Why Milwaukee? (Berlin, Oakland, Eldorado: high crime, college, gated)

[Solas]

LOL! As if ANYONE here has something to gain politically by debating a bunch of annonymous strangers in cyberspace. But have it your way...

[Allan Trafton]

Originally Posted by Solas

Again, I'm not assuming anything. Case-in-point:



Regardless of how often that is the case, people who live in neighborhoods that are predominantly of color deserve the respect to be looked at as an individuals and not just lumped in with those who may not give a damn about their lives or effects of their actions. Especially when there's a good number of neighborhoods in Milwaukee that are predominantly or significantly black and have a relatively low crime rate for being in an urban city. Sherman Park, Washington Heights, the Northwest Side and Riverwest all immediatley come to mind. Not sure if the Eastside qualifies just yet, but it certianly is a whole lot more racially diverse now than it was even five years ago.

I understand there's likely no way for the OP to know this, but the fact that they openly admitted to being put off by "demographics" (despite apparently knowing it's wrong to do so) should give you a good idea of where their mind is at.

Actually the East side has change in the past 5 years. It was gotten much whiter. With the increase in condos and the large increase in out state UWM students the white population has grown. The area is becoming less diverse. I see far fewer black people living in my neighborhood than 10 years ago. Black people living on the east side are slowly disappearing. Just like Manhattan, San Francisco and areas of D.C. As far as other minorities, it mostly consist of UWM students. Few hispanics on the east side and some asians. It's not that diverse.

[Solas]

Originally Posted by Allan Trafton

Actually the East side has change in the past 5 years. It was gotten much whiter. With the increase in condos and the large increase in out state UWM students the white population has grown. The area is becoming less diverse. I see far fewer black people living in my neighborhood than 10 years ago. Black people living on the east side are slowly disappearing. Just like Manhattan, San Francisco and areas of D.C. As far as other minorities, it mostly consist of UWM students. Few hispanics on the east side and some asians. It's not that diverse.

At the same time though, many of the older eastside residents (who likely would've had a problem living near blackfolk) have either passed or moved from the area trying to escape living near students, who tend to be more open-minded about who they have as neighbors. But I know that when I was a UWM student the only black people I regularly ran into on the eastside who weren't other UWM students or faculty were the kids that went to Riverside. Back then it was an event if I passed another black person on the street. Now I do it everyday and think nothing of it.

Granted, my evidence is entirely anecdotal and I didn't truly familiarize myself with the eastside until I moved back to Milwaukee in 2003. But it certianly seems a lot more "colorful" than it was back then.

[Allan Trafton]

Originally Posted by Solas

I don't know about all that... when I was a UWM student the only black people I regularly ran into on the eastside who weren't other UWM students were the kids that went to Riverside. Back then it was an event if I passed another black person on the street. Now I do it everyday and think nothing of it.

Granted, my evidence is entirely anecdotal and I didn't truly familiarize myself with the eastside until I moved back to Milwaukee in 2003. But it certianly seems a lot more "colorful" than it was back then.

I've lived in the same home for 20 years and I know the neighborhood very well. I'm out and about in it every day and have a good feel for things. Take my block for example. It has a large population. This is the diversity breakdown. Brace yourself. All white people and one mexican. Hows that for diversity. This makes Oshkosh look like Queens New York. And this is not uncommon. The area north of Newberry, west to the river and east to the lake is almost ALL WHITE. You could walk for blocks and blocks and see no blacks. Maybe an asian or middle east person, but thats it. I know one black person on the upper east side,(which is the area north of north). Thats it and I've lived here since the 80's. There are some rentals north of North Ave where a few blacks live, but not many. The lower east side(south of North to Downtown) has more minorities, but thats changing also. Twenty years ago the Brady Street are was pushing 20% black, now maybe 5 or 6%. The upper east side maybe 3 or 4% black and thats it. The upper east side may be the whitest area of town. The south side is 10 times more diverse. Why people don't see this is beyond me. One final point, I'm also a landlord on the upper east side and it took me 13 years until I received an application from a black person. 98% of the showings are white.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by Allan Trafton

One final point, I'm also a landlord on the upper east side and it took me 13 years until I received an application from a black person. 98% of the showings are white.

So, why do you think the area is unattractive to a more diverse population?

[Allan Trafton]

Originally Posted by Jesse276

So, why do you think the area is unattractive to a more diverse population?

