what's it like in the Wauwatosa area?

[phoenix]

I'm curious to get a little bit of information on Wauwatosa WI. A few days ago, someone shot me an email on LinkdIn, and a day later an HR person from the Motor Company was calling me. I'm at least 80% sure this isn't going anywhere (whether I would not get the offer or I would not even accept for various reasons), I want to stop and think about it a little.

I've been in my current job for ~5 years. Just recently, I would say that I could finally put down a real goal that I think would be within reason in about 2 years. I've taken on new responsibilities and I think I have shown how good I am at some of this new work. Unfortunately, my "old" work has not gone away, so now I am just frickin' swamped with work. Next week I make my first business trip to China, probably the first of many. And that's where I see some career growth opportunities.

Back here in quiet little Ankeny, I have a 4 mile commute to work. I like that. I like the quiet neighborhood. Our 13 year old has some pretty deep roots and good established friends. Career growth for me likely will mean moving at some point. My wife is working as an assistant manager for a women's clothing store. I would hope she could find a similar position anywhere in America.

The position is related to work I have done in the past. I should meet the qualifications. The HR guy claimed that the median base pay for this position is equivalent to my base + bonus this past year. It's hard to tell the guy "pfft, nope, not even gonna look".

[Gary B.]

I'm guessing it's more "big city" than where you are at now, and the cost of living is probably higher. "Tosa" as the locals call it, is just a suburb of Milwaukee. I moved from Milwaukee for a reason...

[Squidbuzz]

And if you move to that area, you will want to check out more than just Tosa. Any ideas what location you'd work at?

[Traxx]

as the previous poster said "Tosa" is a suburb but it is by no means out in the country somewhere. It's in milwaukee county and literally right next door. It would definately be city living.

Lots of everything basically within walking distance. Being a suburb your in a better area than the actual city. Good schools, smaller community atmosphere inside a bigger city. From there you could probably pick numerous other suburbs or areas than would keep you close enough to work.(within 20 minutes) and give you more options for living arrangements.

Hope this helps. Good Luck in your search and if I can answer any more questions let me know.

Mark

[HipGnosis]

What do you want to know?
I literally live half a block from 'Tosa.  It's not 'next-door' to Milwaukee, it's across the street.  Even I can't tell where the boundaries are ('Tosa kinda wraps around the SW corner of Milw.).
I have lots of relatives in IA (Dad grew up there).
Milw. has a really nice blend of culture and diversity.  Brewers, Bucks, Admirals (hockey), Wave (indoor soccer) and we recently got a Roller Derby team.
Quite a few museums, opera and orchestra concerts.  Events range from Monster Trucks to childrens theaters.
Restaurants include; German, Mexican, Italian, Irish (growing in popularity recently), middle-Eastern, Polish, Indian, Serbian, and almost every place has fish-fry on fridays.   We've also got a variety of sub sandwich shops and frozen custard (like soft serve, a bit richer).
The state fair is here in Milw.
We've got SummerFest at the lake which is billed as the biggest lake-side music festival - MANY stages w/ all sorts of bands for 2 weeks.  They use the same grounds for ethnic festivals on weekends the rest of the year; American Indian, Irish, Italian, German, Asian...
Milw. use to be a '20 min town', meaning you could get almost anywhere in 20 mins, but traffic has gotten worse over the years....

[FZ1 Matt]

You'd have coffee meets to go to every weekend! Tosa is just north of where this whole coffee meet thing first came to be. Come to think of it, I now live in the city where it all started!    Woo woo West Stallions!

[phoenix]

the job description (from the HD website)  said it was in 'Tosa. I've come to really like a short commute in our quiet little town here. A little while back, we were living in a suburb of Portland Oregon and I worked almost in downtown Portland. The commute was 16 miles. If you were not a morning person, your drive in to work could really really suck. As in 1 hour to go 16 miles sucky. Going home in the afternoons was always a crapshoot, regardless of time.

An employee of The Motor Company and I exchanged a few PM's. Thanks again Prubert. I sent in a resume, as the position is attractive to me. But I can't say that moving is something we would be crazy about.

