Relocating from DFW to Milwaukee (Oak Creek, South Milwaukee: apartment, rentals, crime)

[adam76]

I have a couple of friends living in the Humboldt Park area. I'd describe it as a quiet, older, blue collar neighborhood. Nice parks and mature trees, walkable neighborhoods. Short commute to downtown for work, restaurants and night life. I'm not really sure what (if any) is the "official" boundary of Bay View... if this isn't considered Bay View it would be close (might be a little SW of it).

[CarolV]

The Bay View neighborhood in Milwaukee is much preferred to St. Francis, Cudahy or South Milwaukee in my estimation and still on the lakeshore. The South Shore is very commutable to downtown. The schools are very good also in this particular neighborhood of Milwaukee for elementary schools K-8th grade. For more on Bay View, look at Bay View Neighborhood Association

[TommyGavin]

Originally Posted by SickOfTheSunbelt

Looking forward to moving back to the upper midwest next spring. Never been to Milwaukee, but from what I hear it's very underrated and the locals make the supposed crime problem out to be a much bigger deal than it really is.

Well, good luck with your move.

Milwaukee is underrated, but that's not really a big deal. The crime problem however, is a much, much bigger deal than anyone makes it out to be. Crime here is more prevalent than Boston, Seattle, Denver and many other cities of comparable size. In fact, the number of actual shootings each year is in the same range as Baltimore, St. Louis, and Washington DC. The largest difference between those cities and Milwaukee, is the EMS system that saves the lives of many crime victims.

The crime is often minimized here in Milwaukee, largely because it is so compartmentalized, and confined to the inner city. Many neighborhoods, including downtown are as safe, if not safer than many of the suburbs. The shooting gallery is limited to the inner city, and pockets of the northwest side.

[adam76]

Originally Posted by TommyGavin

In fact, the number of actual shootings each year is in the same range as Baltimore, St. Louis, and Washington DC.

2005 is the most recent I could find.

Milwaukee's homicide rate (20.6 per 100K) is very similiar to Atlanta, Memphis, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Baltimore and St Louis's rates are twice that of Milwaukee's, and DC is also much higher at 35. Baltimore also had nearly double the total violent crime incidents as Milwaukee. It is true the other cities you mentioned (Seattle, Denver) have much lower crime rates, however lets not say Milwaukee is equivalent to those that have the worst in the nation.

[TommyGavin]

Well, here are the 2006 statistics from the FBI, in the categories they list, judge for yourself.


Baltimore -Milwaukee


Violent crime- 10,800 -7,696
Murder- 276 -121
Forcible rape- 138 -112
Robbery- 4,229 -3,608
Aggravated assault- 6,173 -3,873
Property crime- 32,321 -38,232
Burglary- 7,608 -5,565
Larceny- 18,451 -24,343
Motor vehicle theft- 6,262 -8,232
Arson- 428 -320

Now, when you go back and look at my post, I was talking in general terms only. As you can see, Baltimore has more crime in some categories than Milwaukee, but far less in others. It is also important to remember that Baltimore's population in 2006 was 637,556, or almost 60,000 people larger than Milwaukee's 581,005. Those are the population figures that the FBI used in their report.

I think that the actual numbers are surprising for people. The statistic I wanted to use, I was unable to locate on the net, probably because it is an internal departmental report I saw. As such I won't/can't use the number here, and that is the actual number of people hit by gunfire.

As the numbers show, and by your own admission, Baltimore is among 'the worst' out there. There is real reason to worry that our city can end up there, at the bottom of the barrel, so to speak.

As I pointed out before, there are many neighborhoods in Milwaukee that are safer than many suburban areas. Then there are other neighborhoods that are downright deadly. My only point in the post is that Milwaukee is a fine city, but the crime rate is often under-estimated; that is a very dangerous thing to do.

If someone is going to relocate their entire life, they deserve to have an accurate, no holds-barred representation of the city they are moving to. I would certainly want that.

[brewtown12]

Milwaukee is under 40% black.Baltimore is upwards of 60%.The higher percentage of minorities a city has,the higher the poverty and crime rate.This is the main factor in a cities crime rates.Check Milwaukee's black on black homicide rate per capita and it would be just about equal(maybe even higher) with baltimore.Most inner city homicides have black victims and perpatrators,and this goes for the entire country.More blacks will mean there are more homicides.
Things arent any better for black milwaukee than they are for black baltimore,in fact,Milwaukee is considereded the worst place in the country to be black.

The Black Commentator - Cover Story: Ten Worst Places to be Black - Issue 146 - July 14 2005


Weather or not I would recommend someone move to Milwaukee (or anyplace) depends on thier race,employment field,and other factors.America is a diffrent place for diffrent people,and diffrent people get diffrent treatment.I wouldnt recommend any black person,regardless of education,to move here,as they would probably do better just about anywhere else.