I think there is a few reason why and most do with the high cost of the area. The, mostly white, UWM students have pushed the rental costs up. A 3 bedroom flat can run 1300 a month or more and this doesn't include heat and electric. This more than anything has done it. There is a shortage of rentals in the area due to the increase in students and this has caused the high rents. It is cheaper to rent anywhere in the Milwaukee compared to the upper east side. Why pay 1300 when you can pay 850. This has pushed many students farther south towards Brady, which pushes even more people out. Also, the private homes are very expensive. My neighbor paid $300,000 for a 2000 square foot home 3 years ago. I realize that was the top of the market, but it is still expensive. A nice house can run $500,000 no problem. How many can afford this? Many middle and upper middle class blacks go out to the far northwest side and some suburbs. Also, the massive amount of new condos on the east side, downtown and Third Ward, which are very expensive, and are for the most part, white.
The east side has developed into an area that is attractive to students and higher educated liberal whites. Thats what it is and the businesses on the east side cater to these groups. It just seems to me that blacks are not that interested in the east side. They view it as a bunch of stuck up whites. I could be wrong, but thats my gut feeling. A former poster on here KC3700 went into this and explained it very well. He is black and has a better understanding of it than I do.
That is my take on it. Of course there are long time black residents who love living on the east side and new ones which come and go all the time, but not as many as people think.

[Solas]

Originally Posted by Allan Trafton

I think there is a few reason why and most do with the high cost of the area. The, mostly white, UWM students have pushed the rental costs up. A 3 bedroom flat can run 1300 a month or more and this doesn't include heat and electric. This more than anything has done it. There is a shortage of rentals in the area due to the increase in students and this has caused the high rents. It is cheaper to rent anywhere in the Milwaukee compared to the upper east side. Why pay 1300 when you can pay 850. This has pushed many students farther south towards Brady, which pushes even more people out. Also, the private homes are very expensive. My neighbor paid $300,000 for a 2000 square foot home 3 years ago. I realize that was the top of the market, but it is still expensive. A nice house can run $500,000 no problem. How many can afford this? Many middle and upper middle class blacks go out to the far northwest side and some suburbs. Also, the massive amount of new condos on the east side, downtown and Third Ward, which are very expensive, and are for the most part, white.
The east side has developed into an area that is attractive to students and higher educated liberal whites. Thats what it is and the businesses on the east side cater to these groups. It just seems to me that blacks are not that interested in the east side. They view it as a bunch of stuck up whites. I could be wrong, but thats my gut feeling. A former poster on here KC3700 went into this and explained it very well. He is black and has a better understanding of it than I do.
That is my take on it. Of course there are long time black residents who love living on the east side and new ones which come and go all the time, but not as many as people think.

I couldn't boost your rep, but let me co-sign 100% with this. Although I would like to point out it's more than black people thinking its just "stuck up whitefolk" (although that is part of it). I've heard a number of stories about the MPD automatically going after the nearest brother when something happens to a white girl at a club or bar. I have no idea whether or not any of them are true, but the MPD doesn't exactly have a glimmering record when it comes to racial profiling.

That said, I think the "eastside is stuck up whitefolk" thing isn't necessarily true, but I can easily understand why a black person would feel that way. Most white eastsiders (and most Milwaukeeans under 40 period) grew up in suburbs or somewhere outstate never having learned how to deal with cultural differences. And I'm sure many black people naturally interpret that as aloofness.

[Kizzie1979]

Originally Posted by Solas

Not quite... the north side might be the only part of the city where blacks are the majority, but there's black people in almost every part of the city nowadays. And while hispanics are pretty heavily concentrated on the southside, you can find latin influence in plenty of other places as well. Riverwest has (or at least had, before gentrification) a pretty sizeable Puerto Rican population.

Either way, if "deomgraphics" is just the newest code word for "scary brown people" then I'd prefer that the original poster move as far away from Milwaukee as possible.

Now thats very racists to say?????????

[wheel123]

id advise you to pick a suburb on the southside, frankliin, greendale, greenfield, st francis, oak creek, cudahy

it amazes me how many people think milwaukee is just 1 big city alone, when in fact it has many nice suburbs

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by wheel123

id advise you to pick a suburb on the southside, frankliin, greendale, greenfield, st francis, oak creek, cudahy

it amazes me how many people think milwaukee is just 1 big city alone, when in fact it has many nice suburbs

It amazes me how many people think Milwaukee is just 1 big crime ridden city when in fact it has many nice neighborhoods.