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I completely understand what you're saying and unfortunately I summed it up in a sentence by saying in reality racism is alive and well and yes it exists everywhere. I certainly wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth nor do I turn a deft ear to the realities of our society and yes there are areas which are unsafe "regardless" of the color of the skin of the folks who live there. And please correct me if I'm wrong but it seems as if the question goes beyond the simple fact that if a person is looking for a home or place to raise their family and can afford to buy it, why is their such a dichotomy of resistance to change in this region? I work in New York so i certainly understand that many immigrants settled in certain areas and conclaves of communities in other areas but it seems every reaction to an inquiry leads down a pretty discouraging path and the folks lending their opinion sadly don't even realize it.
At $350k, you have plenty of options. My personal preference would be the north part of the City, possibly Bay View (very close to the airport), Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, and Bayside (in order of boring-ness as well as distance from the city). These are within 1/2 hour of the airport using surface streets (Lake Drive/WI hwy 32), Lincoln Memorial Drive, then I-794. Occasional traffic and closures of the lakefront will require summertime adjustments to his commute, but they aren't that bad. Most of the time it would probably be one of the nicer commutes a person could have during their working years.
The budget is going to be hit or miss northeast of downtown, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to find a house. But don't expect it to be on Lake Drive. Don't rule out the city, since school seems not to be a problem for you. Not that MPS is a problem, but it isn't the best. The East Side is really nice, but it's pretty pricey. Close to UWM there are a lot of students (read: parties). It's a great family area also, IMO, and most of it is easily walkable, close to the lake, close to great parks, with plenty of outdoor opportunities.
Other fairly close suburbs with "reasonable" commutes are Wauwatosa and Brookfield. By "reasonable", I mean < 30 minutes on most days, from most parts. Wauwatosa is more urban, Brookfield more suburban. Property values vary greatly. Milwaukee county property tax is higher.
I know almost nothing of the southwest suburbs.
I would personally avoid Cudahy ("Crudahy"), St. Francis, and adjacent areas of the city to the west. The most conspicuous thing about these areas, is the relative absence of people out walking, running, riding bikes, or being remotely athletic. And of course, exceptions exist. There are inexpensive homes available, but... not for me.
Finally, most of Ozaukee County is nice, so if he didn't mind the longer drive, the area is nice. It's obviously more of a suburban (or country) atmosphere. The I-43 commute is a little bit of an annoyance because there is some traffic in the mornings.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
Excellent post. I think Milwaukee is an excellent place to raise a family, as long as you are in the right area. Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Bayside would be my choice as well.
I completely understand what you're saying and unfortunately I summed it up in a sentence by saying in reality racism is alive and well and yes it exists everywhere. I certainly wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth nor do I turn a deft ear to the realities of our society and yes there are areas which are unsafe "regardless" of the color of the skin of the folks who live there. And please correct me if I'm wrong but it seems as if the question goes beyond the simple fact that if a person is looking for a home or place to raise their family and can afford to buy it, why is their such a dichotomy of resistance to change in this region? I work in New York so i certainly understand that many immigrants settled in certain areas and conclaves of communities in other areas but it seems every reaction to an inquiry leads down a pretty discouraging path and the folks lending their opinion sadly don't even realize it.
To some extent, I think it's really this forum--it's been a lightning rod for a lot of depressing, polarizing issues. Many people here sing the praises of diversity in Milwaukee, but that just invites negative responses from other people, often for the pure sake of annoying the pro-diversity folks. I think a lot of the folks offering negative opinions do realize what they're saying, though. (And don't forget, this is city-data.com, people are here to talk and argue about cities. This is a special segment of the population of Milwaukee.)
I'm not sure if it's better on other city subforums where people aren't talking about these issues at all. Does the lack of negative or positive comments elsewhere indicate that race/segregation/diversity is not an issue, or does it perhaps indicate that people sweep it under the rug, or something else?
It should be noted that every few years, an institute publishes a study of racial segregation in major cities/metros in the U.S. Milwaukee is always listed as one of the worst offenders, along with Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Newark, and others (usually northern/northeastern cities). People talk about these studies and dispute them pretty regularly, and a lot of the folks here are used to hearing about how segregated Milwaukee is or may be. (It's almost a cliché.) This constant reminder of Milwaukee's demographic divisions, compounded with the city's unhappy history of de facto segregation, often reinforces perceptions about "unsafe areas." In other words, we're constantly told how bad things are here, so some people react by trying to confirm and justify the bad news (and many of these naysayers haven't been to a typical city neighborhood in years--they often just operate by hearsay).
If you look at Milwaukee's demographic data, there really are sharp divisions. We are often told that Milwaukee has one of the highest poverty and unemployment rates for African-Americans, and since there are sharp geographical divisions within the city and metro about who lives where, many people jump on this information and try to justify or explain it.
But there are studies that argue that Milwaukee is not as segregated as that particular study tends to proclaim. This doesn't take away from the fact, however, that Milwaukee *is* very segregated along race/class/economics lines. On this forum, many people deal with this negatively; others have a more positive spin. In the studies mentioned, certain southern cities, like Birmingham, do better than Milwaukee, but ranking #16 or so in segregation is still nothing to brag about. I know from having lived there that people talk about it all the time there, and people get pretty nasty. Not sure why those people aren't on city-data duking it out, but they could be.
FWIW, if I recall correctly, Salt Lake City was named by the study as one of the most integrated cities/metros on the list. Well, yeah--SLC is almost entirely white, and other folks kind of get absorbed into the mix. Perhaps the SLC forum is nice and civilized, but perhaps the folks there should be debating issues of diversity with more force. Though things here in the Milwaukee forum get pretty bad on that topic, there are those who respond with a different view. Maybe it's more productive just to focus on them and appreciate the fact that the negative comments rarely go uncontested.
Regarding you question -- Is Milwaukee a good place to raise a family?
I can forward you the stats.
I have worked close with governmental agencies within Milwaukee.
The answer is NO..
Frankly, it is scary to think that it is beginning to be considered the new Detroit. No offense Detroit.
However, when the poverty to wealth comparison vary so drastically that is when crime rates increase...followed by _______(fill in the blank need not be stated).
Hello,
We are probably moving to Milwaukee and I've been trying to get info on where to live and this forum has provided really good info thanks! But the last comment about segregation...has me a little worried. My husband is from Spain, I'm Asian and our kids are French as we have been living in France for the last 20 years. We have a budget about 350k for a house and so was looking at the north or east suburbs although personally I wanted to go to the south to be closer to Chicago for shopping trips or when friends visit, but haven't found any areas that have great public schools (9/10) & now comments from this forum have me worried also. But now I'm wondering if we lived in places like Whitefish Bay, Shorewood or Brookfield, would we and our children suffer from some sort of discrimination or would we be able to integrate easily? I am the type to belong to PTAs, help out in homeless shelters, have children on play dates or neighbors for dinners, so integrating in the community is very important to me.
Thanks for any info, your honest comments would be greatly appreciated.
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or when friends visit, but haven't found any areas that have great public schools (9/10) & now comments from this forum have me worried also. But now I'm wondering if we lived in places like Whitefish Bay, Shorewood or Brookfield, would we and our children suffer from some sort of discrimination or would we be able to integrate easily? I am the type to belong to PTAs, help out in homeless shelters, have children on play dates or neighbors for dinners, so integrating in the community is very important to me. 
