In Phoenix with job opportunity in Milwaukee, need info (Green Bay: tornadoes, insurance)

[indecisiveinaz]

Hello everyone.
I am in desperate need of information. My husband has a job in Milwaukee if he wants it, but we really need info on the area. We are familiar with Door County, but that seems like another world in comparison. Any info on schools, crime, weather, tornados, ANYTHING would be appreciated. Please help!!!

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

My husband has a job in Milwaukee if he wants it, but we really need info on the area. We are familiar with Door County, but that seems like another world in comparison.

Well, if you are familiar with Door County, at least then you are (I am guessing) fairly familiar with the weather / climate, general geography / topography, etc.? If so, that'll be pretty helpful for you.

Have you ever resided anywhere other than Phoenix? Have you ever resided in the Midwest? Some of that info would be beneficial to help advise you.

Are you happy in Phoenix or looking for a change? Milwaukee in many ways is far superior (to my tastes) to Phoenix, and in some ways is inferior (also to my tastes). It depends upon what you are looking for, hopeful for, enjoy, etc., but regardless of the pros of both a Milwaukee or a Phoenix, the two towns are wildly drastically different from one another in so very many ways. Thus, if you end up in Milwaukee, surely be prepared for a much different experience than Phoenix.

A few basics:

Size: Milwaukee is a city of 600,000 - but the surrounding metro area is 1.7 million. A nice sized city / metro - a "big" city if you will for sure - however, compared to Phoenix metro's ~4-million, Milwaukee will seem rather small in comparison.

To me, that is a strength that Milwaukee metro offers. It is much easier to get around, commute times are much quicker, the metro area is not nearly as spread out, etc.

Milwaukee metro doesn't present the crowding and pollution type issues that Phoenix metro does, simply because of its reduced size.

If you love the size of Phoenix, you might find Milwaukee to be too small for your tastes. However, if you (like I) find Phoenix to be too big, Milwaukee could be a nice adjustment for you.

Milwaukee is a good sized city because it is big enough to have most everything that any other big city would have amenities-wise but it is all more accessible / doable...it doesn't have the traffic/pollution/hassle factor that a much bigger city has.

One nice factor for you too, is that if you need your *huge city* fix, Chicago is only 80 miles south.

Metro area:

Milwaukee metro is composed of the city itself obviously and about 30, 35 suburbs that vary in size/population/appeal, etc. So like how many in "Phoenix" are often living in Tempe, Glendale, Scottsdale, etc., etc., the same is true for Milwaukee. These counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, and Racine make-up the 5-county Milwaukee metro area.

Some bigger or more prominent suburbs of Milwaukee include (but are surely not limited to): Wauwatosa, West Allis, Greendale, Greenfield, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Brookfield, New Berlin, Franklin, Muskego, Mequon, Brown Deer, and Menomonee Falls.

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

Any info on schools,

It depends upon where you actually end up living.

If you'd end up living in the city of Milwaukee itself, your public schools would be part of the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) system. Overall, MPS has quite a shoddy local reputation, generally for good reason. Actually, there are some MPS schools that are quite good and generally overlooked / underrated because of being overshadowed by so many crummy schools, so by no means are *all* MPS schools "bad". However, there are so many just awful MPS schools - the bad are well in the majority - it sure generalizes MPS as a crummy system overall.

The city of Milwaukee certainly holds many extremely fine / good private schools as well (high schools like Marquette HS, Wisconsin Lutheran HS, Pius HS, Divine Savior of Holy Angels HS, University HS)...all tremendous private high schools in the city of Milwaukee.

If you end up living in one of the many suburbs, generally the school systems are extremely good. Most of the above suburbs I listed (along with most other 5-county suburban area town) have very good systems at both elementary and secondary levels.

The Milwaukee area holds the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and Marquette University, along with many other highly respected smaller colleges, so collegiately, things are good in the area.

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

crime,

There are parts of the city of Milwaukee that have a significant crime problem. However, there are parts of the city that are also extremely safe.

Milwaukee and Milwaukee metro, I find, are very similar to most other "big city" metros in terms of crime. There tend to be pockets, segments, etc., where crime is largely concentrated. You learn to avoid the areas that you would feel uncomfortable in and if you do so, and stick to the overwhelmingly large majority of the city / metro area that is quite safe, you'll have very little risk for crime (although surely just like in Phoenix, any city over 500,000, 1-million, etc. there will *always* be at least a hare of a crime element).

You'll hear crime horror stories from some about the city of Milwaukee, but I find those to be very unfounded. Yes, there are some very tough parts of the city, and yes, you wouldn't want to be in them after dark. But that is the same as Chicago, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, etc. - you just know the safe areas and stick to them - and Milwaukee, like those other cities - have many, many more safe areas in its metro area than unsafe ones.

