Neighborhoods of Milwaukee
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This is a list of Milwaukee neighborhoods.
[edit] Avenues West
Avenues West is an area west of Milwaukee's downtown. It is bordered by I-43 on the east, 27th St. on the west, I-94 on the south, and on the north by Highland Avenue. While in the recent past this neighborhood has been one of low income levels and property values, it has seen signs of beginning redevelopment. The most commonly sited example being the Ambassador Hotel that was until recently was closely linked with drug dealing and prostitution and has since been restored to an upscale establishment. Other notable places in the area include Marquette University, the Pabst Mansion, and the Joseph B. Kalvelage House. Unfortunately, the neighborhood continues to have higher crime rates than the city average in the areas of robbery and theft and as of 2000 its reported poverty rate was 46%. [1] This neighborhood has not seen the growth of Brewer's Hill or the Third Ward, but several development plans are in the works. Most new development is linked with the growth of Marquette University, although dedicated long-term residents have also been instrumental in pushing this neighborhood in a better direction.
[edit] Bay View
Bay View is known for its safety, views of the city skyline, and proximity to Lake Michigan. Features a heavy concentration of trendy stores and music venues. Located about 3 miles south of downtown on the lake, within the area including Kinnickinnic Avenue. Bay View originally sprang up around the Milwaukee Iron Company rolling mill as a company town. It incorporated in 1879 (Milwaukee's first suburb) with 2,592 people and 892 acres of land; but by 1887 Bay View's 4,000 residents voted overwhelmingly to join the city of Milwaukee, mostly in order to get city services of which water was the most important. The former village became Milwaukee's 17th ward. It is best known to labor historians as the site of the 1886 Bay View Tragedy. [2]
[edit] Brady Street
Brady Street is another neighborhood noted for its trendiness. The neighborhood is filled with coffee houses, nightclubs, trendy restaurants, vintage clothing, and thrift stores. Once the center of Milwaukee's hippie counterculture, gentrification forced most of its Bohemian population out, many going to Riverwest and Bayview. However, this neighborhood still exhibits a strong independent flair, albeit an upscale one.
[edit] Brewers Hill
Brewers Hill is a small, diverse community north of downtown on the Milwaukee River. The name (formerly "Uiehlein Hill") is derived from the large amount of breweries that once blanketed the area. Some of the factories are still intact; but most have been or are in the process of being converted into condominiums and apartments. The neighborhood is bordered by the Harambee neighborhood on the north, the Riverwest neighborhood on the east, the Milwaukee River on the south, and Martin Luther King Drive on the west. The area near the river, especially along Commerce Street, has been significantly revitalized in the past few years with upscale residential and commercial development, the most notable being the Beerline Development. For better or worse, Brewers Hill is generally regarded as Milwaukee's most prominent example of gentrification in action. It also illustrates the role neighborhood identification plays in that process. Formerly considered part of Harambee, as redevelopment drove out lower income and minority residents, "Brewers' Hill" was coined as the area's new name.
[edit] Bronzeville
Bronzeville is an African-American neighborhood that historically was situated between what is now the Harambee neighborhood and the North Division neighborhood. This district was formerly centered on Walnut Street until it was razed to make room for the US Interstate program(I-43) and other arterial road expansions. Today there is a rebuilding and rebranding of the commercial area of nearby North Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive into "Bronzeville". The many new businesses that have opened recently as well as older fixtures such as The Black Holocaust Museum, are helping to make this a thriving area once again.
[edit] Capitol West
[edit] Cold Springs Park
Cold Springs Park is a small neighboorhood near the Miller Brewing Company
[edit] Concordia
Historic Concordia is an area between 27th, 35th, Wisconsin Avenue and Highland Blvd. is the home of both a local historic district and many national register historic properties. Notable homes include the 1850's Tower House and 1860's Col. Theodore Yates residence. Many private residences are opened to the public each year on the Saturday of Fathers Day weekend for a home tour by Historic Concordia Neighbors, Inc. [3] A neighborhood located on the near west side of Milwaukee; it once housed Concordia college. The college's former facilities now home to the Indian Community School. This neighborhood once housed families like the Pabsts, Harnischfegers, Gettlemans, and many others in large mansions. Many of these homes have been converted into bed and breakfasts, and Concordia was declared Milwaukee's only bed and breakfast district.
