Moving to Milwaukee from Texas (West Allis, West Milwaukee: real estate, condos, crime)

[AguaDulce]

Me (native Texan, born in Houston) and my boyfriend (originally from Milwaukee) are moving to Milwaukee this summer. He's in the wine business and I'm an editor with experience in desktop publishing. We have no children and would like to live close to the city center--near groovy restaurants, coffeeshops, parks, bicycle trails, and a library. I'll sheepishly admit that we are a couple of middle-aged hipsters (seasoned with time). We are both musicians. Walker's Point looks pretty good to me. I even speak Spanish fairly well. How safe is Walker's Point, and the area west of Walker's Point? The real estate prices seem too good to be true. I'd rather be closer to Bayview, of course, but it's not as cheap.

Also, any other areas?

[thefragile]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Me (native Texan, born in Houston) and my boyfriend (originally from Milwaukee) are moving to Milwaukee this summer. He's in the wine business and I'm an editor with experience in desktop publishing. We have no children and would like to live close to the city center--near groovy restaurants, coffeeshops, parks, bicycle trails, and a library. I'll sheepishly admit that we are a couple of middle-aged hipsters (seasoned with time). We are both musicians. Walker's Point looks pretty good to me. I even speak Spanish fairly well. How safe is Walker's Point, and the area west of Walker's Point? The real estate prices seem too good to be true. I'd rather be closer to Bayview, of course, but it's not as cheap.

Also, any other areas?

Riverwest has lots of artists & musicians. There are pockets of Riverwest that have crime but it's not as horrid as people may make it out to seem.

[brrabbit]

a) Welcome. Summer is best time to move into Milwaukee! You'll love it here
b) Walkers Point is a place with many bars, and many party goers. If you're fine with it, it's very good place in my opinion, very safe. I never felt threatened there
c) I lived in West Allis and while it has some bad reputation, it's a fine place if you ask my opinion. Live and let other people live kind of attitude. Not sure about areas in between though. West Milwaukee has some bad rep, but not as bad as northern parts of Milwaukee. I had a friend living in Brewer's Hill area, they were fine there. Third Ward might be another "cool" area with condos converted from factory buildings, but I heard they are fairly pricey.

d) I wouldn't argue about Riverwest, but recently saw a video of their New Year celebration tradition, when lots of folks fire pistols (and a few shotguns) into the air right in the streets ... While I'm very pro-gun, I'm not sure how would I feel about people shooting firearms around me.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by thefragile

Riverwest has lots of artists & musicians. There are pockets of Riverwest that have crime but it's not as horrid as people may make it out to seem.

Thanks. Riverwest looks like a great spot, but more expensive than Walker's Point and surrounding area. I will add it to my real estate alerts.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by brrabbit

a) Welcome. Summer is best time to move into Milwaukee! You'll love it here
b) Walkers Point is a place with many bars, and many party goers. If you're fine with it, it's very good place in my opinion, very safe. I never felt threatened there
c) I lived in West Allis and while it has some bad reputation, it's a fine place if you ask my opinion. Live and let other people live kind of attitude. Not sure about areas in between though. West Milwaukee has some bad rep, but not as bad as northern parts of Milwaukee. I had a friend living in Brewer's Hill area, they were fine there. Third Ward might be another "cool" area with condos converted from factory buildings, but I heard they are fairly pricey.

d) I wouldn't argue about Riverwest, but recently saw a video of their New Year celebration tradition, when lots of folks fire pistols (and a few shotguns) into the air right in the streets ... While I'm very pro-gun, I'm not sure how would I feel about people shooting firearms around me.

Thank you for the input.

West Allis seems too suburban to me.
Third Ward is way too pricey.

What about areas just slightly south of Walker's Point and areas just slightly west of Walker's Point?
There are some amazing bargains in there.

[AguaDulce]

How about Lincoln Village? It seems very under-valued.

We live in Austin now. The housing market is insane.

Austin
median household income: $52,431
income per capita: $31,387
average price for a single-family home: $347,292

Milwaukee
median household income: $36,000*
income per capita: $30,206
average price for a single-family home: $130,037

[brrabbit]

If price is low, there's a reason for it

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by brrabbit

If price is low, there's a reason for it

As you can see from the stats I provided, it's all relative.

To me, a house that costs under $150,000 is cheap.

Is Lincoln Village cheap because of crime?

[thefragile]

Originally Posted by brrabbit

a) Welcome. Summer is best time to move into Milwaukee! You'll love it here
b) Walkers Point is a place with many bars, and many party goers. If you're fine with it, it's very good place in my opinion, very safe. I never felt threatened there
c) I lived in West Allis and while it has some bad reputation, it's a fine place if you ask my opinion. Live and let other people live kind of attitude. Not sure about areas in between though. West Milwaukee has some bad rep, but not as bad as northern parts of Milwaukee. I had a friend living in Brewer's Hill area, they were fine there. Third Ward might be another "cool" area with condos converted from factory buildings, but I heard they are fairly pricey.

d) I wouldn't argue about Riverwest, but recently saw a video of their New Year celebration tradition, when lots of folks fire pistols (and a few shotguns) into the air right in the streets ... While I'm very pro-gun, I'm not sure how would I feel about people shooting firearms around me.

Shooting off firearms on New Years Eve happens everywhere, it's nothing new.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by thefragile

Shooting off firearms on New Years Eve happens everywhere, it's nothing new.

Hell, I might even have to shoot off my own!