Thinking of moving to Pewaukee (Milwaukee, Waukesha: condo, violent crime, houses)

[kimmi14]

hello all, I am thinking of moving to Pewaukee with my 13 year old daughter. I will be moving out of CA. My sister & her family just moved to Pewaukee and like it alot. Could anyone give me some info regarding the town and surrounding cities as well as the school. How about the winters???

[mikki]

Pewaukee is a nice suburbian community about 25 min from Milwaukee. Waukesha, a small city, not a suburb, is just south of Pewaukee. Schools in both Pewaukee and Waukesha are good. Waukesha is a little more transcient than Pewaukee (people moving in and out more) and more culturally diverse than Pewaukee and other suburbs in Waukesha County (that is something else that can be confusing here...there is Waukesha County and the City of Waukesha). Brookfield, Sussex, Delafield, and Oconomowoc are other towns close to Pewaukee.

[boomper]

Pewaukee is an upper middle class western suburb of Milwaukee about 18-20 miles from downtown. It has undergone considerable growth and development in the last 10 years or so. There are actually 2 Pewaukees adjacent to each other; the City of Pewaukee, which is the former Pewaukee Township (town) and the Village of Pewaukee (our government here in Wisconsin can be a bit wack). The main differences between the two is as follows:
1. City of Pewaukee is mostly corporate and industrial parks in the south and east portions and mainly residential to the north and west. The city is several times the size of the village. The housing is generally much newer and larger and more expensive. It is very suburban in design and feel. There are no sidewalks and streetlighting varies depending on subdivision. Property taxes are lower, I think, but don't stick me to it.
2. Village of Pewaukee is surrounded by the city of and is much smaller and compact. It is mainly residential but has a decent size and still growing retail strip on the east side. Many national retailers and restaurants are located here. There is also a downtown area with several shops and eateries fronting a beach on Pewaukee Lake, which is very popular in the summer. Several upscale condo projects are currently under development here across the street from the beach. Otherwise the design of the village is a bit less cookie cutter suburban and a bit more urban in most areas. City blocks are common here as opposed to subdivisions and most streets have sidewalks and somewhat uniform streetlighting. The majority of the housing stock is considerably older and some housing actually can be considered rundown, though no area is completely rundown, just scatterd properties throughout the village.
Unless you are a resident of Pewaukee, however, most people do not actually differentiate between the two. It is just simply Pewaukee. Crime throught the area is low and violent crime is nearly non-existent. Traffic can be an issue at certain times, but is generally not too much of a problem. Unfortunately I am not familiar with schools here, but I know most school districts in Waukesha county are quite good, so I would not worry much about this. Surrounding suburbs range from upper class elite ( Delafield, Hartland, Brookfield) to straight middle class (Sussex, Waukesha). Most of these areas are not very diverse racially or even economically, with the exception of waukesha, which has a growing and sizeable hispanic population and runs the gamut from rooming houses and lower middle working class neighborhoods to upper middle class spiffy new sprawling suburban subdivisions with housing upwards of over half million dollars.

Overall though, a good area in a convienent location with easy access to downtown as well as the rest of the Milwaukee metro area. I say go for it!