Moving to Milkwaukee - Young Professional Couple (30&26) (Milwaukee, Wauwatosa: apartments, for rent)

[mattolson]

We are looking to move to Milwaukee and haven't had too much luck with finding a nice place to live. We are moving from Cinci, but have lived in Dallas, Chicago, Boston, and NYC prior too. We are looking to spend around $1200-$1700 a month for an apartment downtown, preferably a highrise or brownstone (if they even exist in MKE).

We would like to be in an area with bars, lounges, and restaurants. From what I have found the Yankee Hill area seems to be ok?

Its very important that we are in a safe area as well as we both like to run by ourselves. We also have a dog so something that is pet friendly is a must.

We will both be commuting to the Mayfair Collection in Wauwatosa; so any info about the commute and traffic would be welcomed as well.

Any suggestions or advice would be great. Anything else that you would find helpful to let us know is appreciated as well.

[Empidonax]

The whole East Side of Milwaukee, including Yankee Hill, is a good bet. Prospect Avenue has several high-rises to consider, such as Prospect Towers:

Katz Properties, Inc. | Residential Living in the Milwaukee Area

There are others in that area, but I don't know what they're called.

You might consider the Park Lafayette nearby:

Park Lafayette Towers Apartments by Mandel Group - Milwaukee area apartments

Closer to downtown, and near Yankee Hill, are a few other places to consider. The densely populated Third Ward and adjacent parts of Walker's Point have quite a few medium-rise structures. This page has a few Third Ward listings as well as listings from other areas:

Historic Third Ward Apartments - Apartments for Rent in Historic Third Ward, Milwaukee, WI

All of these neighborhoods--the East Side, Downtown, Third Ward--are safe and perfect for lake access and lake amenities as well as upscale city life (restaurants, cafes, bars, etc.). You may also want to consider Brewers Hill, a neighborhood of low- and medium-rise apartments and condos on the west side of the Milwaukee River, near Downtown.

Your commute to Wauwatosa shouldn't be too bad. If you take the highway during regular commute hours you'll hit lots of traffic, but many people take east-west city streets such as North Ave.

[noamchomsky]

I would recommend the East Side and Third Ward for the kind of places you seem to want. Both are great areas to live if you can afford it. Lots of bars, restaurants, things to do, etc. Very close to downtown and the lakefront. Commute to Mayfair from those areas would be about 15-20 minutes if you took the freeway and had no traffic.

[MidwestRedux]

I'll second the highrises along Prospect along the lake. I lived in one years ago and it was surprisingly inexpensive for a decent place. Depending where on Prospect you end up, you may be near Brady Street or the rest of the east side, all of which are decent areas. As Empidonax said, you will have easy access to the lakefront for running etc. Many of those apartments have nice lake views.

I also lived in the townhouses at Yankee Hill. Again, this is 12-14 years ago. I found that area to be plenty safe, even having a direct entrance at ground level, and you're close to almost everything.

Brewers Hill is still kind of a mixed bag. The new developments along the river are all fine. However, some of the things that realtors and apartment ads may call Brewers Hill, you may call the hood.