Kenosha vs. Bristol, WI (Racine, Wausau: apartment, condo, crime)

[nkcgwynne2]

Anyone have any opinions or information on living in the Kenosha area vs. Bristol, Salem or Brighton. I have heard that you'll get more return on your investment by building a home on the west side of I-94 which would be away from Kenosha and is where Bristol etc. is located.

We have relocated here and are living in an apartment in Kenosha with plans to build a home here. More specifically, we have been trying to decide between building in a neighborhood called Leona's Rolling Meadows which is just east of I-94 vs. building in Strawberry Creek which is just west of I-94.

Any info. on Bradford high school in Kenosha vs. Westosha Central High School in Paddock Lake.

Thanks

[inspiurd]

I grew up in Racine, but now live in Kenosha. I don't like anything west of the I. I think it's a personal preference, but there seems to be more life east of the I.

Bradford is an okay high school. If you are thinking about children, any school west of the I will be safer and probably better academically than anything east of the I.

[nkcgwynne2]

Thanks for the info. on Kenosha vs. Bristol and the schools. I was thinking the same thing about the schools. Now the question is just exactly how unsafe are the schools in Kenosha vs. Bristol and what is it due to. I'm assuming the difference probably is the lower income students going to the Kenosha schools? or is there an actual risk of gang activity and real violence at the Kenosha schools???

More specifically, we are looking at building in Leona's Rolling Meadows. I would like to pick this neighborhood as the lot prices are more resonable than west of 94 but the schools are making me hesitate, especially some of the areas nearby Bradford high school.

Any info./opinions would be appreciated.

[hnsmdvl]

If you are worried about the quality of the schools....In my experience...Bradford has had its share of problems...but by no means would I compare it to truely economically depressed areas in the bigger cities of our country. Personally...I went to St Josephs on 69th street and couldnt have asked for a better education. Having known students in most of the high schools in kenosha...I would say that I got the best the city had to offer. But if you are looking to go public, I would say Tremper has more to offer than Bradford. Questionably...there is Indian Trails....which is a little more vocational than your typical high school.....but from what I have heard...its a bit more progressive of an education. Bradford is not without merit though...it seems like they have some pretty strong programs....especially in the area of sports and the arts. As for Kenosha vs Bristol. I would say for raising a family...exposure to variety would warrent living in Kenosha, as there is more availability to restaurants, theater, museums and shopping. Not to mention the beautiful lakefront and proximity to higher education with parkside, gateway, and carthage. Plus if you are looking for increasing value in the value/equity of a home...east of I-94 has grown faster and continues to soar as far as value. With having a newer marina, yacht club, and condo's/townhomes populating the lake front...I would expect an economic boom for the downtown area in the next 8 to 10 years. The alluring aspect of west of 94 is merely the solitude...it is a little more peaceful...but I would consider that more of an adult feature....I would recommend that more for retirement or vacation homes. Hope that helps!

[sorensja]

i went to bradford, go to college now for engineering and think that Bradford is WAY better than tremper. everyone i knew from tremper were stuck up rich kids who thought they were better than us. I took the city bus to school, no yellow bus, real talk. I think bradford is a better representation of what Kenosha is, you get every group of people that live in the city. If your kid is a little badass he is going to get into trouble no matter where he goes so don't believe the hype, bradford proly has more minorities than tremper but that don't mean anything.

[peter lorre]

not sure about housing,but the education is much stronger west of the interstate. city of kenosha has too many minorities that slow down the learning process

[janeannwho]

one woman's humble opinion

if you want your children to have a good education expose them to as many aspects of life as possible without exposing them to overt danger. My children moved constantly as their dad was in the military and they lived and played and went to school with kids whose parent owned businesses and kids whose parents lived in cars as migrant workers and all the kids were the same, kids. they have been in private schools, public schools, city schools, country schools and they did fine. My youngest son went to the Las Vegas Academy high school which was in the oldest and most run down area of Las Vegas and he did it by choice, crossing over many affluent areas to get there because the school offered a stellar education.


so my advice is build where you can live, live in your house and make it a home, if all you are doing is buying an investiment property and not a home, build where you will get the most return.

I know this probably flies in the face of most good advice, but my kids are really strong, have friends from all kinds of cultures, can speak different languages and are successful.

[paddock_laker]

Central is miles better than Bradford. Whether you want to live in Kenosha or Bristol depends on what you want. It's all "the Kenosha area." It isn't too far to Woodmans, an amazing supermarket with low prices and good products.

If you are looking for a budget home: Kenosha would be the best place to look.
If you are looking for a nice, well nuilt low-to-midrange condo, Bristol Bay is great.
If you are looking for a ridiculously expensive high-rise luxury condo, look no further than the Brindisi in Kenosha.
If you are going to commute to Chicaggo via Metra Train, Kenosha.
If you are aiming for a typical type home in a not-too-rich-not-too-poor area, then most of Kenosha County would be fine.
If your first priority is education, Bristol or Brighton. I have friends who have had very bad experiences in Salem Grade School and Kenosha Unified.
Paddock Lake is a not-too-rich-not-too-poor area. There are two lakes and affordable $150,000-$250,000 housing, it's close to everything, and much of the town is walking distance from Subway. It's a nice little town. I live there.

Basically:
If you want a city-type dwelling, pick Kenosha, as it has about 100,000 people and is a very nice city. But there aren't really any faceless status-symbol suburbs anywhere in the county.

If you want a great all-around school with not as much an emphasis on athletics, Central.
If you want a "big" school, Tremper or Bradford, both in Kenosha.
If you want a mindless jock-producing school, Wilmot.

[paddock_laker]

One warning: the interschool competition between Tremper and Bradford sometimes gets violent. Kenosha is not a crimey murder capital like Racine is, though. It has a below-average crime rate.

[amerideaf]

Paddock_Laker, you did excellent job in explaining!

Could you do on "Wausau vs. Stevens Point"?? I have to wait from the Wisconsin state agency for a job interview or not. The position will cover Northern Region, whose the main office is in Wausau.

I am living in PA (few miles north of the Mason Dixon line)