I took a little look at homes for sale in the area. Just a quick look but the lot sizes look small.   I'm sure there would be much more stuff to do than what we have available here, although I would still hang out around the house most weekends.

[bluepoof]

I was born and raised in Wauwatosa.   Just off of 76th St, above Honey Creek Parkway.  

I haven't lived there in 16 years now, but I went back fairly frequently until my mom also moved away in 2009.  It's a nice suburb and Milwaukee is a great "little big city".  HipGnosis is right on with his assessment.  

I would happily move back to Milwaukee if (a) Peter would even remotely consider it, which he won't, and (b) I never had to shovel snow again.

[bluepoof]

the job description (from the HD website)  said it was in 'Tosa.

Oh, is that the facility on Capitol Drive?  That's a good area, very close to Brookfield also, if you're looking at other suburbs (Brookfield was way spendier than Tosa when I was growing up but that area of Tosa may be catching up now too).  

There's some nice real estate off of Lilly Road over there; my dad used to live in a nursing home at Lilly and Burleigh and I liked looking at the houses along Lilly when we'd go to visit.  No idea if they're a bazillion dollars or anything, but the lot sizes were nice.

[Prubert]

You'd have coffee meets to go to every weekend! Tosa is just north of where this whole coffee meet thing first came to be. Come to think of it, I now live in the city where it all started!    Woo woo West Stallions!

Dirty Stallis!

[FZ1 Matt]

Yes that would be the PDC, Product Development Center. I work right across the street   Prubert will hook you up.

I know, I know, Harley develops products?   They really do get to do cool stuff there! (And then it gets canned...)  

[FZ1 Matt]

Dirty Stallis!

 

[HipGnosis]

Do 'Motor Co' employees still get a 20% discount?

[stromgal]

'Tosa is a great community, excellent schools, walkable. That said, the whole Brewtown area is very driver friendly; I laugh when people complain about 'congestion'-- they've obviously never driven in Boston or San Antonio or San Francisco.  You could easily live west/south/north of the job location and have an easy commute.

Best luck on whatever you decide.  


(And I thought the first MACK coffee meet was up in Glendale?)

[Gary B.]

Yes that would be the PDC, Product Development Center. I work right across the street   Prubert will hook you up.

I know, I know, Harley develops products?   They really do get to do cool stuff there! (And then it gets canned...)  

I heard they are developing a whole new shade of black for 2013...

[FRZY]

(And I thought the first MACK coffee meet was up in Glendale?)

So did I    Some place called Kletch Perk  

[FZ1 Matt]

Ok so maybe it was the second one I'm thinking of then near state fair on greenfield.

[falconati]

Honestly, that's a rough decision.  You'd basically be moving from a suburb of Des Moines to a suburb of Milwaukee.  Not a huge difference between the two situations, but the riding is better here in Wisconsin (I grew up in Iowa).

If it were me, it would have to be a substantially positive change in job for me to make the change (e.g. strong raise, better job security, doing something I love, getting away from an awful job, etc) due to your son's situation.  Sure, he'd be fine - but he's right at that age where he's making friends and about to go to high school.  Also, I think the schooling in Ankeny is pretty good, and I'm not sure about the schools you'd be moving to (not saying they're bad, I just don't know).

[ManWorkingHere]

Yes that would be the PDC, Product Development Center. I work right across the street

I know, I know, Harley develops products?   They really do get to do cool stuff there!

My son works in the PDC full time now after a year as an engineering consultant.  He lives in downtown Milwaukee and has a 15 minute commute from east to west.  

I consider Wauwatosa more expensive to live in than say West Allis or Butler.  You could consider looking at home values at Shorewest.com for various communities around 'Tosa.

Getting around metro Milwaukee in the summer/spring/fall can be quick when you use I-894/I-94.  Winter time is different of course.

Other comments here are pretty good.  I live in Greenfield myself, going on 30 years now.

Suggest not living in Milwaukee for your son's educational benefit.  Surrounding school systems are much more successful.

[OU812]

You may be the replacement for my friend that just retired from that dept.

[johnnyb]

So did I    Some place called Kletch Perk  

That would be the one.  Let's see, it was you, me, Mr Dollar and who was the fourth?

