Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Wisconsin > Milwaukee
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 02-28-2012, 04:24 PM
 
97 posts, read 184,059 times
Reputation: 33

Advertisements

I've thrown similar scenarios out here over the past couple of years for different job opportunities...and now another has arisen in our location of choice, greater Milwaukee. We have lived in Manhattan for 14 years but are originally from the Midwest (me from MI and she from WI). Now that we have a large family, it's time to move!

We have three boys, ages 5 and under, and a newborn girl (2 weeks old) so schools--public or private--are critical. We are seeking a real, established neighborhood, with sidewalks that people actually use, good schools, parks and stores/shops. I grew up right on Lake Michigan and would love to live near it.

At this point, we are really interested in Shorewood or Whitefish Bay.

A couple of questions:

1. What are the schools like in those places and how is the lifestyle? Restaurants/shops/grocery stores?
2. Commuting to Racine. Is that do-able or will I drive myself insane?
3. What do folks do with kids on the weekends? Are there good sports programs?

Please no NYC bashing! We really love Manhattan and the opportunities for our kids are incomparable, but the expense is so insane ($38k for our kindergarten of choice) that it's time for something new.

Cheers!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-28-2012, 10:18 PM
 
Location: Houston
483 posts, read 1,214,941 times
Reputation: 325
Living on the south side or south area of the metro area would definitely, definitely make your commute easier. You will be fighting traffic if you choose to live in Shorewood or Whitefish Bay. Only thing is that aside from Bayview (which I would recommend you look into- not sure about the schools), you'd have to settle for suburbia (Greendale, Franklin) if you want to stay in a no-questions-asked safe area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2012, 08:45 PM
 
6 posts, read 12,786 times
Reputation: 10
Default Have you considered Racine?

Our family moved here 2.5 years ago from Ohio and opted to live in Racine. We considered Milwaukee suburbs, Gurnee IL area and Kenosha. In the end we found a beautiful home, in a great neighborhood with an acre of land in Gifford farms, Caledonia just 10 min from my husbands work. The kids love the schools they go to and I found a teaching job as well. I love the schools where i teach and where my kids go to school. It's been great for the family since our boys get to have dad home from work by 6, so he gets to see them play basketball and soccer. My husband works just 10 miles so he bikes to work beginning in may/June. He and i love that he doesnt have to commute. The beach (which by the way is beautiful, safe, and clean) is only 10 minutes away and so is downtown with its festivals every couple of weeks throughout May to October. We also have snow and ice sculpture contests in the winter, as well as Parades. I sub in the public schools and teach part time in a couple of parochial schools so I've seen all of the different types of schools. Gifford elementary is highly rated. And I would agree with that, as I've subbed there many times. The private and parochial are highly rated as well. The public schools have excellent teachers. Let me know if you need any additional info on Racine.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2013, 02:37 PM
 
Location: Racine WI
7 posts, read 33,424 times
Reputation: 12
From Shorewood-Whitefish Bay your talking a 45 min drive to Racine. Totally doable. I have worked in Milwaukee and I live in Racine. There is no horrible traffic in metro Milw. as side from I45 south around Silver Spring to the zoo interchange at rush hour and sometimes by Bayshore on I43 north. There is times like weather or accidents it can take longer but not often. Trust me no tolls and nothing like NYC.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-22-2013, 09:06 AM
 
13 posts, read 24,578 times
Reputation: 11
We moved from Racine to the north shore (Bayside). We could not find public schools we were comfortable with in Racine, but LOVE Maple Dale-Indian Hill school district where we are now. I think you would like the neighborhoods here too- although housing is more expensive than in Racine or the south side of Milwaukee.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2013, 07:21 PM
 
Location: Finally in NC
1,337 posts, read 2,200,260 times
Reputation: 998
You DO NOT want to live in the city of Milwaukee if you want good schools. We left Milwaukee altogether because of the schools. Milw to Racine is a good 45 minute commute-that's 90 minutes out of your day in travel time-without traffic.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-30-2013, 09:33 PM
 
Location: Riverwest, MKE
280 posts, read 645,365 times
Reputation: 261
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodbyesnow View Post
You DO NOT want to live in the city of Milwaukee if you want good schools.
This is just not true... a good number of MPS schools (Rufus King, Riverside, High School of the Arts, Golda Mier, etc.) are amongst the best public schools in the country at their respective levels. Rufus King was even rated the best high school in Wisconsin by U.S. News. Another MPS School, Reagan College Prep was ranked second, and Milwaukee School of Languages was 7th.

Rufus King High School in MILWAUKEE, WI | Best High Schools | US News

Reagan College Preparatory High School in MILWAUKEE, WI | Best High Schools | US News

Milwaukee School of Languages in MILWAUKEE, WI | Best High Schools | US News

MPS gets a bad rap because a lot of the parents expect the teachers to raise or babysit their kids; but a few of the schools (like the ones I mentioned) have selective admissions in part to assure that all of their students have involved parents/guardians who actually care about their kids' education. If this is you, you should have no problem getting your kid a quality education through MPS.

Sidenote: I HATE that they renamed Lake High School after Ronald Reagan... that was immediately after Reagan passed away when everyone forgot how terrible his policy was for cities like Milwaukee. But we got a school named after Obama now so... there's that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Wisconsin > Milwaukee
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top