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

weather

In some regards, you'll have the flip-side of Phoenix. Instead of 6 months of brutally hot, scorching summer weather, you'll have 6 months of cold, crummy winter weather.

May through October is lovely in Milwaukee. November through April is quite wintery. Again, kind of a flip of Phoenix.

Milwaukee has four distinct seasons, although one (winter) encompasses a much longer timeframe than the other three.

Summers are beautiful. Highs in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and a few (but not many) 90s; plenty of sunshine, mild evenings. A nice mix of rain and sunny days. Mosquitoes are a plentiful in the summertime here which is a nuisance. The closer you reside to the shores of Lake Michigan, the cooler the weather typically will be. Summers *are* humid - not the consistent sultry humidity of the Southeast, but humid drastically compared to Phoenix. Summers are very nice in Milwaukee...some of the best summer weather anywhere, just too short.

Falls are very nice here too. Highs in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and even a sprinkling of 70s. Cool, crisp nights. The leaves all turn colors beautifully. One of the drier seasons typically here. My only complaint with fall here is that it doesn't last long enough...usually a part of September and October (and maybe a week or two of November) and that's about it.

Winters are long, gray, cold, snowy, and some times harsh. Daytime hours will be much shorter here in winter than you are used to (sun sets at the shortest time of winter by around 4:30) due to northern latitude. Snow averages 45 - 50 inches of annual snowfall (usually 3 or 4 "bigger" storms of 8, 12 inches, etc., and then some smaller ones)...this year a whopping 99 inches fell, however, that was a real aberration. There can be long stretches of thick, gray, overcast in the winter here which often can be disheartening to folks, however, when it does get sunny in the winter, that usually brings the coldest temps. In January / February, the highs won't often get to even freezing (32 degrees). This is the "toughest" season in Milwaukee - mostly due to its length - but it isn't all bad if you are a winter lover. Cross country skiing, snowman-making, ice skating outdoors, etc. The first few snowfalls are quite pretty.

Springs tend to be chilly and wetter-than-ideal, but you'll get some nice relief after the long winter seeing the daffodils and tulips come up, etc. Again, spring isn't bad here (although it can tease you with some nice days and then hit some chilly, wet ones again), it is though too short. It would be nice if it started a bit more in March, early April, rather than waiting until late April / May.

You'll see far less sunshine here than Phoenix receives, but the biggest noticeable difference will be in the winter. Actually, by the May through September stretch (along with October composing the heavenly weather here), sunshine is a fairly regular thing.

We receive approximately 30 to 40 inches of rainfall annually (obviously much more than Phoenix), 45 - 50 inches of snowfall annually.

Here is the temps averages (click on the link) month-by-month for the year:

Average Weather for Milwaukee, WI - Temperature and Precipitation

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

tornados,

They can happen in the Milwaukee area and generally a few times a year you'll have tornado warnings / watches in the area, however, they are fairly infrequent (and that is probably an understatement). The odds of your life being impacted in the Milwaukee area by a tornado are very low. It would be one of the last things I would worry about in living in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee has actually been ranked #1 on lists ranking cities with the lowest chances of a natural disaster by weather. I would worry more about blizzards, etc., than a tornado. Northern and Central Wisconsin typically experiences a few significant ones yearly, but overall, the Milwaukee area usually stays clear. It isn't to say it couldn't happen - heck, one happened in Kenosha just 45 miles south of Milwaukee - in January! But again, the chances are quite remote. We are a bit north of the conventional "tornado alley" heart of the central Midwest / Plains.

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

ANYTHING would be appreciated. Please help!!!

>Cost of living / cost of housing is better in Milwaukee metro. Taxes are high here...too high...but your dollar will carry you farther here. Auto insurance cheaper here too.

>Milwaukee has the Major League Baseball Milwaukee Brewers (playing in one of the nicest stadiums in all of baseball) and the NBA Milwaukee Bucks and is also the "2nd city" for the Green Bay Packers, so it is a big league town. Milwaukee has a wonderful symphony, zoo, ballet, theaters, other arts, a wonderful Art Museum, extremely diverse and many incredible restaurants (ethic restaurants galore).

Milwaukee certainly has an extremely wide array of good big city amenities for its size - is one of the better cities in the US for that for its metro size.

>Milwaukee has definitely its rust belt roots and there is still some "grime" around the collar, but it is definitely more urban, happening, neat, and polished than likely the stereotypes you've heard. It is a neat city, it really is.