[johnnyb]

Oh and I live right on the edge of Tosa.  If the mizzus and I ever move out of this house, we'll probably move all of 2-3 miles and be in Tosa.  The Tosa school district is pretty decent. The company I work for has the entire district under contract so I've spent time in all the schools photographing the students.
Good green space for walking/running/biking (Hart Park, Menomonee River Parkway, Honey Creek Parkway) and my favorite places to hang out for drinks and a bite to eat are right on State street in the Village of Tosa (Leff's, Hector's, Cafe Hollander).  There is a new ampitheater in Hart Park.  Several local high schools play their football/softball games in hart Park as well as tennis matches.  I've also caught the occassional semi-pro football game down there.
Festivals galor in and around MKE.  Tosafest is always fun and Summerfest is always hopping.
I came from the suburbs of Dallas to Milwaukee 22 years ago and I like it.  Like I said, I'm out at the edge of MKE (I can go a couple blocks and be in West Allis or Tosa) and I like it here.

[Mark Milanowski]

That would be the one.  Let's see, it was you, me, Mr Dollar and who was the fourth?

you guys were all young then! remember Matt was like 20!

I went to the West Allis meet which was like meet # 3. It was winter with snow. We all rode there.

[xsPain]

It was winter with snow. We all rode there.

You used to ride in the snow? Cuz when I met all y'all, I remember you had opted to stay home. I guess Bunyan's that late in the year wasn't the best idea.

[tornup213]

Tosa is nice enough for Milwaukee, but I wouldnt give up solid work in Ankeny IA for it. The economy is better in the DesMoines area. Im not saying Tosa is bad at all, it is just an extension of Milwaukee and that pretty much sums it up. Keep in mind, This is just my humble opinion.

I use to live in Tosa BTW, near the "Gas Light" (dont know if it is still there) and I know Ankeny and Des Moines area because of friends out there that I visit.

[Cheddarhead]

Saw a recent copy of "Milwaukee" magazine that had ratings for 30+ local school districts..you might want to check that out to see if there are districts which cater to any extracurricular activities that your kids may have interests in.

I've found the area to be a "great" place to raise a family....home prices are reasonable and there is a great balance of activities...major sports teams, great parks / outdoors activities within reasonable travel distances, good restaurants and theatre / arts abound.  Great festivals throughout the summer, too!

Traffic might seem "heavy" by Ankeny standards...but MKE is very easy to navigate around...and, of course, coffee meets year-round!

Living in 'tosa is generally seen as positive...but, with easy access to Hwy 45, you can live anywhere N / S / W and have a pretty easy commute.

C'mon out for a week / weekend and check it out!

[phoenix]

Traffic might seem "heavy" by Ankeny standards...but MKE is very easy to navigate around...and, of course, coffee meets year-round!

well, I am 1 week into a work trip to Jiamusi (Heilongjiang) China. Traffic in the US does not compare at all. Ho-ly-shit.
Its been a really interesting experience and has me thinking much more firmly about long term plans with my current employer.
That, and I have not heard squat from The Motor Company, I really think they would be better served promoting from within.
But who knows...

[Cheddarhead]

well, I am 1 week into a work trip to Jiamusi (Heilongjiang) China.

Been there....literally.

In January.  Coldest I've "ever" been.  

It was my first trip to China...figured that, since I was touring a bunch of foundries, I'd be plenty warm.

I was mistaken.

Sky was so grey that the horizon was indistinguishable...just a blur.  Temps never got above -20 when I was that far north...

Glamourous thing, business travel is...

[phoenix]

there is a small foundry right next door to the John Deere factory. YOu can walk down the street and see right in, as they keep some doors open. They just lay forms down in the dirt, bring molten metal over and pour. Absolutely no safety or environmental protection. you can smell the steel from blocks away, only until a different (and usually worse) smell overtakes it.

I followed some of my Chinese coworkers shopping today. It is saturday. They went into a few back street markets. Woah, did that have a pungent smell. The city is over 2 million people, and I was feeling like I was the only non-Chinese citizen in town. Not that I felt unsafe or anything.