Looking to move to franklin. (Milwaukee, Wauwatosa: appointed, house prices, schools)

[ohlott]

Hello, I am looking into moving to franklin from ca. I have 2 kids ages 2 and 4. Could someone give me some info on the area. Schools,parks, Nice housing developments ect.
Also I love to cook, is there and gourmet grocery stores there?
I guess in ca we are spoiled with all the fresh fish and produce.
Thanks

[EnjoyEP]

Franklin is quite nice. A nice, safe, quiet area to raise young children in. Fairly affluent - housing is fairly expensive. It is a growing suburban area with fairly good, close access to Milwaukee and other parts of the metro.

Plenty of parks / open green spaces...you'll find them all over. Schools are good.

I am certain there are gourmet food stores, or at least nearby in surrounding communities. I believe a great gourmet food store - Sendik's - is opening in Franklin very soon. You may wish to check FranklinNOW.com for more info.

Franklin is quite nice. I live in neighboring Greendale and get down into Franklin fairly often.

[ohlott]

Thanks so much for the info. what about surrounding areas waterford, muskego, we are looking for about and 1 acre or more. I have been looking at some homes that have little ponds on them. i think that would be nice for the kids to fish in the summer time.
This is the view we are leaving .

thanks again

[adam76]

Franklin is getting not one but TWO new Sendiks. There will be on on 51st and Rawson and on Hwy 100 and Drexel. We can hardly wait for them to open, right now we drive all the way out to the one in Brookfield. The seafood is of a fairly high quality. Their sashimi grade tuna is excellent. They also have live lobster but we've never tried it.

I think you will like Franklin's amenities but you will probably be pretty disappointed at the view from there. Considering the differences in housing prices between CA and WI, perhaps even some lake property would be affordable for you? Lakes are too numerous to count west and south west of the city.

Is it just me or does there seem to be an inordinate number of "California to Wisconsin" threads lately? Are there only happy cows and not happy people?

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by adam76

Franklin is getting not one but TWO new Sendiks. There will be on on 51st and Rawson and on Hwy 100 and Drexel. We can hardly wait for them to open, right now we drive all the way out to the one in Brookfield. The seafood is of a fairly high quality. Their sashimi grade tuna is excellent. They also have live lobster but we've never tried it.

Adam - Not to be too nosey, but do you mind me asking where you are residents? I thought you were on MKE's East Side? I am just surprised you had to head to Brookfield for Sendik's currently, as I know there is one in Whitefish Bay, one in Shorewood, and I was just at the one in Wauwatosa at like 87th and North. Again, not trying to be nosey, just curious is all.

I am a resident of Greendale, so I am pretty pumped up about your report of the two openings in Franklin!! I knew about the one on Hwy 100 and Drexel (which seems to be turning into a pretty decent, nice area), but I didn't about the one of 51st and Rawson which will be even closer to our house.

[EnjoyEP]

A few points dovetailed to Adam's post to the original poster -

Originally Posted by adam76

I think you will like Franklin's amenities but you will probably be pretty disappointed at the view from there.

I would agree with this. By posting that photo, it seems like you have alot of pride in your area of Cali (and rightfully so), and I do warn you that views like that do not happen here in WI in general, outside of some select areas in MKE around Lake Michigan and some areas in Door County. The terrain is relatively flat, there surely are not any palm trees, sun sets aren't always as beautiful or common as the ones in the west, and surely, there isn't an ocean nearby!

I moved back to the area from another gorgeous "view" area - Albuquerque, NM - great mountain vistas, surises/sunsets are breathtaking, mesas, desert transitioned with the Rio Grande, phenomenal bright blue vast open sunny skies, etc. Maybe not quite the beauty that is coastal Cali, but it holds its own.

And frankly, giving the views up to live in SE Wisconsin isn't necessarily easy.

I will say, living in Greendale (the same geographic vicinity to the metro that you are talking about with Franklin / Muskego, etc.), you do get some more views than much of metro Milwaukee. There ARE a few more rolling hills for some open skies, nice wooded areas, etc. - especially beautiful around this time with autumn here - but frankly, you have to just appreciate the beauty in a realization that this is the upper midwest, and it has beauty in its own right.

Frankly, I could find beauty in pretty much any region of the US. I find beauty in the open, flat plains of Nebraska and Oklahoma as much as I find beauty in the mountains of Colorado...just in a different way. However, the beauty in this area of SE Wisconsin I think is one more that you look for, you search out, more than the "slap you in the face" type beauty of Cali you show in your photo.

Originally Posted by adam76

Considering the differences in housing prices between CA and WI, perhaps even some lake property would be affordable for you? Lakes are too numerous to count west and south west of the city.

This is a good suggestion. Not sure what your housing budget is, but with a view like that in Cali, I am assuming your current house is worth quite a bit more than house prices around here. As such, while you won't get the ocean / palm tree / mountain view on a lake or near one here, you can get quite a darn nice house with a pretty setting. Muskego and Waterford especially have quite a few nice lakes.

Originally Posted by adam76

Is it just me or does there seem to be an inordinate number of "California to Wisconsin" threads lately? Are there only happy cows and not happy people?

Yeah, I think quite a few states are seeing an influx of Californians. People seem to either love or hate living in Cali - just my observation. While the weather here compared to California may make you steadfastly wish to flock for the west coast, there are many quality of life issues here (cost of living, lack of congestion, big-but-not-too-big-metro area, lack of tremendous traffic, still sports and entertainment options galore, friendlier people, etc.) that make the Milwaukee metro area very worthwhile for Californians to consider!

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by ohlott

Thanks so much for the info. what about surrounding areas waterford, muskego, we are looking for about and 1 acre or more.

Waterford - I know some people that live in Waterford and like it pretty well. It is a growing, yet still very safe, quiet, and suburban community with sprinkles of rural still in there.

To me, I would take Franklin or Muskego easily over Waterford (just my tastes) simply because Franklin and Muskego are still very close to Milwaukee and the whole Milwaukee Metro area. If you need to get into Downtown MKE or Milwaukee in general at all for job purposes, it is quite a hike to come from Waterford...people do it, but I sometimes wonder why they would want to.

If being close to a big city is not important to you though, or you'd really have no desire to readily come into Milwaukee, or if you do not mind the idea of being a bit farther "out there" in the dark and quiet, then perhaps Waterford wouldn't be a bad option. It does generally run cheaper for prime areas than Franklin / Muskego do - largely due to its proximity of being farther away from Milwaukee and being less built up, etc.

Muskego is really nice. It is a hare more rural still than the more-residential Franklin (or another neighbor New Berlin), however, it still has plenty of residential areas and is close to stores, restaurants, etc. Good access to Milwaukee.

I would say that it would be somewhat a wash between Muskego and Franklin - both are nice. If you want a bit more rural, I would say Muskego. If you want a bit more residential, I would say Franklin. But both are very similar. You even may just pick between the two depending upon where you find a more desirable property with better taxes, etc.