>Milwaukee has a beautiful shoreline / lakefront setting on a Great Lake (Lake Michigan) and has the Milwaukee River running through Downtown. The metro encompasses many wonderful lakes and rivers.

I hope this helped!!

[gallon]

Hello there in AZ. For starters, page back through the threads here. You'll find numerous threads on Milwaukee. Also note the specific Milwaukee forum under the Wisconsin forum. As always, beware of certain posters who are having a bad day and try to blame everything on the city or the state or everybody else.

It would help if you were to give us more of your situation. Type of work. Family? Demographics. Type of housing wanted. Activities. so on

Good luck!

[gallon]

Hey EnjoyEP.

You know, thoughts like yours here could form the basis of a pretty good faq. Nicely done.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by indecisiveinaz

Hello everyone.
I am in desperate need of information. My husband has a job in Milwaukee if he wants it, but we really need info on the area. We are familiar with Door County, but that seems like another world in comparison. Any info on schools, crime, weather, tornados, ANYTHING would be appreciated. Please help!!!

I live in Scottsdale, but spend several months in Milwaukee. I used to live there full time, so I've got some tips.

Tornadoes: The biggest risk near Milwaukee seems to be Dodge County. I used to call it "tornado alley", and I say "seems" because Dodge County was ALWAYS involved in big storm systems. Something about the weather patterns during the peak season. You can find statistics if you're that motivated; personally I wouldn't worry. Just follow national weather service recommendations when the weather gets bad, and keep an eye on the weather now and then, because it can change quickly. I used to spend most of my free time sailing on Lake Michigan--it is imperative that you are up to date on the weather on Lake Michigan at all times, or are prepared to brave the worst.

The weather is not the best, but it is also not the worst. The primary problem for me, was that it has a lot of cloudy days, and fog. The closer to Lake Michigan, the more the weather is affected. It can be cold and foggy/gray near the lake, and 75 and sunny, only 20 miles west. It is much more humid than Arizona, colder, and the winter lasts a long time. Summers can be humid, but I think they're beautiful. A/C is required and I used it from April until November if it was warm enough. Some people don't have it and do just fine. The gray months can drag on for a long time, but the temperatures during the "usual" winter, are not intolerable. Once in a while a cold snap drags it down to the teens or the single digits, but by and large it is in the 20s/30s. Close to Lake Michigan, it is a little more warm during the winter (I lived along Lake Michigan for years). During summer much cooler near the lake, until the southwest breezes of later summer hit. Again... statistics are available. The weather in and of itself, would not prevent me from living there.

And yes, it snows! Last winter was NOT typical, it was awful. Sometimes there's hardly any snow all winter.

Crime: Areas in Milwaukee and potentially in a couple of suburbs, are high in crime. There are areas of the central city in Milwaukee that are very bad. They are well known. Suburbs range from mediocre to really nice. My preference is the North Shore, Elm Grove and Brookfield, Lake Country, and the far suburbs/communities near Holy Hill. Other nice areas are some of the south/southwest suburbs of Milwaukee but I'm far less experienced in them.

I lived in Fox Point for some time and Scottsdale was a winter retreat for some of the people there. North Shore suburbs are ALL nice. Western suburbs, particularly Brookfield and much of the Lake Country are beautiful. Nicer areas typically have nicer schools.

Watch out for property and income taxes...

Here are some very rough (emphasis on rough) east and south valley approximations, Phoenix to Milwaukee. I tried to compare people and the nature of the areas:

North Scottsdale=Brookfield, Mequon, some of the Lake Country
Scottsdale=Fox Point, Bayside, River Hills. Elm Grove, other areas of Lake Country
Tempe (downtown)=Shorewood, Upper East Side (Milwaukee), Lower East Side (Milwaukee)
Chandler=New Berlin, Franklin, Greenfield
Gilbert=Muskego, Mukwonago (sp?)
Ahwatukee=Brookfield, Lake Country
Carefree=Merton, Erin (Holy Hill area)
Arcadia=Milwaukee East Side, areas just north of downtown, Brady Street

Not so good areas:
South Phoenix and surroundings=Milwaukee North/Northwest side areas (bad)
Metrocenter=Milwaukee northwest side

Again, these are very rough, and they leave out a lot of areas but it should give you the jist of it. Obviously the areas differ greatly, there is no desert and only small hills, and an ocean-like lake.

Traffic: Much less traffic in Milwaukee.

That should give you a start.

[indecisiveinaz]

Thanks everyone. Your info is much appreciated, and very very informative(the kind of stuff I can't just google). I will definitely mull this over. If we decided to take the job, it would be a big move. One with a blindfold, and two small children in tow. We want to make sure that we make a well educated and realistic decision.