Need advice on MCW housing!!

[Jordan 1]

To any current Medical College of Wisconsin students,

I'll be starting at MCW this fall and I can't decide where I want to live. I'm pretty familiar with Milwaukee and am trying to decide between living on the East Side (Prospect Ave. or Yankee Hill area) versus living in Wauwatosa. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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[Smurfette]

I grew up in the Milwaukee area. Living in 'Tosa will be cheaper, and travelling around the area is easier from Tosa as well (usually 20 min max to anywhere in Milwaukee from the MCW area, often much less than that). Usually there's no shortage of housing options in Tosa either. The East Side is usually more expensive (both in housing and in groceries and restaurants) and travel can be more tedious. But the East Side has a charm in it's own right....

Have you looked at any apartments yet? Sometimes the right apartment makes more of a difference than location (keep in mind all the future studying you may be doing there).

 

[E.A. Poe]

I'm staying around Wauwatosa because of the $$$. The East Side is nice, but it would be nicer to be able to save money and be able get to class quickly and maybe walk every now and then.

 

[Dr. J?]

I used to work next to MCOW and I lived on the East Side up near Downer Ave. theater (and also off of Oakland). I would say skip Yankee Hill it's a bit expensive. If you look up towards UWM you can find better deals on apts. The commute from the 'fashionable east side' is probably about 15-20 mins since you're going against the grain of traffic. Wauwatosa is nice and quiet, but you have more to do when you get away from the books on the east side (it's nice to be near the lake during the summer b/c it'll be about 5 degrees cooler than Wauwatosa...believe me this is real nice when August gets hot and muggy). For a good source of student friendly apts go to the Union at UWM and ask for their Housing List. It will have all sorts of flats and houses for rent that are never put in the Journal or online. Also, apts by Wellstone Properties are nice. Never (and I mean never!) rent from a man by the name of J. Simonitsch. He is not friendly to students and their situation. Hope this helps. Any other questions, just PM me.

 

[Savasana]

Hi, I'm a current MCW student, and as far as housing, I live in a slightly southwestern suburb, Greenfield. We chose the apt. because it's midway between school and BF's job, and because it had everything we wanted, and we were searching from out of town. Two years later, we are dying to move. I really want to be down on the east side, the suburban area feels SO much older and away from everything. If you like being close to school, Wauwatosa will be good, and it's got a sort-of cute downtown area, but it's much like my situation - very suburban. I know downtown will be more expensive, but to me, it's worth it. A third year I know also just moved out of Wauwatosa to the East side, and loves it.
That said, there are many people who live in many of the suburbs and are very happy, even as far out as Pewaukee and Waukesha. So, it's a personal decision. PM me if I can be of more help regarding anything about MCW or Milwaukee!

 

[Jordan 1]

Thanks for all the input guys!!! At this point, I think I'm leaning towards the east side just because I think I'd enjoy the urban environment more. Thanks again.

 

[jolu]

Hey everyone, I will be starting med school at MCW this august, and am now really stressed about housing. I live in Toronto, so I can't just drop by and check out which apartments are nice. And the ones on the internet doesn't really appeal to me much. So I don't know what I should do now. med school hasn't even started yet, and i'm already stressed out..........

 

[naperthrill]

Whats up,

i actually lived in new berlin last year (only like 10 minutes away) from school. While my place was fatty nice, i don't think it was worth it. 10 minutes might not seem like a lot now, but when you gotta drive like 10-15 min to school, park at C lot and then walk like another 5 to 10 minutes to get in, it sucks. For me this routine started to get annoying, but if you guys don't mind there are tons of awesome apts in cities like greenfield, new berlin, and brookfield which are only going to be like 10-15 min away. Tosa has some nice apts too but you gotta actually drive around.

 

[samenewme]

Don't forget they're doing major reconstruction on the Marquette interchange (the connector between I43 and I94, among other things), beginning this year. This may affect commute times from the East Side to 'Tosa. (I'm a pre-med East Sider attending UWM.)