Housing suggestions around Milwaukee?

[JumpinMacFlash]

Five months after graduating, I finally was offered a job and it's in the Milwaukee area. I have a couple weeks to find a place to live and I was wondering if anyone here had any good ideas or suggestions. I've been browsing Craigslist, Rent.com. and all those good site, but I'm still not sure. I'm not from Milwaukee and I don't know if any areas are better to live in than others. My fiance is from Sussex, and she suggested living in Menomonee Falls, Germantown, or Butler, but staying away from West Allis.

 

I'm starting completely from scratch and am open to any help.

[mothershipconnection]

I have no direct knowledge of Milwaukee, but rent.com has worked for me, while craigslist is the wild west of online classifieds. Don't trust anyone on craigslist and don't assume anything's a sure thing until you have it in writing. Still, there are great deals there, you just have to be a skeptic.

[Brian the Automator]

I live in the Carroll College area, and am pretty familiar with Waukesha. The area I live in is pretty nice, but a tad pricey (in retrospect, I might have made a slightly different housing situation). But, as a whole, even the "bad" parts of Waukesha are extremely safe, and probably very reasonable. Not very far from the freeway, and close to Brookfield, which is great for finding things to do.

[Blunt36]

I know you said your job is in the Milwaukee area, but depending on where exactly it is (or which specific city), I'd say try to get a place as close to there as possible, since it sounds like you don't have that specific of an area you're looking at right now and seem pretty open. I think a lot of people would probably underestimate the benefits of a short commute, or how nice it would be to be able to go home for lunch or to be able to run back home from work if you forgot something or if you need to take care of something real quick. If I were looking for a place, I'd literally start with places I could walk to work from, and branch out from there. This all assumes you're already looking at suburbs, etc, but it sounds like you are. There definitely will be a lot more to do in Milwaukee itself, but you didn't mention you were looking there.

 

Of the cities you listed below, I've lived in the Falls and West Allis, and I think you'd be fine in either of those, or pretty much any suburb. Also, there will be a lot more going on downtown or on the east side, but it sounds like you are focusing more on the suburbs? If you're looking in Milwaukee itself, you'd probably want to look at specific areas, and avoid others.

[paul253]

Where is your job and what is your price range for rent?

[brewtown82]

i say the best values in town are located in the vliet neighborhood (just south of Tosa by the Times cinema), Riverwest, and West Milwaukee. But i guess it depends what you're looking for. West milwaukee is walking distance to miller park!

[JumpinMacFlash]

The job itself is in Wauwatosa. We are focusing more on the suburbs of Milwaukee and trying to avoid downtown. The price range might vary depending on whether you're talking with me or my fiance. She wants to stay under $650, I'm up for being a little more flexible.

[ewizabeff]

So, why don't you just live in Wauwatosa? Lots of nice places there. Commuting to tosa from any suburb is likely to get you stuck in a lot of traffic.

 

For the Wauwatosa/Shorewood/suburbs of Milwaukee, Craigslist is a pretty reliable source. I'm moving into a Shorewood flat this weekend that I found on Craigslist.

[paul253]

Tosa is a nice neighborhood so I would consider that. Otherwise West Allis is close by and it isn't terrible. It's probably a little cheaper than Tosa.

[Menotti80]

i say the best values in town are located in the vliet neighborhood (just south of Tosa by the Times cinema), Riverwest, and West Milwaukee. But i guess it depends what you're looking for. West milwaukee is walking distance to miller park!

This is exactly where I live, although I think you meant just east of Tosa. There are several places to rent in this area. They can be found on craigslist, in the journal classifieds, and also on tosaliving.com.

 

The area is west enough not to be in a "bad area of town", and it's so close to sooo many things in Milwaukee

[1992casey]

The last time I checked this, the crime rate in Wauwatosa was a bit high, but it's basically because of Mayfair. The mall keeps the police busy. The neighborhoods are nice, but I'd still keep everything locked up. This advice would apply to every suburb, though.

 

If you're going to live in Milwaukee proper, I'd suggest going south: Bay View, Jackson Park, or further west. I think the Granville neighborhood (up by Menomonee Falls) would be cool, but it'd also be pricey. There's a sliver between Wauwatosa and West Allis (south of Blue Mound Road) that's cool.

 

There are neighborhoods in the city that unfortunately have beautiful houses, but aren't safe if you want to leave those homes. The Sherman Park neighborhood comes to mind.

[beno78]

but staying away from West Allis.

There are lots of nice areas that are affordable too. I had the same thought about 'stallis having grown up in Wauwatosa, but my wife found a house she loved and we moved in almost 2 years ago not 2 miles from where I grew up. Never thought I would live there (probably some of the same reasons your finance has), but found a nice, affordable house on a quiet street close to State Fair, with easy access to I-94. I wouldn't rule it out.

 

Also generally a short commute to Tosa and likely cheaper than the other suburbs you mentioned. West Allis seems to get nicer the further West you go (bigger #'s streets).

[endaround]

West Allis get worse the closer to West Milwaukee you get (this is bad for West Allis which really isn't that bad) though weirdly West Milwaukee is fine in general (likely due to having higher taxes making rental properties a little more difficult)

[paul253]

You could also try Greenfield. Its still not that far from work, and I believe they have some nice apartment complexes.

[chuckiehacks]

I used to rent a place at 75th & Bluemound, across the street from Gillie's. Almost the whole street is apartments, but they are all in 4-unit buldings, so its not like your in a complex. 2 BD, 1 BA, garage. It was always pretty cheap and there was always at tleast one available in the Journal classifieds. I've referred a few friends there over the years, everyone's been satisfied.

[bobbledude25]

make sure you check this site: www.apartmentratings.com

[homer]

The last time I checked this, the crime rate in Wauwatosa was a bit high, but it's basically because of Mayfair. The mall keeps the police busy.

I would say it's probably that strip of Mayfair Rd in general - mall included. When my parents lived in Tosa it was like every car that was stolen or office that was broken into was on that strip. The only other slightly dicey part of Tosa (and that's a stretch to call it dicey) is the far east side around 60th and North. It's not dangerous but if you leave a bike in your front yard or your garage unlocked you'll most likely not see your stuff for very long. Granted, my definition of dangerous might differ vastly from someone else's. I always considered Tosa extremely safe while growing up there.

 

The Village of Tosa has a lot of apartments near it (there are several complexes along State St) and there's stuff to do down there - there are bike/running paths, a high school football stadium with a track, several bars and restaurants.

[JumpinMacFlash]

Well, this is how it seemed to work out. We've been searching for a while now, taking a day last week and one this week looking for apartments. I've never been too picky throughout the whole process and would have been happy just about anywhere. The wife-to-be was more focused on outlying areas. Also, I had less than two weeks to find someplace close enough than the three hours away I am right now. We settled on a two-bedroom in Hartland. It's a bit farther than I would have liked, but we are also able to go month-to-month in case we find something we like better once we have a little more time and a little more resources. I'd like to move again after that time, but we'll see how it goes. Now I just have to worry more about the commute.

[lodiness]

One of my buddies live in Stallis, right by the Pick and Save around the 76th and National area. Decent area from the times I've been down there. Brand new apartment complex, and being from the Madison area, I thought that the rent was reasonable. The apartment is set up really nice, he has a two bedroom. Plenty of room, and a balcony. Best part is he is only about a 3 minute drive to Miller Park.