Waukesha – City That I Call Home Part 1

Riverwalk Apartments, Waukesha

It’s been almost 10 years since I moved to the city of Waukesha, not including my days at Carroll University (it was College back then). I have lived in two places in downtown, owned a condo on the north side, and now reside near Waukesha West in our forever home.

There are definitely benefits to living in the heart of the city versus living in the more rural areas. The biggest benefit–being close to all the fun and excitement that comes with city living. When I moved to the Riverwalk Apartments in February 2008, downtown was revitalizing itself. Not even the catastrophic flooding of June 2008 could stop downtown. That summer People’s Park, the Clarke Hotel, and other shops opened–making downtown more inviting. It was an event filled summer with the Harley-Davidson celebration and national recording acts played at Cutler Park.

June 2008 Fox River Flooding in Waukesha

My roommate, Tiff, and I were able to walk to all of it and really enjoy our city. This is when I really realized all that downtown has to offer. Since then, downtown continues to add new businesses (and lose a few as well). But overall, this is a massive improvement over what downtown was when I went to Carroll.

(Side note – when I went to Carroll, it wasn’t really recommended to students to go downtown by themselves or really at all. Downtown didn’t have much to offer at that time for students and came across as a scary place. What a difference a few years make as now Carroll partners with downtown businesses on promotions and that entire opinion has been changed. Good job!)

Madison Street Condominiums, Waukesha

After a few years with a roommate, I decided that I might want to live on my own and try to purchase a property. I found a one-bedroom condo that was lease-to-own and thought that would be my best route to finding out if I could do it. It was still in the heart of downtown and so close to my job that I could walk every day.

And that leads into……walking everywhere is a huge benefit. I was able to walk/bike to work, walk/bike to meet friends, walk to explore, and walk to shop. The farmer’s market and I became really good friends while I lived downtown–exercise and local produce–a win, win. And there aren’t “big box stores” in downtown Waukesha, so when I did shop, I supported local with unique gifts that meant a little more to the receivers.

Sentry Liquor Crew Bike Ride

Also, I was a convenient location for friends to meet and hang out before going to events or a night out in downtown. Being able to walk everywhere kept us safe and we had a lot of fun in the process.

However, along with living so close to everything came the sights and sounds of a busy downtown–noisy vehicles, people yelling, loud music, and fire trucks leaving the station at all hours of the night to name a few. I didn’t get angry and bitter about it, I realize it’s part of living in an area that is more populated by businesses than residential and sometimes it was actually quite comforting to know there were so many people around. For some people, they enjoy city sounds all the time.

For me, it was good for a while and I became used to some of it but obviously, a one-bedroom place wasn’t going to be my forever home. I decided to get out of my lease-to-own property and began the search for a real place outside of downtown. I definitely appreciated living so close to everything (as did my car), but I wanted something with a bit of a yard and more square footage.

Part two will talk about my next places that I have lived in the city and the benefits (and drawbacks) of those. But overall, I would recommend Waukesha to anyone of any age looking for a place to live. It has downtown, city, and rural life all in one and provides a little bit of something for everyone.