Whitefish Bay, all the info! (Milwaukee, Shorewood: apartment complexes, renting, daycare)

[Michigan12345]

Hello! I am trying to gather information on Whitefish Bay. We have elementary and middle school age children. It looks like there are two elementary schools and then just one middle school and high school. What are the differences between the two elementary schools? Is there a school bus system or are most of the homes within a walkable distance? We are looking for a home with character that is walkable to downtown shops and restaurants. Is there a certain side of town we should look into? Are there generally many home purchase options? There aren’t right now, but that may be related to Covid-19. Is the area politically conservative or liberal? We currently live in the conservative south and are looking for a more progressive area. What are the people like? Welcoming to outsiders? Is there a competitive swim team in the area? I clearly have a million questions, so any information you can offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[sub]

It's a nice community. I think you'd find what you're looking for pretty easily there.
It's walkable. Politically center-left it seems. I'm from the south and lean conservative, but I like the more balanced politics of Wisconsin.
I haven't lived in WFB, just in a couple nearby communities. Friendliness and sense of community are generally quite good in most parts of Wisconsin.

[brrabbit]

Originally Posted by Michigan12345

Hello! I am trying to gather information on Whitefish Bay. We have elementary and middle school age children. It looks like there are two elementary schools and then just one middle school and high school. What are the differences between the two elementary schools? Is there a school bus system or are most of the homes within a walkable distance? We are looking for a home with character that is walkable to downtown shops and restaurants. Is there a certain side of town we should look into? Are there generally many home purchase options? There aren’t right now, but that may be related to Covid-19. Is the area politically conservative or liberal? We currently live in the conservative south and are looking for a more progressive area. What are the people like? Welcoming to outsiders? Is there a competitive swim team in the area? I clearly have a million questions, so any information you can offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Richards Elementary is positioning itself as the " best school on Santa-Monica", and Cumberland is probably "the best school on Cumberland" ) Both are good. Cumberland deals with a bunch of kids from apartments on Chateau and Fairmount, while Richards have smaller number of apartments in the area. So, there's some perception that "Richards is slightly better", but I am not absolutely sure if that is true. There's also a parochial school, it might be reasonably priced too - since there are many kids going into it each morning.



The place is very walkable, with many kids actually walking to school on their own. Crossing guards on each major intersection during morning / after school. Also, the village isn't that big. Although, if you end up living too far, there are buses for those kids.


Downtown is Silver Spring Dr. The rest of Wfb is residential houses. There aren't too many restaurant choices in Wfb proper, but there's Bayshore Mall right across the road (but technically in Glendale).


I recommend buying a house on the lake shore, if you can afford it. Otherwise - the closer to the lake - the nicer. Also, the divide between the two elementary schools lays by Henry Clay Rd, so houses north of it are probably priced a bit higher due to the fact that your kid will go to Richards. On another hand - living closer to south (Hampton, etc) - is also nice, there's Shorewood (and it has plenty of restaurants and is much more active foot traffic in its downtown). So, really, any place in Wfb is nice. If you like the house and it's affordable, don't think twice about it then. If you cannot find a house you like, there's nothing wrong with renting an apartment - even on Fairmount or Chateau Pl apartment complexes live very nice people.


Wfb is mostly upper middle class. It tends to be more republican/ conservative - especially in terms of finances/taxes, but people in Wisconsin are generally not religiously/socially conservative (not like in Sourh). It's usually - live and let other people live - and let's not fight over politics or religion, but rather over bratwurst recipes.


Yes, there's competitive swim team in Wfb High School. YMCA hosts some more competition teams. Nicolet High (technically school in Glendale / Fox Point, but open to non-residents for extra $10) has pre-competition teams for all ages, where kids comes 2-3-4 days a week for extensive workout with focus on speed and proper technique and endurance.


Speaking of welcoming, it depends on you. Since you have children of school age, the more you participate in schools life, the more you'll know people around you. Church, other social activities, allows also to meet people according to your interests. Neighbours wouldn't bring you a cake (highly unlikely), but depending on how you act towards them - you'll be either on friendly "buddies" basis, or just hello/hello.


Feel free to ask more. Wfb is a nice place to live. Still cityish, but on the border of turning suburban (but still not suburban). So, depending on what you're looking for - Shorewood is more city than Wfb and Fox Point / Bay Side are totally suburban.


