see that. However, if you break away for an extended period of time, and then go back, many times the city never feels quite the same. Yet, Milwaukee is not going anywhere, so if you do move, you can always move back. It is hard decision, especially if you are close to your family. I hope you make the right decision for your self, and if you do move, that you like where you go!

[ebreezy]

it seem more like your running away from your problems michelle you just need to focus on you and not worry about other people what they think as my home boy said to me f'em and feed dem goat s#@t. just moving to chicago is that gonna really change your life. you just need to surround your self with positive people in your life. anyways hit me on up anytime.

[UW Badgers]

However, if you've lived in Milwaukee your entire life, and you're almost 30, you may be more attached than you realize. Sometimes, it takes moving away to see that.

Amen to this!

We lived in the Milwaukee our entire life. We packed up and moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa almost 4 years ago. Hubby took a job promotion that we thought would better our lives. As that did, the saying, "Money doesn't bring happiness" rang true every day. We are miserable here. This past Saturday we just bit the bullet and decided to move back to Wisconsin, something we talked about daily for the past 4 years. Our house went up for sale yesterday.

We miss our family and friends extremely and are very lonely here. Plus this city sucks more then I can say. We are so happy and excited to be moving back. We are actually moving to the Appleton area. We have friends and realitives there and we are only 90 minutes from my family. My husband's company is based out of there and he will be transferring to that division. This move cannot come quick enough for us. "Don't know what you got till it's gone" is so very true.

[michael31681]

try looking into the twincities. metro over 3 million people, easier to find a job better transportation and lower crime. milwaukee is about the same population as mpls and stpaul combined but minneapolis has a much much lower crime rate. its a much cleaner city. and it has everything to offer just about. its a great place to raise a family.

[Drover]

Actually Minneapolis' crime rate isn't much better than Milwaukee's. (In fact, Minneapolis has a higher incidence of every violent crime category except murder, and even there it's not a particularly wide gap.) St. Paul's crime rate, on the other hand, is quite a bit lower than both. And I'd guess the crime rates of the respective metropolitan areas are probably pretty comparable.

[EnjoyEP]

And let's not forget, as cold and snowy as Milwaukee is, its winters are darn near Hawaii-esque in comparison to Minneapolis'!! And the summers are more temperate and less hot/humid.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

I'm sorry folks, but speaking as a father myself and someone who grew up in the city of Milwaukee ....

.... if you think that you will your child will kept free and clear from bad influences simply by moving to some suburb in Arizona or where-ever, you are sadly mistaken.

If you raise a child in Milwaukee, you have to be an active, concerned, involved parent to raise a well rounded child. If you raise a child in Cedar Creek, Oregon or Pleasant Valley, Idaho, or wherever, you have to be an active, concerned, involved parent to raise a well rounded child.

What matters most is your home. Neighborhood, city, region ... that's all secondary.

[Drover]

That analysis utterly ignores how difficult it is to raise a well-rounded child when you constantly have to do battle with the culture around you instead of getting support from it. If the same amount of effort produced the same results no matter what type of neighborhood you lived in, good inner-city parents wouldn't lose their kids to gangs, and the ghetto probably wouldn't be a self-perpetuating phenomenon.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Is it more difficult to raise a child in the 'hood? Of course.

But my point is that moving out of the "big bad city" thinking that that alone is going to keep Little Johnny away from trouble is flawed reasoning. If Little Johnny has no moral compass, no respect for authority, then moving him into a freakin' Norman Rockwell painting alone is not going to lead to success in life. The way you raise your child is what matters.

Moreover, the notion that if you live in the city, by very definition you live in a bad neighborhood and send your kid to a bad school demonstrably false.