Future Gentrification in Milwaukee? (Madison, Shorewood: neighborhoods, schools, college)

[zaragosa]

Hi everyone,

I've recently arrived in Milwaukee after having spent the last several years in Seattle, and before that Austin. In those cities, dense historical neighborhoods are highly coveted and are therefore super expensive. People with less wealth seem to be pushed to the periphery of the urban core. In the few months I've spent exploring Milwaukee, I've noticed some incredibly beautiful Victorian mansions and commercial strips that are in a condition that might be called "urban blight". I'm speaking mainly about the area bordered by 27th Street to the West, Center Street to the North, the river to the East, and Wisconsin Avenue to the South. Also, the areas surrounding National and Mitchell Avenues to a much lesser degree.

Are these neighborhoods at risk of gentrification? Has the process already started? If not, what factors prevent this from occurring? Lack of yuppies/hipsters?

[HyperionGap]

Milwaukee recorded 20 homicides in August

[zaragosa]

Ooohhh.....I see.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by zaragosa

Ooohhh.....I see.

If you think that answers your question, you're dim and gullible.

[Ralph Shinners]

I truly wish there was a 'risk' of that area gentrifying, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. People who are interested in older housing stock simply look in the East side, Tosa, Shorewood, Washington Heights, Bay View, Sherman Park & other areas.

[zaragosa]

While I don't particularly appreciate the ad hominem response, I'd be interested to hear you elaborate, "Jesse276".

[Ralph Shinners]

An area that you would probably appreciate which is just outside the area you described would be the Concordia neighborhood (the eastern border is 27th Street). That in fact is an area where I have seen some gentrification in the past.

[Steve Bowen]

Milwaukee has gentrified for a while, and is continuing to gentrify now but it's unlikely you'll be priced out of Milwaukee by a deluge of people.

Climate is a huge factor. People put up with the otherwise undesirable aspects of Seattle and Austin's climates (gloom and sweltering heat, respectively) because they don't want to deal with cold, snowy winters. Milwaukee has cold, snowy winters. That makes it a deal-breaker for many people living in the South and on the coasts.

Economy is also a factor. Milwaukee's economy is...stable. It's extremely unlikely that Milwaukee will become a major tech hub like Seattle or Austin. For one, the state's flagship computer science department is in Madison. Second there just is't a huge tech cluster in Milwaukee. Milwaukee's big tech gambit is to become the Silicon Valley of Fresh Water research. This makes a certain amount of sense but it's probably not going to turn Milwaukee into an Austin or Seattle in the next 20 years. Especially when it would have to overcome the climate hurdle.

Third, Milwaukee has a ****-load of old neighborhoods and buildings around because, unlike Austin and Seattle, it had a much larger population 50 years ago. It hasn't shrunk as badly as Buffalo, Cleveland, or Detroit, but it has shrunk, leaving physical capital behind in the form of old buildings to be occupied.

Fourth, schools are key. While young people move to cities after high-school or college to seek their fortune, odds are, in the coming years they will get married and want to have children. Milwaukee's schools are widely perceived as being awful. I don't know whether this is true. I suspect it's exaggerated, but it will result in people leaving to start families in the suburbs, where it's cheaper anyway, or leaving the Milwaukee metro area entirely, or not moving their family to Milwaukee to begin with.

I think Milwaukee is pretty gentrification-proof (in the Seattle and Austin sense) for those reasons.

[zaragosa]

I think you may be spot on, Steve. In the way that Seattle and Austin are presently the centers of an information technology boom, Milwaukee was at one point the center of industry (presumably brewing, or crude turbine engines, or something). In the future, jerks like me will assuredly be lamenting the dilapidated state of 'historically significant' 1970s split-levels in Bellevue.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by zaragosa

While I don't particularly appreciate the ad hominem response, I'd be interested to hear you elaborate, "Jesse276".

Isn't it obvious? Listing murders in the city doesn't necessarily mean anything for a specific neighborhood and its future. Did you not know that?