New Berlin or Greendale

[cheese plate]

New Berlin is right there with Brookfield in terms of chain store malaise and boredom. Definitely Greendale, which at least has a sense of community and identity.

[almost3am]

I grew up in NB and enjoyed my childhood. I still visit the area. Easy access by car to Brookfield and Waukesha. I think that NB is trying to change their original development plan, as it is pretty spread out. There is no central shopping district, although they have been trying to build out that section by the library for years. Recently I drove on Coffee Rd, it was newly repaved with a good bike lane, which was nice to see. I saw many bikers, so this may be part of a better plan for bikers. As other posters said, it is a mix of really big newer houses and older homes.

I know little about Greendale, but there was a little downtown section that was nice the times I went through.

[Unclemeat]

Currently in Greendale, wife from NB.

As others mentioned, they are really very different. You need to decide first if you care about Milwaukee vs Waukesha county as there are some major differences for your daily life depending on what things catch your attention.

I don't love either because I don't like life in the suburbs... so try to balance that in my judgement. I like more urban/walkable areas. Greendale feels less suburban because it's mostly older, smaller, has less commercial development outside of the area by the mall. Neither community is walkable whatsoever. You may luck out and find housing that is walkable to one or two things you care about, but that is it. IE - we can walk to a little lake with a park as well as a grade school. We can walk to a Walgreens, but it will take about 30 min each way. Reasonable people wouldn't call that walkable.

I personally would not live in NB because...
- I don't like the big box scene of New Berlin, Brookfield, Pewaukee (Greendale is at least much closer to the fun parts of Milwaukee)
- The water generally sucks. Don't know what the variances are, but several parts of town on both city & well water, in my experience, have horrible water. Softeners required, funky smells/tastes, etc. Maybe modern softeners/filters help. Milwaukee water is still my preference
- Price/sq ft seems to be higher in general
- I've *heard* from a few teachers that NB residents are extremely stingy on tax dollars for schools. Both communities have great schools regardless, but if there are indeed regular budget fights that can be problematic (investigate that, it may be inaccurate).

I think all of those are advantage-Greendale, but again it's mostly nit-picky opinions. Greendale has the big-box thing on 76th street... but I am on the extreme east side of town and almost never venture that way. There are enough nearby options outside of town that it doesn't bother me.

The biggest downside to Greendale is that the major "downtown" area is privately owned and developed for 80 year old tourists. So outside of the pizza place, you likely won't spend much time there. But if it's ever sold and re-developed in a way that caters to young couples/families - it could be a big draw and boost property values.

We also have a notoriously onerous set of regulations in village hall. Outside of the original historic district which obviously has a lot of restrictions, people tend to complain about all the permits required for simple work. It seems like a village-wide HOA at times and contractors laugh when I tell them where I live because of it... but it seems most suburbs are trending that way.

I think for your basic requirements though, either community is fine. Both are safe, generally quiet, have well-above-average schools and are relatively close to all major amenities. You may get a house cheaper in Greendale, but will make up for it in taxes. If you want a newer home, the option in Greendale are slim. Otherwise both areas have plenty of similar houses built in the 60s/70s.

I'd suggest going to both areas for grocery shopping, dining and hanging out at parks. And obviously think about where you mostly hang out and work. If you're working downtown, I have 3 or 4 routes from my house that will get me there/back in 10-12 minutes during rush hour. In NB you may be more reliant on the freeway which will really slow you down at peak times. That's stuff that really annoys me, maybe it's no big deal to you.

[tazox]

I grew up in New Berlin. Like said before, its textbook suburbia. Lots of stuck up rich people there.