Waukesha? (Milwaukee, Racine, Wauwatosa: house, employment, transfer) - Wisconsin (WI) - City-Data Forum

JulieF · 05-23-2007, 10:17 AM

We're considering a move and would like to learn about Waukesha. What is this city like? Can anybody tell us what a 4 BR house in a pleasant neighborhood might cost? Good doctors and hospitals? Pretty countryside? Interesting?

Thank you!

EnjoyEP · 05-23-2007, 01:05 PM

In comparison to other Milwaukee area suburbs, home prices in Waukesha are fairly reasonable overall. And the city of Waukesha itself is far from "ghetto"...

mikki · 05-23-2007, 03:30 PM

The City of Waukesha is just that..a city, NOT a suburb. WE are currently trying to sell our house and I will tell you that you can get awesome deals here right now! WE have been forced to lower our price to below assessed value. A 4Bdr that is 30 years old or more will cost you up to $280K. We have an 8 yr old 3Bdr that is not much more than that right now. I taught in 2 elementary schools here for almost 20 yrs and lived here more than 12 and we have loved it. My husband transferred and that is the only reason we are leaving. THere are sidewalks throughout the city and neighborhood schools allow for close proximity to housing. The schools are good, but you need to watch out for certain neighborhoods as you would in any city. However, it is NOT a ghetto anywhere. THe public library is awesome as is the local hospital (we live about a mile away and it has been a blessing with having a young child!). PM me if you would like more specific info on neighborhoods!

sunflower53072 · 05-24-2007, 04:33 PM

Waukesha has some nice parts. You might also want to look at Pewaukee if you would like a bit smaller town and closer to a lake.

boomper · 05-24-2007, 11:19 PM

"The City of Waukesha is just that..a city, NOT a suburb."
This may have been true 20 or 30 years ago, but reality is that today Waukesha is very much a suburb of Milwaukee in the midst of the Milwaukee metro area. Major cities such as Milwaukee and Chicago just have a feel and look about them where you can pretty much tell when you are in "the city" and when you cross into the suburbs. Waukesha really looks and feels no different than other suburbs such as Pewaukee or Menomonee Falls, except as mentioned that ther are sidewalks virtually everywhere. In its own rite, it is what is called a satellite city, but in the big picture it is considered a suburb by 90% of people, as it should be, with the slight exception being a few people who live there and like to think of Waukesha as being more than it really is. The same thing could technically be argued about Racine, although in Racine's defense, most parts of it really do look and feel more like a small urban city than Waukesha does. Anyway, many nice neighborhoods/subdivisions here and a few not as nice areas, but no ghetto here, at least as would be considered by most "city" standards. As Enjoy EP stated, prices are generally a bit more affordable than most other Milwaukee suburbs, especially those in Waukesha County. Definitely check it out.

Drover · 05-24-2007, 11:33 PM

Someone help me understand this obsession certain Waukesha folks have with pretending their city is not a suburb. Nobody doubts Naperville or Aurora are suburbs of Chicago, even though they are both about twice the size of Waukesha (hell, Aurora even has its own city mass transit system) and about twice as far away from the city core. Is it just a pride thing? If so, what's so wrong with being a suburb of a larger city?

mikki · 05-25-2007, 10:59 AM

An important distinction is the employment of full-time police and fire departments. Most of the outlying areas here have volunteer fire depts. that do not have access to hydrants. Areas such as Sussex, Pewaukee, Brookfield, and New Berlin have subdivisions connected by rural type roads as opposed to Waukesha that has city streets (yes, with sidewalks) that connect neighborhoods and subdivisions. Neighborhood elementary schools and parks where the majority of children walk or ride bikes to school are much more "city like" than typical suburbs where most of the children are bussed and where most people need to drive to be able to access park systems. It's just wording. As with anything, people need to check out areas for themselves to decide what best meets their family's needs!

EnjoyEP · 05-25-2007, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drover

Someone help me understand this obsession certain Waukesha folks have with pretending their city is not a suburb. Nobody doubts Naperville or Aurora are suburbs of Chicago, even though they are both about twice the size of Waukesha (hell, Aurora even has its own city mass transit system) and about twice as far away from the city core. Is it just a pride thing? If so, what's so wrong with being a suburb of a larger city?

Good question Drover.

I think Boomper has explained it well...it truly was more of a "satellite city" - I believe Boomper compared it to Waukegan to Chicago which I think is relatively fair.

I will say that Waukesha does have a more small town feeling into itself than many of the other suburbs do...it has more of a formal (yet small) downtown, unique street system, etc. I can see why people would feel like Waukesha is more of a city to itself than some other suburbs (like say Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, etc.).

But overall you are right...another good example...I am very familiar with the Denver, CO area. Aurora CO is 300,000+ - a good sized city in its own right - but no one questions it is a suburb of Denver (even though population wise it isn't even terribly far behind Denver anymore).

Those things are just weird. I currently live in Albuquerque, NM, and our biggest suburb - connected directly to ABQ - is Rio Rancho, a growing town of 80,000+. But people REALLY in Rio Rancho do NOT want to be considered part of Albuquerque...or even metro Albuquerque! They've even stated they want to be considered in the area as "Rio Rancho metro"...give me a break.

Transversely, like you say, folks in Naperville IL have no qualms with being associated as a part of the Chicagoland area, or people in Wauwatosa WI or Shorewood WI usually are absolutely proud to be identified with Milwaukee or even as Milwaukeeans.

Waukesha is indeed just kind of a bizarre reaction from locals, even though I see where they are coming from. But like Waukegan, Waukesha truly is a Milwaukee suburb.

fanaraj · 06-10-2007, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JulieF

We're considering a move and would like to learn about Waukesha. What is this city like? Can anybody tell us what a 4 BR house in a pleasant neighborhood might cost? Good doctors and hospitals? Pretty countryside? Interesting?

Thank you!

What did you find out about a 4 BR house there? We are also considering a move there as my husband just accepted a job there?
Thanks!
Jennifer

fanaraj · 06-10-2007, 02:46 PM

I think I typed in the wrong place. Anyway..
What did you find out about a 4 BR house there. My husband just accepted a job in Waukesha and we will be looking for homes soon as well.
We plan to drive the surrounding areas soon as well to consider some of those areas. Keep me posted on your move.
Jennifer