Thanks for the positive messages. Most people just give me the generic "Sorry to hear that" or "the weather sucks"
14th most miserable city in the US.....be opened minded and make the best of it. It will be a growth experience. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45lmhg/14-milwaukee-wisc/
I lived there for a year. The first few months were on 17th street near Marquette. We used to go to a bar called Murphy's Law. Good times there. Later I moved out to West Allis. Overall, Milwaukee was ok. Summer was great, but very short. Winter SUCKED ASS.
Milwaukee has a pretty terrible segregation and race relations problem. I'd say its far worse than Houston in that regard. But its a nice place and Summers in the North are great. The winters are bad but honestly you'll get used to them. Milwaukee is pretty progressive and liberal over all and there are plenty of things to do in your free time. The Summers tend to have a lot of different festivals (always felt like something was going on). Not to mention just being able to hang out on the water anytime you want in the summer is great. Also I'm not sure how old you are but Milwaukee is a pretty young city overall in terms of the ages of its residents. So that's always a nice plus if that's something you're looking for. The big recommendation I can make is make sure you have the right car for driving in snow. That was a huge problem when I moved up north (I lived in North Dakota and now in Minnesota). Figure that out now before you find out in the middle of winter how awful your car might be.
Yeah. I actually moved out of state around the age of 8 but then moved back during my middle school years and I still experienced bullying. Thank god my parents decided to move out of there. I probably would've been a different guy had I lived there any longer.
So from this thread, it sounds like it's a nice place to be if you avoid half the city and half the year, and if you're not a minority. Actually, I have a good friend in Houston who's spent her whole 26 years in Milwaukee save for the last two here. She's Asian and said the crime was horrible (her sister was murdered in a robbery). But after reading this and mixing it with her info, it's probably a lock that she lived on the bad side.
Being use to houston, the humidity isn't a problem. Winter would take getting some use to but you know the old saying, there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.
Like I said, I grew up in Milwaukee in the 70's to mid 80's. There were no, and I mean no black people living south of I-94. And if there were any they were Puerto Ricans maybe a few Cubans. Walker's Point was maybe 40% Latino during that time and now is pretty much 90% Latino. I think it was easier for the Latinos to assimilate because of Catholicism. Milwaukee is/was a very heavy Catholic city. Also heavy Polish and German. There used to be a saying that I heard growing up "well at least they're Catholic". I know that most of the Asian population who came in the early 80's got a lot of crap form everybody. Black, brown or white, It didn't matter. I never understood it and still don't. So anywhere south of I-94 and north Oklahoma Ave. is going to be hit or miss as far as finding a place to live because it is more integrated while the rest of the city is very much black or white. The police force also has one of the worst reputations in the Midwest if not country. Just read the stories of Laurie Bembenek and Konerak Sinthasomphone. Even with all of that said. I still feel very lucky to have lived there when I did. I try and go back every year to see my brothers and sisters. It was very bad in the late 80's and 90's. Hopefully it's getting better.
Gotta love the headliners lineup for Summerfest this year. July 2nd - New Kids on The Block w/ 98 degrees and Boyz II Men :grin: Two days later (4th of July show) - Rush. Only in Milwaukee.
There was this one time where I was sitting in the back of the family van when a big rock, about the size of a hand, came flying through the passenger side back window at night breaking the whole window. This happened in the poorer side of town. I guess some people think it's fun to throw huge rocks at cars? OP, just avoid the ghetto. And if you have kids, make sure they are in a good school district. The middle school I went to was like a prison. You had to buzz in to get in and cameras on every hall.
