Where do we NOT want to live in the Kenosha area? (Milwaukee: real estate, 2011)

[Faithmom]

We're looking to move to Kenosha soon. While looking for houses to rent (we don't want to be "locked in" to an area by buying a house until we've lived in the area for a while) it's hard to tell where would be a safe neighborhood and a good fit by just seeing street names or even seeing houses on a map.

We are a fairly conservative family (pretty laid back, though). We homeschool our four children who are 9-15.

We recently looked at a house in White Caps and really like that area (all of the new stores, and conveniences there!) Are we correct in assuming that would be a good area for us? The particular house we looked at was probably too small for our family (1500 sq ft, but the bedrooms were TINY for two kids to share each one) but it seemed like the houses on either side of 50, west of 31, would be a safe neighborhood. However, the price was on the higher end of our budget so I'm thinking a house that is big enough will probably be out of reach for us in that area. Is there anywhere else that would be safe and convenient like that area? We're not opposed to Lake Geneva, Burlington, Bristol, etc but really DON'T want to be too far from all the conveniences but we realize we can get more house for our money in those areas.

Thanks for ANY help you can throw our way in places we definately want to AVOID, and places that would be a good fit!

[everwinter]

The White Caps area is definitely safe and a nice area. Just watch out for helicopters.
Most of Kenosha I would classify as safe. The only area I can think of to avoid is Mid town, the area just west of downtown. South side & Pleasant Prairie is nice as well, as is the north side.
Lots of conservatives in the area

[lola76]

Any town west of the Interstate is generally going to take you time getting to the stores etc. I live near Brighton which is North of Bristol and love it. I know you said you homeschool but I just wanted to mention that the school in Brighton is fantastic. We've had a few homeschool families come to school.

Paddock lake I don't feel is as nice as Bristol, Brighton, Wilmot etc. Lake Geneva is beautiful but very touristy and in the summer can get a lot of traffic. But it is such a nice town.

From my house in Brighton it takes me about 15 minutes to get to Woodmans.

I personally would not live in any of the houses in the city of Kenosha.

[city414]

kenosha(north chicagoland) not that bad and theres COMMUTER TRANSPORTATION into neighboring chicago suburbs and chicago which is a good thing

[paddock_laker]

Other way around, you get more house for your money in downtown Kenosha. Northside especially. I live in Paddock Lake, which is about 10 mi from downtown, I like it here. But my parents casually look for real estate we can't afford and we're amazed at how much cheaper Kenosha houses are. Also, I generally discourage homeschooling; pretty much all of the schools in the area are excellent, especially Westosha Central High School, west of the I in Paddock Lake, which is always on Newsweek's best schools list.

You really don't have to worry too much about crime in this county. It's not bad. Pretty much any neighborhood is safe if you lock your doors at night. I would even look in Harborpark, which is a bunch of condos in a beautiful park on the lake with easy streetcar and bus access to downtown and the train station, which can take you to Chicago, and (by 2011 probably) Milwaukee.

Somers is also good for the conveniences you listed; you'd still drive to Woodman's (as you would anywhere in the county; PL's SuperValu is too small and comparatively expensive) but you do have WalMart, Sam's Club, and a future Milwaukee train station.

All in all, this is a great area, and most of the towns would be a safe bet. (I personally dislike White Caps because, in my opinion, it's terribly ugly and all the same. Also, home values are a little inflated for the size compared to the surrounding neighborhoods. Most of Salem (not Paddock Lake, they are different even though Paddock Lake has a Salem address) is like that too)

Speaking of which, if you choose to live in Westosha (the county west of I-94, as opposed to The City, aka Kenosha and suburbs Pleasant Prairie and Somers), you will have to get used to the weird addresses:
* Brighton has no post office and is split between Salem, Burlington, Bristol, and Union Grove address wise.
*Paddock Lake is a village, not a city, within Salem Township, and has no post office. Silver Lake is a similarly sized village in Salem Township which is in a completely different school district and does have a post office. Go figure.
* Paris has no post office and practically no taxes (!), but, like Brighton, is in the middle of nowhere. It just happens to be a nowhere which is closer to the amenities of both Kenosha and Racine. It has no post office and is split between Somers, Union Grove, Bristol, and Salem address wise.

To address some peoples posts:
City414- ??? I'm pretty sure no one considers it a full-fledged part of Chicagoland. Kenosha is tied pretty heavily to both Chicago and Milwaukee. It's definitely not a "suburb" as we would think of it.

lola76- I lived in Brighton for 2 years before moving to Paddock Lake and don't regret it. But, I do admit to using the good Lord's SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM (!) to go to Brighton Elementary instead of Salem. But paddock lake has much more much closer than Brighton did; PL has some semblance of a downtown, we have a grocery store and a cafe and some restaurants and McD's and Walgreens. Brighton is a town where people measure distances by cornfields, but in PL we measure them by blocks. PL is cheaper but still decent.

Everwinter- Hehehe. I caught it. You can tell which house the helicopter one is; it's brick now. I guess they were kind of like "hey, if we get another helicopter, we SURE AS HELL aren't dealing with this siding crap. BRICK IT IS!"