And dont let anyone fool you,the crime in Milwaukee is terrible.unemploment hovers at 60% for Milwaukee's ''inner city'' males.For the most part the rest are underemployed.All these men arent sitting around twidling thier thumbs to survive,they are selling drugs,robbing,etc.Since it is so segragated one can avoid the high crime areas by avoiding high minority neighborhoods.

[DisplacedMidwesterner]

I am from Milwaukee and would love to move back, but I have elderly parents who refuse to move again.

Milwaukee is definitely underrated and unpretentious. Im a Southsider and Id feel comfortable living in BayView, Cudahy, St. Francis, or Oak Creek etc.

When I moved in 2005 there was crime, but there is crime in every city and I sure felt much safer in downtown Milwaukee than I do in downtown Austin.

[DisplacedMidwesterner]

oh and Id like to comment about the race issue.

Racism is everywhere, but in Milwaukee I have seen and heard people make racist comments. All I can say about that is at least now I know those people are ignorant racists so I can avoid them. I think its worse when its hidden. When I lived in Milwaukee most of my friends were professionals who happened to be black and they were thriving and still continue to do so. Dont let people make you think you dont belong in Milwaukee if you are a minority. Diversity is a wonderful thing.

[Fishtacos]

Considering I have lived in STL, Milwaukee, and the D.C./Baltimore areas, I certainly have enough first hand knowledge for the above posts.

All of those places have very high crime areas...to avoid. This is has been the case in many cities I've ever lived in......

Milwaukee has a lot of violent crime in the NW part of the city....good tip would be not to hang out there late at night...most other parts of the city are absolutely fine. As with any urban area, use common sense about time, # of people in your party, geography, and so on.....St. Louis...again, North St. Louis has the violent crime that you won't see in the rest of the city, ....also St. Louis County is not included in those stats, otherwise St. Louis would be in one of the safest categories, but many people just throw out stats that are not an accurate description of a place or area. Both Baltimore and D.C. have rough areas. Again, using common sense in some parts of the area in certain parts of the day are needed in most urban areas.


Racism exists in every city and state in the United States and in every country in the World. I've never been anywhere where it didn't exist(and I've been a lot of places). While Milwaukee isn't the most integrated or diverse metropolis, it isn't the most racist either.

Milwaukee would benefit from improved professional job offerings in quantity and quality to help its economy.

[Bjones1976]

I moved to the DFW area from Milwaukee 2 years ago and can't necessarily say I regret it. I live in South Garland and for the most part it looks similar to Milwaukee. The traffic in the DFW area is way worse than Milwaukee. I used to live near Wauwatosa and the drive to downtown Milwaukee was about 30 minutes during rush hour, even less when traffic calmed down. The only problem I had to worry about was parking, it wasn't cheap. The transportation system is better in Milwaukee in that it covers way more area and they run a lot later. The Public School system is better here (DFW) than in Milwaukee and this is one of the major reasons I left. It's so funny because the people hear don't consider Garland ISD a good school system, but when I compare it to Milwaukee's Public School system I can honestly say, my children are better off here.

Which is probably why the crime here is nothing compared to the crime in Milwaukee. In Milwaukee the criminals are getting younger and younger and it is scary when you consider the fact that you have to send your kids to school with some of these criminals. When I was there, there were kids pushing adults and other children in front of buses, kids beating other kids and adults to death etc., just out of control violence! The area I lived in was a peaceful one for the most part but it just seemed like it was spreading. NORTH SIDE, SOUTH SIDE, EAST SIDE & WEST SIDE. My son't mentor and his new bride lived near UWM and things happen over there too. So far in Garland I haven't had any real problems with violence and my children. The area is family oriented and for the most part folks just want to go to work and take care of their families. Don't get me wrong there is crime everywhere but I can definately say at this point raising kids here is far better than Milwaukee.

Let's see what else,

Career wise Texas is a few steps behind Milwaukee. There are more jobs here than in Milwaukee but, salary is far better in Milwaukee. Continued education is better here than in Milwaukee. The housing market is way better here than Milwaukee. The quality of houses are good in Milwaukee they are just more expensive. Milwaukee is colder than here but there are parts of it that is sooooooo beautiful which is lacking here in Texas.

Most of my family is still in Milwaukee so I miss it, but I'm not trying to go back there for anymore than a visit at this point. I don't want to send the kids to see their grandmothers because I just don't think it's safe for them to be outside being kids anymore. Basically, Milwaukee isn't as bad as some other places in the country but, you can't go there thinking everything is going to be rosy either.

Originally Posted by SickOfTheSunbelt

Looking forward to moving back to the upper midwest next spring. Never been to Milwaukee, but from what I hear it's very underrated and the locals make the supposed crime problem out to be a much bigger deal than it really is. And housing seems very reasonable along the lake in the near south suburbs of Cudahy and South Milwaukee.

What kind of towns are these? They are close to the city center and the lake, so I am very interested to learn more about these areas. How does the south shore compare to the north shore with respect to proximity to the lake and traffic getting to/from downtown?


Anyway, can't wait to actually live in a city that has natural beauty and character! 2 things you surely won't find anywhere around here...