You forgot Irish Fest.

Been in the Milwaukee area a few times. Not my cup of tea.

When you make the move look me up. I will show you around the northwoods.

Add: have a buddy with Full autos & cans, if you're interested in some fun pew pew time.

I have been in Milwaukee for about 10 years. Im in a little pocket over by Timmerman off of 107th. There are pockets through out Milwaukee that are ok and not the gang war neighborhoods like people are talking about. If you live hear long enough and have kids you may want to think about schools too. They suck in Milwaukee and you will need to think about private schools. We have been in a position for the last 6 years were the value of our home decreased by $25k. We are finally at a point where we can break even. Resale value can fluctuate year to year with some pockets in Milwaukee not recovering like the rest of the surrounding areas. $185k is enough depending on your criteria. Wauwatose, Butler, Menomonee Falls and Brookfield still have areas where $185K can get you an older house in a nice neighborhood.

My house will be up for sale in a few weeks 4 bed 2 bath if interested :-). We close on our new place in Richfield tomorrow and still need to sell our current place. Good luck!

For a different perspective: We relocated to MKE from LA in March and closed on a house in Shorewood in July. Coming through Atlanta, GA and Bowling Green, KY; I can say honestly that Milwaukee rocks. It's not perfect, but it's hardly the war zone that people make it out to be.

We regularly ride our bikes to and from downtown and out to 'tosa for beer gardens and events (4 beer gardens within a 4 minute bike ride), regularly walk to the lake and our local with our dogs. We found a great church community and through outreach regularly go into the areas people are afraid of and have yet to experience any ill will.

Granted, we spent a decades living in Europe, the middle east and southern Africa; so we aren't the sort to be scared by a city as quaint and overlookable as MKE. Some people carry that fear and skittishness within them, we have never had that problem.

We got a great house for a fraction of the price per square foot than we had in LA; twice the size, half the price - literally a quarter of the sqft price of LA. Petrol prices are laughable and our cost of living is very very reasonable. Decent opera, good ballet, local beer scene is stellar, restaurants are surprisingly good; for music and museums Chicago is only an hour away.

The hardest part for us is the lack of good local gun stores and ranges; and the shortened growing season.

Nice. We just moved North out of shorewood but my Mrs works there and I go to UWM.

If I may jump in here, not to hijack the OPs thread but I am considering a relo to WI as well. The job is in Brookfield and I would prefer to be within 20-25 minutes commute. Schools are not important but I realize they help drive property values so its a factor. My budget is 350-450k. I dont need 6 bedrooms, more like 3, but would like at least 3 car garage or a shop. I would prefer a larger lot, at least 1 acre. Being on a lake or having lake views doesnt add value to me, nor does a swimming pool. Most of the houses I am seeing online in my price range are seriously dated, I mean like 1990's dated. I would prefer a 4 side brick but most of what I see is siding.  I may have to consider new construction. The Pewaukee and Sussex areas is where I was looking. suggestions appreciated.

Vernon and Mukwonago areas have very low taxes. Might be getting more difficult to find something now at a decent price as the market has really taken off over the last 6 months. We bought  just over a year ago. 2000 sq ft, 1.2 acre wooded private lot, hard wood siding and we got in at the lower 200's.  Five or six houses have recently sold within a 3 mile radius and for no less than 280 and we saw a couple of them during a open houses. Talk about out dated, avocado colored toilets and sinks. Thankfully ours was pretty much updated, not totally but a great start.

well damn, I am not so sure this is going to happen because of the taxes. holy crap are they high!! property tax is crazy and add the income tax on top of it. 7.65% PLUS $20,000 for joint income over $334k. Thats insane! Yeah the sales tax is relatively low but damn. the pay increase associated with the opportunity would be partially offset by the high cost of living. 

That was exactly my response when I ran the numbers.  Hoping next week the answer is not Milwaukee since all the benefits of extra income are going to be swallowed up in taxes.