Bay View - Neighborhood Question (Milwaukee, South Milwaukee: for sale, real estate, lofts)

[SickOfTheSunbelt]

Anybody have any inside info on the neighborhood roughly bounded by Oklahoma on the south, Lake Michigan on the east, Russell on the north, and Kinnickinnic on the west?

That just seems like a great little area. Beautiful big old houses, parks everywhere, spectacular views of the lake and city, great location, literally a 5 minute drive south of downtown, an easy bicycle ride or walk to beaches, etc etc.

I noticed that houses right along the lake on Shore Dr go for $550K and up, but nice looking homes just 2 or 3 blocks inland are in the $225K-$275K range. It almost seems like something might be "wrong" with a neighborhood in such an ideal location that has such nice looking old houses for that price. The area oozed with character and we absolutely fell in love with the neighborhood.

Like I've said before on these forums, for my money Milwaukee is the Seattle of the Midwest. In Seattle an inferior house, in an inferior neighborhood, with an inferior view of an inferior body of water would easily cost you double or triple the price of a similar piece of real estate in Milwaukee.

It seems almost perfect for us. Plenty of parks for going for a jog or walking the dogs, a beautiful view of the lake just about anywhere you look. And as far as I could tell it seemed to be an unpretentious, established, quiet and safe little pocket of streets. Just appeared to be a perfect residential neighborhood to set down some roots in.

Any input would be much appreciated.

[heyheyheyhey]

i don't have any inside info and i can't believe no one else has answered your question, but last year when we were looking at homes this is the exact area we looked at in bayview. we didn't buy in this area cause the homes in our price range looked good on-line but not so much in person. it seemed like only the shabby homes were for sale. there were definitely some nice homes in the area, we also found that a lot of the homes were multi family homes and that is not what we wanted. keep in mind yards are very small in this area and homes are very close together.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

There's nothing "wrong" with Bay View. The house prices are a function of their location in a relatively unknown Midwestern city. Bay View is also located on the South Side, which historically has had much lower prices than the lakeshore neighborhoods north and east of Downtown.

The lower prices on the south side have to do with the traditional blue-collar nature of the south side and south shore communities. While Bay View has changed considerably in the last decade and is no more a working class, blue collar enclave, the south shore communities of St. Francis, South Milwaukee and Cudahy are still decidely blue collar. Prices in Bay View have not yet caught up with the prices in the north shore or east side. In time, they may very well catch up, and those $250K homes will be going for $350K or more.

Bay View has emerged in recent years as one of Milwaukee's most desirable neighborhoods. It's location on the Lake and easy access to Downtown have always been selling points, but lately the neighborhood has seen a wave of new home building and commercial development on Kinnickinnic Avenue (know as KK to us locals). The new, hip, restaurants, bars and shops on KK have led some people to call Bay View the "new East Side."

There are some standout Milwaukee Public Schools located in or near Bay View. Humboldt Park elementary, Fritsche Middle and Hamlin Garland are excellent schools. High schools in the area remain problematic (Bay View High School is not recommended) but under Wisconsin's open enrollment law, you could very well live in Bay View and send your child to school in a neighboring suburb, such as St. Francis.

[SickOfTheSunbelt]

Thanks for the response. Hopefully Milwaukee continues to be a relatively "unknown midwestern city" for many years to come. It's a beautiful thing.

[theycallmeoj]

If my memory serves me correctly, your talking about the neighborhood to the east of Humbolt Park basically.

I lived in this neighborhood during my years as a child. I loved it.

Humbolt Park is very large. Huge hill for sledding for ths kids and adults like me! A Pond for skating and fishing, and they have fireworks on the 4th. A nice little playground with a kiddy pool as well. They also have am amplitheather, which use to have some decent things when i lived there.

A couple years back i spent a few months in Bayview again with my relatives. The "hood" has changed. Some for the better, some for the worse.

The area you are describing is still nice.


Bayview is becoming more "Artsy Craftsy" kinda like the East Side is/was. This is a good thing. I never thought I'd see the day when a Condo when being put in Bayview. They actually appear to be kinda nice lofts as well.

The area has good people and a ton of stuff to do. The bars are nice and freindly for the most part. Some nice places to get food as well.

Down on KK they have the newer library, which wasn't there when i was a child, but it is quite nice.

Dover Street Elementary, which i went to, and is ungodly OLD, still stands. The new freeway addition is AWESOME. A quick trip from the Airport/ St. Francis area to Downtown (drops you off near Summerfest or takes you to I-94 if i remember correctly) in like 10mins. Traffic on it isn't bad either.

If i had to move my family to Milwaukee, I'd very likely look in the same area as you. The closer to the lake you get, the better.


Hope you enjoy the neighborhood.