Ps. I live in and around of Wfb for last 10 years, but also been to other places, and can compare quite well

[mizzou65201]

Originally Posted by Michigan12345

Hello! I am trying to gather information on Whitefish Bay. We have elementary and middle school age children. It looks like there are two elementary schools and then just one middle school and high school. What are the differences between the two elementary schools? Is there a school bus system or are most of the homes within a walkable distance? We are looking for a home with character that is walkable to downtown shops and restaurants. Is there a certain side of town we should look into? Are there generally many home purchase options? There aren’t right now, but that may be related to Covid-19. Is the area politically conservative or liberal? We currently live in the conservative south and are looking for a more progressive area. What are the people like? Welcoming to outsiders? Is there a competitive swim team in the area? I clearly have a million questions, so any information you can offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Hello, and welcome!
Whitefish Bay's main street is Silver Spring. However, it is somewhat lacking in the restaurant scene, although it is better than it used to be. You may want to look into something in the southeast corner of the village, which would be within close walking distance to the northern stretch of Oakland Avenue in Shorewood. Oakland Ave has a more robust selection of restaurants and services.

WFB (as it's often abbreviated) has had a leftward shift in political leanings of late, similar to many other suburbs locally (and across the country) with similar socioeconomics (higher income, high level of college educated voters.) From 2000-2012 you could call it a "purple" suburb. The Republicans were more of the "chamber of commerce" variety. As a result, Republicans have lost traction here as that party has turned harder to the right. The swing from Romney losing WFB by 4.5% in 2012 to Trump losing by 35% was the largest swing towards the Democrats of any municipality in Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee paper political analyst Craig Gilbert. The Dem margins in the 2018 midterm did not fall too far from 2016. Here are the WFB voting percentages:

2000: Bush 54.7% Gore 45.3%
2008: McCain 43.5% Obama 56.0%

2012: Romney 47.7% Obama 52.2%

2016: Trump 32.1% Clinton 67.9%
2018 Governor: Walker(R) 39.8% Evers(D) 60.2%

2018 Senate: Vukmir(R) 34.3% Baldwin(D) 65.7%


I always find it interesting that Republicans always do a little better in the northern voting wards of WFB (closer to Fox Point), while the Dem margins are always a littler larger in the southern voting wards (closer to Shorewood.) So even within the village, you can see a bit of gradient from south to north.



I disagree with brrabbit-- I don't think there is any difference (either actual or perceived) between Cumberland and Richards. As far as I am aware, there is no school bus service provided to anyone living in WFB absent a special need. At most, it's about a 2 mile walk from the very northern tip of the village to the high school; most places are closer.


Another valuable community resource is the JCC or "the J" -- officially the "Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center." It is broadly equivalent to a YMCA -- swimming & other athletics, daycare for children, after school programs, that sort of thing. It has a relatively large campus located in more or less the northwest corner of the village.

[sub]

Public school kids ride city buses for free where we live, but it may not be a thing in WFB.
I've seen "walking" school buses where large groups of children walk together.
Bikes are very common.
Growing up, I thought riding bikes to school was just something nostalgic from a bygone era you only saw in movies.
Then I moved to Wisconsin. Middle school bike racks can be their own parking lot in some cases.

[katharsis]

Just wanted to chime in to say that the more I read about Wisconsin culture, the more I like it! (I can hardly wait to retire there later this summer!)

[brrabbit]

> I disagree with brrabbit-- I don't think there is any difference (either actual or perceived) between Cumberland and Richards.



Since I heard that Richards is slightly more desirable (and it had slightly higher ratings on "Great Schools" in the past - I am certain that there is "perceived" preference to Richards. I don't think it's statistically any better than Cumberland to be honest, since all kids gather in common Middle/High schools in the end.



> As far as I am aware, there is no school bus service provided to anyone living in WFB absent a special need. At most, it's about a 2 mile walk from the very northern tip of the village to the high school; most places are closer.


There are yellow buses in front of Richards school bringing black kids from Milwaukee. Also, my wife told me, that anyone who lives in Wfb but further than 2 miles away can also take bus (how many of those kids are there in the district - I don't know, most are within this 2 miles radius though).

[brrabbit]

> The swing from Romney losing WFB by 4.5% in 2012 to Trump losing by 35% was the largest swing towards the Democrats of any municipality in Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee paper political analyst Craig Gilbert.

I think it might be affected by district redistributing. I might suggest that state elections are more indicative.

[MortonR]

One word: Kopps.

One major reason to live in the area.

RM

[BOBNCHI]

I've never moved into a area based on one's political views. It just seems strange to do so.