Riverwest "borderlines" (Milwaukee: apartments, lease, crime)

[goldengur1]

I'm a third year college student, who just finished my first year after transferring to UWM. I lived on the East Side, and my roommates and I have decided to relocate to Riverwest. We had been somewhat worried about moving there with the crime, but most of our friends live there and we really enjoy the eclectic mix of things to do.

From what I've heard, Holton is pretty much the "borderline" as to where it starts to get pretty rough. We haven't found many 3 bedrooms for August 1st as I thought we would, and this is with two months of regular craiglist scanning. After touring a few places, I found a really great place on Auer and Booth. I know Booth is close to the border, but after asking around, it seems that farther North it gets rough too? I had just assumed Holton was the only border?

I'd really appreciate any input. As a public transit user, I really do not want to regret this. I feel like I'm on a House Hunters: Real Life edition. Do we take the cheap place in a supposed worse area of Riverwest? Or do we hold our breath and pray for a better place before our lease ends August 1st?

[Empidonax]

From what I saw on the map, your property would be not too far from Keefe, which is not a highly acclaimed street. But I don't live in RW and don't know much about it, and safety can vary from block to block. You mentioned Craigslist, but have you been using the resources of the UWM Housing Office, as well? Their webpage has an online search engine for listings:

UW-Milwaukee: Neighborhood Housing | Property Search

You may want to visit the Housing Office to see if anyone can give you a frank perspective on blocks to avoid. It may also be worth your while you try to chat up people in RW about this-- maybe people at Fuel or some other place where people congregate. Regarding the place you're considering now, if you have any friends with a car, ask if they could drive you by and around the property at different times of day or night so you can get a sense of what maybe things are like. And if you see neighbors around there, don't be afraid to ask them their take on the neighborhood. If they don't want to talk with you, you probably don't want to share a neighborhood with them anyhow.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by goldengur1

I'm a third year college student, who just finished my first year after transferring to UWM. I lived on the East Side, and my roommates and I have decided to relocate to Riverwest. We had been somewhat worried about moving there with the crime, but most of our friends live there and we really enjoy the eclectic mix of things to do.

From what I've heard, Holton is pretty much the "borderline" as to where it starts to get pretty rough. We haven't found many 3 bedrooms for August 1st as I thought we would, and this is with two months of regular craiglist scanning. After touring a few places, I found a really great place on Auer and Booth. I know Booth is close to the border, but after asking around, it seems that farther North it gets rough too? I had just assumed Holton was the only border?

I'd really appreciate any input. As a public transit user, I really do not want to regret this. I feel like I'm on a House Hunters: Real Life edition. Do we take the cheap place in a supposed worse area of Riverwest? Or do we hold our breath and pray for a better place before our lease ends August 1st?

Holton is a hard border for the neighborhood, but another poster was right that areas closer to Holton tend to be block by block. I have nearly 20 years experience of living in Riverwest & although I no longer live there, it is a nice neighborhood.

I don't know you but I'd say you don't want to live on Booth/Auer. It's not bad per se, but if I were you I'd stay east of Booth. I lived for years on Burleigh near Pierce and it's more of what you're looking for. Also, the north end of Riverwest is really nice, although generally there isn't as much to walk to. You're only a short bike ride to alot to do, plus campus is 10 minutes away by bike, 15 if you're going slower. I usually took the 60 bus to UWM, but it's annoying if you take summer classes because the route doesn't continue to UWM then, although the 22 does.

Most of the apartments are 2 bedroom but nice 3 bedrooms do exist. Just be sure to bring your street smarts, don't leave your laptop in the car or walk drunk alone late at night. I didn't have any crime problems in all the years I lived there, but I was proactive... obviously there is crime, but I still frequent Riverwest and there's more reputation than reality today.