Rj

Imdeng,
I recommend you really do your homework about Milwaukee. The stats do not tell the whole truth. We live near the Brady and Farwell area and I feel very safe to walk my dog at night. I warn you, a 15 minute jog in the NE direction could easily land you in the wrong neighborhood. Drive around on weekends especially at midnight. See if you can easily deal with the noise of certain areas. Our condo is right next to one of the most popular late night Pizza places and around three times a month in the early AM hours, the cops will be called in to break up a disturbance. we spent our 20's in downtown Chicago and then downtown Denver, it's normal city living for us.

We are also at the 300k price point for a 2 bedroom condo. Our neighbors are actually teachers at UWM but because they are from Europe, they had no problems selling their car and just taking the bus to the campus. I admire them but I work in Waukesha, although reverse traffic does speed my way in both directions to under 30 minutes.

There are new Condos going up everywhere. I love the 53202 area code, nice buildings going up on Farwell, Prospect, Cass, and the river separating the 3rd Ward and the 5th Ward. I particulary don't care to be too deep into the 5th Ward, you will be able to tell where your money will hold its value by the area. Good luck!

By the way, if you can spend an extra 100k more but want to stay close to the action, try the Downing area. Eat brunch at Cafe Hollanders, then see an Indy Movie at the Downers, and then take a nice walk through the area, we love it. Although with the economy, we just are not in the mood to move into bigger debt.

Otherwise, for one bedrooms you can live pretty much anywhere for 300k. Good Luck! - Mon Jul 21 2008, 12:28