[edit] East Side
East Side is a broad area that basically refers to anything east of the Milwaukee River, north of downtown, and south of the suburb of Shorewood. This area includes Brady Street, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, the lakefront, and the marina. The streets and buildings in this neighborhood range from towering, expensive high rises and condominiums along the lake to brownstones and walkups a few blocks inland to cheap duplexes near the river. An economically diverse group of people live in this neighborhood. Brady Street (from Prospect to Holton) and North Avenue (from Prospect to the Milwaukee River) both feature popular, pedestrian-friendly commercial strips of nightlife, restaurants, and shops intermingled with residences. Downer Avenue (from Bradford to Newberry) is a similar commercial strip but with fewer bars. Milwaukee County Transit System's bus routes 30 and 15 are the major North-South transit arteries for the neighborhood.
[edit] East Town
East Town Home to Milwaukee's central business district. The neighborhood is east of the Milwaukee River. It is bordered by Brady Street on the lower east side, the Third Ward on the south, and Lake Michigan on the east. This area contained the original Juneau Town settlement which competed with the neighboring Kilbourn Town (see Westown) for people and resources and has a remarkably different feel. East Town has dense, narrower streets and a more intimate feel, whereas Westown has broad, vast streets with older buildings. The strikingly modern skyscrapers of the Northwestern Mutual Life complex and Milwaukee's tallest building, the U.S. Bank Center, as well as the city's four other tallest buildings, dominate the eastern portion of the neighborhood. Other noteworthy buildings include the Chase Bank building, the Faison building, and the Morgan Stanley building. Also, two large condominium developments, Kilbourn Tower and University Club tower, are under construction or have been recently completed in the northern half of the neighborhood. Both buildings are over 32 stories tall and have units priced at two million dollars apiece. The neighborhood also contains the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and Old St. Mary's Church which have survived from the early days of Milwaukee. The East Town neighborhood association hosts Jazz in the Park, an outdoor music concert series at Cathedral Square Park.
[edit] East Village
[edit] Granville
Granville is a working class neighborhood located on Milwaukee's far northwest side. Despite this fact, there have been many new subdivisions being built along with continued development of the area's industrial parks. While Granville Station, the former Northridge mall, has undergone extensive renovations and attracted new, large format tenants, the Brown Deer Road retail corridor is still trying to find its market.
[edit] Harambee
Harambee is a neighborhood that has recently seen an increasing influx of residents to its south, along its border with Brewers' Hill. Generally they are attracted by the eclectic housing stock and close proximity to downtown. Harambee lies west of Riverwest, from Holton Street to Interstate 94, just north of Brewers' Hill. Harambee includes the highest resedential elevation in the city, a tall ridge running along 1st Street, that in the early twentieth century was built upon by the city's wealthy families. A popular local legend claims that the rich built their homes on the highest land in the city so they could look down on everyone else.
[edit] Havenwoods
Havenwoods is a working class, mostly African-American neighborhood on Milwaukee's north side, centered near Silver Spring Drive and 60th Street. The neighborhood itself is moderately urban in character, with a mix of strip malls, older retail buildings, and townhouses. Within the neighborhood's boundaries lie Havenwoods State Forest and the US Army Reserve Center.
[edit] Hillside/Lapham Park
[edit] Historic Mitchell Street
Historic Mitchell Street is a street located about 1.5 miles southwest of downtown. The Mitchell Street neighborhood is the heart of a densely-populated, largely Hispanic area of Milwaukee's near south side. Most of the houses in the neighborhood are two- or three-story Polish flats, but this area also has a fair amount of five to six story brick walk-ups and apartment buildings. Mitchell Street itself is narrow, vibrant and has buildings reminiscent of the Bronx in New York City. A four-story building, the Mitchell Street mall, lies on the street directly off the sidewalk and has no surface parking lot due to the shortage of open space. The retail district, although vibrant, only lasts for six blocks before it turns into a residential street.
[edit] Jackson Park
Jackson Park is a neighborhood on the south side, located about 6 miles south of downtown. Jackson Park's architecture consists largely of two-story wood frame houses that were constructed in the early 20th century. Jackson Park's makeup is mostly Caucasian, lower middle class, and blue collar. In recent years, it has also seen a growing number of Hispanic residents.
