Relocating to Milwaukee from Indianapolis

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by Nuclear_Art

Freeway volume at rush hours everywhere in Milwaukee is above design capacity. If you are stuck commuting at rush hours you are stuck. Storms, accidents, and construction can double commute times. I prefer 5-10 minute commutes. Anything more than 20 minutes is a waste of time.

I just spoke from experience. I find Milwaukee traffic to be non-existent vs some other places.(very small and limited and not long either) I didn't mention one place that was more than 30 minutes from the said work location.

As I said to the poster, compare and contrast some of the West side burbs to North Side burbs, ....while both are fine, they look and feel different(even West side ones to West side ones, let alone comapred to ones on North Side)

Some people prefer part sof the West Side and some prefer East/North in my experiences with people. While living in a West burb would be easier traffic wise, ...if someone likes the Northeast side better, the commute would be very reasonable. Gotta live where you will be happy imo...not just because it is 10 minutes closer. Perhaps the poster wants to be closer to downtown or the city. Whitefish Bay for example is 3 miles away, Shorewood closer....Mequon 15 miles. ....it's an easier and closer drive from North into city imo...than from the West. Maybe they don't want this, etc....I am merely giving general info to the poster. Maybe they want to be on one of the small lakes with a more rural feel? ....

But generally speaking, Milwaukee doesn't have a lot of traffic, which opens the doors to a wider array of choices to the poster. 5-10 minutes limits their choices unnecessarily imo, because one cango anywhere in metro Milwaukee within 20-30 tops. Often times less.

Elm Grove also a possibility as the poster mentioned.

[Iggyb2]

I guess it's what you're used to. Schools are important to me. That's why we chose Arrowhead because of their high praise. We didn't want to be packed on top of our neighbors either. Since my husband has had a 1 1/2 hour drive when he worked in Chicago because of the crappy road system, and 1 1/4 hr drive when we lived in Virginia when he commuted to D.C., a 30-35 minute drive, with lots of alternative routes if things jam up on the highway, isn't that big of a deal. You can always jump off and take another route. You can own a fabulous house in Lake Country if you drive that extra time, and have great schools. It's likes any city, the closer in, if the neighborhood is nice, the schools are good, you're going to pay more. What we could have afforded closer in would have been on a 1/4 acre lot, an older house with repair needs, city sewer and water, probably one less bedroom, and one less garage space, and less overall square footage. Because my husband is willing to do the drive, the kids can play hockey in school, they can be on a swim team at school, we've got great teachers, we have a house that is new on a 1/2 acre, much better taxes, and little urban sprawl.
This is not to say you can't get this else where closer, just that you will pay a lot more for it.

[claudelle]

With the price of gas what it is (and more expensive in the 5 county area surrounding Milwaukee), if I were just buying a house, I would want to live in the vicinity of where I work. Why drive across two counties when you don't have to? There are many nice areas around Waukesha, and a lot of the growth is happening in Waukesha county. I believe the schools in Waukesha County are good. I live in Mequon and can tell you about the whole North Shore area, but I really can't imagine why you'd want to commute when you don't have to!