Any advice for an incoming UWM student? (Milwaukee, Oakland: apartment, rent)

[ultravioletfly]

Hello everybody!

If you missed my last thread, I'm a high school senior from the Twin Cities who was considering UWM for college. I'm now officially going there and I'm pretty excited!

I wanted to see if any locals can give me any advice or tips regarding the city (especially the area around campus)... What are some hidden gems, places to avoid, etc.? If any of you are current UWM students or alumni, I'd appreciate your input about the school, too!

Thanks in advance for your replies - really appreciate them!

Edit: I should mention that I'm probably going to be the only Milwaukee teenager who doesn't care about drinking or partying at all. My favorite locales include coffee shops, book stores, and ethnic restaurants. I'm guessing the east side of Milwaukee is where I want to be?

[Empidonax]

Yeah, the East Side will probably suit you best, and you may particularly like Riverwest and the Brady Street areas.

There are ethnic restaurants scattered all over the East Side, but there are clusters along the Oakland and Locust area (a few Middle Eastern places, a Thai place, a gyros place) and the Brady Street and Farwell Ave. corridors (Ethiopian, Thai, Turkish fast food, Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.). For Thai/Laotian I love Ee Sane (near Farwell and Brady), and for Middle Eastern I really like Shahrazad (on Oakland near Locust). The Ethiopian Cottage (on Farwell near Brady) is very good (but slow), and I like the sushi at Izumi's (on Prospect Ave. between North and Brady). Brady Street has quite a few ethnic places, including some that are a bit pricy/upscale, but a good bet for cheap eats and take-out is Glorioso's Italian Market. Cempazuchi, also on Brady, has decent Mexican, but you'll want to head to the southside and get some really good Mexican food at places like El Cabrito, El Rey, and El Tucanazo.

The Brady and Farwell areas also have some cafes, including Rochambo and Brewed. Nearby on Prospect towards North Ave. is Alterra, a local independent with several locations. Fuel Cafe in Riverwest is popular with students, and Roast--on Maryland and Locust, south of UWM--is also a student hangout. The cafes on campus--they're called The Grind--are very popular, and you may like the cafe in the Union on the first floor--called the 8th note.

Bookstores, sadly, are not as abundant on the East Side--a sign of the times. In Riverwest, visit Woodland Pattern, a local independent store that specializes in poetry and local writers. On Locust Ave., near Roast, take a peek at People's Books--it's tiny but has a good selection of political and social books. On Downer Avenue, along a small commercial area a few blocks south of campus, visit Boswell Books--it's locally owned and has a good selection. The UWM bookstore is basically useless, unless you want mugs and shirts. Downtown has a few good used bookstores, and Bayshore Mall (a few miles to the north of UWM) has a Barnes and Noble.

Another area you should explore is Bayview, south of downtown. There aren't too many ethnic restaurants there, and there's barely a used bookstore there, but there are some nice cafes (Cafe Anodyne, etc.), music stores, and such.

[Nuclear_Art]

UWM has an interesting culture which many of the students who concentrate on drinking ignore. As an older adult who lives near the university, I really like the great film programs they show at the Union. It is an amazing variety of foreign films that are mostly free. There are many other excellent programs in the Union which will keep you occupied.

quijote gave a good rundown on bookstores and restaurants. Chances are that you will be living in the dorms your first year. If so, try to get in the Cambridge dorms or Riverwest dorms. They are in more interesting areas of the city and are still accessible to campus by shuttle bus. You can get around the city easily by public bus so may want to avoid having a car here.

[ultravioletfly]

Thanks for the suggestions. Really appreciate it! Some of those places look great. I think I'll enjoy Milwaukee very much.

(Other responses are still welcome, of course!)

[caieva]

I'd advise against riverwest until you know the ropes of city livin. UWM warns against ever going west of the river, which I think is draconian and overly harsh, but they have a point. Every student I've met prefers the oncampus dorms - Sandburg - because of the shuttle ride to and from the river view dorms, which are nicer and larger, but...that yellow school bus!

[peninsular]

I would echo the Sandburg recommendation, at least for the first year or so. Once you figure out where things are I would suggest looking into sharing an apartment on the East Side. Some 15 years ago there was a brochure that listed local rooms that were available for students. You could pick it up at the Union. I have no idea if it's still available. Good luck with your studies!

[ultravioletfly]

Exactly how undesirable is Riverwest? I didn't set a preference in my housing contract, but I did say I'd like to be a member of a Living Learning Community (LLC), which I've been told are all located in RiverView Residence Hall, so I'm guessing I'll end up there.

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by ultravioletfly

Exactly how undesirable is Riverwest?

During the day it's completely fine. At night and at bar time is when I would be more cautious. The problem with Riverwest is not Riverwest it's Riverwest's location. The further west you go the worse the neighborhood gets and sometimes you get a spill over affect. The "borderline" line of riverwest is Holton. Sometimes the thugs from west of Holton will come to riverwest to target college students, the closer you live to the river the better it gets. A great advantage of riverwest and why many students live there is cheap rent and you can usually find a large apartment for under 750. If I was a single female I might not choose to live there but as a male I could handle it. Just use common sense and you should be fine, be aware of your surroundings.

[caieva]

If you mean the RiverView dorms, they are not undesirable AT ALL, except they are a mile or so from campus which make most freshman just want Sandburg. They are on both banks of the Milwaukee River at North Ave, so technically the one on the west bank is RiverWest, but it is quite safe there. The rooms are bigger, with awesome views in the group lounges and they have microwaves - it's purely the distance and the yellow bus going back and forth that is the only minus.

[Nuclear_Art]

Originally Posted by caieva

If you mean the RiverView dorms, they are not undesirable AT ALL, except they are a mile or so from campus which make most freshman just want Sandburg. They are on both banks of the Milwaukee River at North Ave, so technically the one on the west bank is RiverWest, but it is quite safe there. The rooms are bigger, with awesome views in the group lounges and they have microwaves - it's purely the distance and the yellow bus going back and forth that is the only minus.

That's not too much of a minus. The buses will probably get you to campus quicker than walking from your dorm room in Sandburg.