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When I was looking for places on the upper east side it looked like most of the buildings were from the 1920's and 1930's. Aside from the 3 highrises near Capitol and Murray I wasn't able to find any apartments that were newer or had modern interiors (1990's or later). Most of the renovated older buildings were still heated by radiator and didn't have air conditioning. Did I just miss the modern apartments or are there really no units in Shorewood with modern heating/cooling and up-to-date interiors? In general the places downtown seemed much more modern.
Shorewood is a great place to live. Daily necessities (Pick 'n Save, Walgreen's, Sendik's) and some good restaurants and pubs (City Market, Oakcrest Tavern, Harry's Bar & Grill, Mama Mia’s, Alterra Coffee, Stone Creek Coffee, No. 1 Chinese, dare I even say Culvers, etc.) are within walking distance of most of the village.
The Upper East Side of Milwaukee (north of North Avenue, south of Shorewood, east of the Milwaukee River and comprised of the official neighborhoods of Downer Woods, Murray Hill, Cambridge Woods, and Riverside Park) is also a great area to live, whether or not you are a student at UWM. It has far more stores, restaurants, bars, and daily necessities available within walking distance. These being primarily located along Oakland Avenue and near Locust Street (Walgreen’s, Lisa’s Pizza, Shiraz, Sharazad, Thai Kitchen, SoLo Pizza, Oakland Gyros, Roast Coffee, etc.); Downer Avenue at Belleview Place (CVS, Downer Hardware, Sendik’s, Boswell Books, Hollander Café, Original Pancake House, Breadsmith, Starbucks, Downer Theater, etc.); and North Avenue near Farwell and Prospect (Whole Foods, Oriental Theater, Landmark Lanes, Utrecht, American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Ian’s Pizza, Toppers, Ma Fischer’s, Hotch-a-doo, Beans & Barley, Hooligans and dozens of other bars, etc.).
Both Shorewood and the Upper East Side have great access to the Milwaukee River (the Oak Leaf Trail, Hubbard Park, Riverside Park, and the Urban Ecology Center) and Lake Michigan (Atwater Beach, Lake Park, and Bradford Beach).
Shorewood and the Upper East Side of Milwaukee are well served by the MCTS Bus System – especially by the routes 10, 15, 21, 22, 30, 60, and 62, providing great access to Downtown, the Lower East Side, Riverwest, the Riverworks District along Capitol Drive, and Bayshore Mall and less convenient access to Wauwatosa and Mayfair Mall (due mostly to their farther distance away).
You’re right; the majority of apartment buildings in this part of Milwaukee (especially in Shorewood) were built before 1930. These remain highly desirable places to live due to their quality construction, fine exterior and interior architectural detailing, beautiful wood floors and interior carpentry, and wide variety of sizes (tiny studios to massive 5-bedroom apartments). Most are heated efficiently with hot-water radiators. Most are designed with windows on 2 or more sides of the building providing excellent passive cooling… i.e. cross ventilation; which works incredibly well during the summer to keep the apartments cool. Generally you can find good sized living rooms and separate dining rooms in these apartments. There is largely sufficient and affordable onsite laundry provided. Limited off-street parking is available at many. Drawbacks to older buildings generally are smaller kitchens and bathrooms, but most have been updated by the 1980s. The corridors in these buildings are generally well lit, wide, and nicely finished. Overall, I have had great experiences living (and having friends who have lived happily) in these vintage apartment buildings. Concentrations of these buildings can be found along Capitol Drive and Oakland Avenue in Shorewood; and in Milwaukee at the southern portion of Cambridge Woods, scattered along Oakland Avenue, and heavily throughout Murray Hill – especially east of Maryland Avenue to Downer Avenue between Park Place and Bradford Avenue.
However there are many post-war apartment buildings as well (far more in Milwaukee than Shorewood, however). Personally, I have found these to have a wider range in quality of construction, maintenance, and finishes. Generally these are heated with less efficient forced-air systems… i.e. furnace and heat vents. The may have unit air conditioners, never central air conditioning. Kitchens and bathrooms have generally not been updated since their construction or since the 1980s as well. There is a concentration of these buildings on the western edge of Shorewood along Wilson Drive. They are scattered throughout Milwaukee’s Upper East Side, especially east of Maryland Avenue to Oakland Avenue between Park Place and North Avenue. There is also a concentration in nearby Whitefish Bay (immediately north of Shorewood) on Henry Clay Street – although I’m not sure how many of these may be condominiums.
There is a general lack of apartments constructed between the 1980s and 2000s, at this point most new construction in the Milwaukee area occurred outside the urban core... which I would consider this area to be strongly part of. Those multi-family buildings constructed within the past decade were mostly condominiums. However, due to the recent recession many condominiums on the market are being leased. There has also been an upswing in apartment construction… two buildings come to mind: The Park at 1824 and The Latitude Apartments, Milwaukee, WI. However these apartments and any condo for lease will be at higher price points than the older housing stock, as new construction generally is. You’d have more luck finding condos for rent downtown and on the lower east side. There are several new apartment buildings proposed and to start construction soon on the East Side and downtown. The most recently finished The North End | A Neighborhood by Design | Condominium and Apartment Homes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (its first phase), has been said to have completely filled quickly.
