New job in Racine - where to live? (Milwaukee, Kenosha: apartment, renting)

[tinexile]

I'm a lifelong Midwesterner heading to Racine after a year in the insanity known as Southern California. I'll be working in downtown Racine, but I have the feeling I need to expand my apartment search to neighboring areas.

I found an apartment online in Kenosha that looks great on the Net, but I have yet to see it (or Kenosha) in person. What is Kenosha like? Is it a better area to live than Racine?

I'd also like to check out the southern suburbs of Milwaukee. Basically I'm looking for an area that is safe and relatively quiet. Any helpful opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[sacoss]

I have lived in the community to the north of Racine, called Caledonia; and in the village south of Racine called Mount Pleasant. Both of them are nice compared to Racine proper. Racine is a small city (less than 100k) but has big city problems. Some of the elementary schools in the public school district are ok, middle schools below average, and high schools down-right bad, according to long-time residents, local teachers, and well-known web sites. Ten years ago, people were not so negative about the city and its suburbs, but low-quality people are steadily moving in while the high-quality people steadily move out. Because my daughter is departing elementary school in another year, we are planning to move out of this area. The problems in the schools seem to be related to the quality of students and their families, in addition to the quality of the teaching. Check out the stats at greatschools.net. Anywhere north, south, or west of Racine is a huge improvement in quality of the community, schools, people, etc. But, you will pay more to live in those areas; about twice as much!

[homeagn]

Cudahy is an area south of Milwaukee (a suburb) that is relatively low-cost, quiet, and safe. It's about a half hour commute to Racine on local roads. You'll probably have better luck renting an apartment there rather than in Racine itself.

[Drover]

Uh... this thread is almost 6 months old. I get the feeling he's already found a place to settle into by now.