[edit] Jacobus Park
Jacobus Park is a neighborhood on the far west side of the city near the city limits of Wauwatosa. It is a moderately urban neighborhood, with brick bungalows and two story brick apartments being the main housing stock. The area's populace is mostly Caucasian and middle class.
[edit] Jones Island
Jones Island is a peninsula located located at the Milwaukee Harbor. It began as a fishing village populated by Polish settlers from the Kaszubes region in 1870 and now hosts much of the city's municipal services, including the Port of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
[edit] Layton Park
[edit] Martin Drive
[edit] Menomonee River Valley
The Menomonee River Valley is an industrial neighborhood surrounding the U-shaped southern bend of the Menomonee River.
[edit] Merrill Park
Merrill Park is a small residential neighborhood east of Piggsville. Its traditional boundaries are 27th Street on the east, 35th Street on the west, Wisconsin Avenue on the north and the Menomonee Valley on the south. Traditionally an Irish-American enclave, it is now an ethnically diverse neighborhood with African-American and Latinos comrising a significant percentage of the population. There is little in the way of commerce in Merrill Park, largely confined to the boundary streets, which are major arterials.
[edit] Metcalfe Park
Metcalfe Park is an area bordered by Center Street on the north, North Avenue on the south, 20th Street on the east, and 35th Street on the west. Metcalfe Park is considered one of Milwaukee's poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods. The poverty rate for the neighborhood and adjoining areas exceeds 60%. The national media has also reported on Metcalfe Park, after a mob beating left Charlie Young, Jr. dead. Over 150 murders have occurred in this area in the past decade. It's reputation aside, Metcalfe park is making efforts to improve itself. New commercial and residential development has sprung up on North Avenue. The area, which is poor but still intact and populated, has many community groups to help improve the image and conditions in Metcalfe Park.[citation needed]
[edit] Midtown
Once synonymous with crime and poverty, this neighborhood on Milwaukee's North Side is being improved through commercial redevelpoment and community programs and organizations such as "Project Respect." Midtown Centre, a newly developed shopping center is largely considered the economic heart of the area, filling the void left by Capitol Court which was shut down a few years ago.
[edit] Mount Mary
Mount Mary surrounds Mount Mary College. It is bordered by Concordia Ave. on the north, 89th St. on the east, Center St. on the south and Menomonee River Parkway on the west. With its curvelinear streets and few sidewalks, it resembles a suburban neighborhood.
[edit] Piggsville
Piggsville is the west end of the Menomonee River Valley, below Miller Brewing and the Wisconsin Avenue viaduct. Various theories have been proposed about its name, but none has been proved true.
[edit] Riverwest
Riverwest is a neighborhood located west of the Milwaukee River and east of Holton Street, near Milwaukee's East Side. Riverwest is noted for its racial and ethnic diversity including large numbers of African-Americans and growing Iranian, Asian and Hispanic populations. Independent businesses and cottage industries are the norm, reflecting the neighborhood's "counterculture" population, though developers are beginning to focus on the area. The Riverwest Neighborhood Association is among the city's most active and organized neighborhood groups. Compared to the East Side, Riverwest features generally cheaper rents in its bungalows, duplexes, and "Polish Flats." Noteworthy streets include Humboldt Blvd, Center Street, Clarke Street, Holton St and Locust Street (which connects Riverwest to the East Side and the UWM area via a bridge).[4]
[edit] Sherman Park
Sherman Park is a north side middle class, very integrated neighborhood, that was once the heart of Milwaukee's Jewish population. Today, the area is predominantly Black, but retains a small, close-knit group of Hasidic Lubavitch Jews.
[edit] Story Hill
Story Hill is a neighborhood located directly north of Miller Park on the west side of Milwaukee. The housing stock consists of ornate early 20th century houses, usually made of brick. The neighborhood itself lies on a hill just south of Wisconsin Avenue and is characterized by quiet, tree-lined streets and an isolated feel, in sharp contrast to the busier and more depressed neighborhoods that surround it. Most inhabitants of this neighborhood are Caucasian.
[edit] Historic Third Ward
Historic Third Ward is an upper-class neighborhood located just to the south of downtown, the Third Ward is noted for a large number of condominiums and loft apartments, antique stores, and art galleries. It is also a center of Milwaukee's gay community. It's also home to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. It is called the Historic Third Ward because redistricting over the years has the area in the current fourth political ward.
