Gay couple moving to Milwaukee from Tucson. Advice? (Shorewood, Oakland: apartments, rentals)

[natbot]

My girlfriend and I are moving to Milwaukee for grad school at UWM. We have a big dog, a small cat, and a limited budget. The rent needs to be in the 600-900 dollar range. We want to have a relatively short commute to the university and prefer a bike friendly area. We have been looking to rent in the Riverwest neighborhood and have noticed many pet restrictions. Not being familiar with the city (neither of us has ever been) we aren't too sure where else to look. Any advice would be helpful at this point. Thanks!

[Milwaukee City]

If your income is below $31,000 something, as a couple you can qualify for affordable housing, most newer apartment buildings in Milwaukee have some apartments set aside for this. I don't know the exact figure but at the apartment building you are looking at they would be able to tell you. I wanna say it's $31,395 for a couple. If you do not qualify for this then I would look to Bayview, Walker's Point and Riverwest although Riverwest can be sketchy in areas and mainly at night is the only time you need to be extra cautious. Try padmapper, or forrent.com UWM also has rentals through their website. UWM has a shortage of student housing so the give discounts to landlords that rent out to students but the only way to find these places is on their website. UW-Milwaukee: Neighborhood Housing | Property Search

Hope that helps!

[Empidonax]

Milwaukee City has given excellent advice on this. It may also be worth looking at apartments in Shorewood, the suburb just north of UWM. Much of Shorewood is walkable to campus, and Shorewood itself has a couple of very walkable commercial strips (Oakland Ave.). It's a very bike-friendly place, as is the adjacent UWM area and East Side, with dedicated lanes and a few riding trails (such as the Oak Leaf Trail). Shorewood is mostly homeowners (including lots of UWM faculty and staff), but many students (esp. grad students and mature undergrads) reside there. It can be expensive to rent there, but you might be able find something you like for $900.

[northnut]

Originally Posted by natbot

My girlfriend and I are moving to Milwaukee for grad school at UWM. We have a big dog, a small cat, and a limited budget. The rent needs to be in the 600-900 dollar range. We want to have a relatively short commute to the university and prefer a bike friendly area. We have been looking to rent in the Riverwest neighborhood and have noticed many pet restrictions. Not being familiar with the city (neither of us has ever been) we aren't too sure where else to look. Any advice would be helpful at this point. Thanks!

Since you want to live close to UWM & have a short commute, I would stick with Riverwest, don't do Bayview or Walker's Point. I'm surprised you're having problems finding pet friendly places to rent because Riverwest is EXTREMELY pet-friendly. There are dogs everywhere. I live in that neighborhood, lots of people with dogs & lots of people on bikes, so that would be up your alley as well. Keep looking, you'll find something for sure & you'll also be able to find something in your budget of $600-$900. There are pockets of not so great areas in Riverwest but if you stick closer to Holton, preferably east of Holton & probably south of say Burleigh or even Locust, you'll do fine. The more west of Holton you go, the more crime-ridden the area. I think you'll like the neighborhood, it's very walkable & bikeable, there's a co-op, farmer's market, annual naked bike ride (lol), Locust St Fest & run....it's a more hippie granola area than the rest of the city.

[natbot]

Thanks so much for the great responses! We are looking into all the links and neighborhoods that were suggested.