To more specifically answer your question, I need to better understand your definition of “modern” apartments and “up-to-date” interiors. Especially since most of the historic buildings and late twentieth century buildings have been updated at the same pace and haven’t been done since the same period of time 20 years ago. Don’t expect newer upgrades, there is little incentive for landlords and management companies to do these largely cosmetic upgrades – especially since there is such strong demand for rentals in this area without them.
By “modern” and “up-to-date,” do you specifically mean dry wall instead of plaster? Carpet instead of hardwood or even the most current trend of laminate floors instead of carpet or hardwood? Massive box or baseboard radiators from the late 1900s instead of cast iron radiators from the early 1900s? Plastic vertical blinds over vinyl patio doors? Vinyl or aluminum windows instead of wooden windows? Stock laminate cabinetry versus custom wood cabinetry? Thin stud and drywall walls over thick, stud with lath and plaster walls that provide better sound insulation? Tract home wood trim from Menards instead of generously sized custom wood trim?
As for air conditioning… seriously, especially in this climate, passive systems like cross ventilation (and a nice oscillating fan) work just as well, if not better (and more inexpensively) than air conditioning.
I’m sorry if my personal preference of historic buildings over the construction of the last 40 years is showing.
Good luck finding a place, I don’t think it will actually be too hard for you. The best way of finding rentals is by driving around and taking down numbers of the signs posted on most apartment buildings. Summer is the best time to find the most openings as well.
I like your rant on older buildings. I agree with the quality part 100%. 1900 until WWII was the golden age of building and architecture. Never again will we have the critical mass of materials, skills, money and design to build like this. The classical design of the buildings will never go out of style and the the materials age well.
It is sad that so many in this country believe that anything new is better and anything old is crap. So much of new construction is cheap and disposable. It is built with a 30 or maybe 40 year life span(if your lucky) and then to be torn down. Often I wonder what people see in some of this cheap crap. I think it has something to do with new is always better and there is status in new.
When I was looking for places on the upper east side it looked like most of the buildings were from the 1920's and 1930's. Aside from the 3 highrises near Capitol and Murray I wasn't able to find any apartments that were newer or had modern interiors (1990's or later). Most of the renovated older buildings were still heated by radiator and didn't have air conditioning. Did I just miss the modern apartments or are there really no units in Shorewood with modern heating/cooling and up-to-date interiors? In general the places downtown seemed much more modern.
You didn't miss them, what you saw was probably all there is. There are plenty of updated houses, but that would probably be the extent of "new" interiors that you would find, save for the few moderately updated apartments that you already viewed. Most of the apartments are... "vintage" apartments. Which is either really great, or really bad, depending on how they are maintained and what has been done to them over the years.
There are a handful of 60s or 70s type buildings scattered around. Those probably have hydronic baseboard heat and wall sleeve A/C... if they have any A/C at all.
I did forget about the Cornerstone development (The Cornerstone | Welcome Home) that Nuclear_Art mentions. I had assumed those were condos. I'm sure as the economy improves, those units will be sold as condos. $1,200 is the rent for a one bedroom there (their website lists that as the starting price); I guess that's the cost of new construction in the North Shore area for you. It will be interesting to see what rents at the new Mandel Development in Shorewood will be when it is projected to be completed in 2013. (Mandel plans mixed-use project on Oakland Avenue in Shorewood - BizTimes (http://www.biztimes.com/realestateweekly/2011/3/9/mandel-plans-mixed-use-project-on-oakland-avenue-in-shorewood - broken link)). These rents are almost double those of the historic apartment buildings along Oakland Avenue.
I suppose another option in the area would be the apartments at Bayshore. http://www.liveatbayshore.com. They are also quite expensive.
I did forget about the Cornerstone development (The Cornerstone | Welcome Home) that Nuclear_Art mentions. I had assumed those were condos. I'm sure as the economy improves, those units will be sold as condos. $1,200 is the rent for a one bedroom there (their website lists that as the starting price); I guess that's the cost of new construction in the North Shore area for you. It will be interesting to see what rents at the new Mandel Development in Shorewood will be when it is projected to be completed in 2013. (Mandel plans mixed-use project on Oakland Avenue in Shorewood - BizTimes (http://www.biztimes.com/realestateweekly/2011/3/9/mandel-plans-mixed-use-project-on-oakland-avenue-in-shorewood - broken link)). These rents are almost double those of the historic apartment buildings along Oakland Avenue.
I suppose another option in the area would be the apartments at Bayshore. Live At Bayshore. They are also quite expensive.
I thought those were originally designed as condos too. But a lot of ex-condo developments have gone to rentals (for now). Maybe they were always rentals though.
The Bay Shore units are nice, all new construction obviously, so new HVAC and amenities. Unfortunately, they have no outdoor space, which IMO is odd for that price point in a suburban setting.
Shorewood is a great place to live. Daily necessities (Pick 'n Save, Walgreen's, Sendik's) and some good restaurants and pubs (City Market, Oakcrest Tavern, Harry's Bar & Grill, Mama Mia’s, Alterra Coffee, Stone Creek Coffee, No. 1 Chinese, dare I even say Culvers, etc.) are within walking distance of most of the village.
Good luck finding a place, I don’t think it will actually be too hard for you. The best way of finding rentals is by driving around and taking down numbers of the signs posted on most apartment buildings. Summer is the best time to find the most openings as well.
Deeply-impressed input!! That is very helpful to everyone go to Milwaukee, especially to someone go to UWM, include me. I will share your talk to everyone who are interested in Milwaukee.
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