[edit] Tippecanoe
Tippecanoe (see Town of Lake), is a neighborhood today, as it was inside the Town of Lake, being of the more densely populated areas of the town, a peninsula at one time surrouned to the west, south, and partially the east by agricultural lands.
[edit] Town of Lake
Town of Lake is located near the airport, this neighborhood is based on its namesake township which was established by the Territorial Legislature in 1838 and covered much of what is now the south side of Milwaukee, as well as the city of St. Francis. Over time, the township was parceled out among different area cities. The original boundaries for the Town of Lake were Greenfield Ave to the North, Lake Michigan to the East, College Ave (originally called Town Line Rd) to the south, and 27th Street to the west. In 1951, St. Francis incorporated to prevent annexation by Milwaukee, in effect "seceding" from the Town of Lake. Before being annexed, the township's northern boundary was Howard Ave, except for a strip of land west of 20th Street going farther north to Morgan Ave. The old town hall on 6th & Howard is still referred to as the "Town of Lake Water Tower". Now officially called the Robert A. Anderson Municipal Building by the City of Milwaukee, it currently serves as office space and water treatment facility. The Town of Lake was officially annexed in 1954. The township's residents had voted not to incorporate as the "City of Lake" in 1928; had they chosen to incorporate, the remaining area of the Town of Lake would probably have never been annexed by Milwaukee, and Milwaukee would have likely expanded further west and north instead. In addition, it is also likely that the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis would not have felt the pressure to incorporate, nor (hypothetically) would Cudahy have made further strides into the township's agricultural land. The ethnic makeup of this neighborhood is predominantly white.
[edit] University Hill
University Hill is a downtown neighborhood that is the home of Marquette University. Generally this neighborhood is lumped in with "Avenues West".
[edit] Walker's Point
Walker's Point is a neighborhood that lies south of the Third Ward, it is noted for being mostly an industrial neighborhood with some housing in pockets throughout. There is also a strong presence of the city's gay and lesbian nightclubs and bars. Recently this area has seen condo, office, and retail development spill over the river to this neighborhood. However, it is not displacing anyone as the spaces undergoing development have mainly been former storage or empty industrial space. Rockwell International also has their Headquarters in this neighborhood. Some real estate agents and promoters have begun referring to the area as "Fifth Ward," apparently hoping to capitalize on the prestige of the Third Ward located just across the Milwaukee River.
[edit] Walnut Hill
Walnut Hill is a predominantly African-American neighborhood on the west side, bordered by 27th Street, 35th Street, Vliet Street, and North Avenue. The neighborhood is economically mixed, ranging from impoverished to middle class. There is also a strong southeast Asian presence here.
[edit] Washington Heights
Washington Heights is a neighborhood characterized by 1920s Arts & Crafts housing stock and known for converting duplexes to single-family homes. Washington Highlands, in Wauwatosa, is a ritzy neighborhood located nearby with a more suburban character especially since there is not the same local business presence. The boundaries of Washington Heights are 60th St. on the west, North Ave. on the north, 47th St. and Washington Park on the east, and Vliet St. on the south. It also includes the few blocks across Vliet, immediately south of this otherwise perfectly rectangular area.
[edit] Washington Park
Washington Park is a predominantly African-American and Southeast-Asian-American neighborhood bordering Metcalfe Park.
[edit] Westtown
Westown is an area west of the Milwaukee River and downtown, bounded by I-794 on the south, Marquette University neighborhood on the west, McKinley Avenue on the north, and the river on the east. This neighborhood comprises the original Kilbourn Town in what is now downtown Milwaukee. The Shops of Grand Avenue, along with various theaters, restaurants, nightclubs, lies along Wisconsin Avenue. Other attractions in this neighborhood include the Bradley Center, the US Cellular Arena, the Milwaukee County Courthouse and Old World Third Street. The area has also become a focal point for Milwaukee's booming urban scene with events such as RiverSplash! and River Rhythms at Pere Marquette Park.
[edit] External links
- Milwaukee Neighborhood Identification Project: May 2000 neighborhood mapPDF
- My Milwaukee Home - indicates the neighborhood for any Milwaukee street address
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