In recent discussions about the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Milwaukee Jewish Community Study 2011, we have looked at the surprising pockets of Jewish settlement in Waukesha; differences in feelings of commitment and inclusion; school figures; attitudes towards Israel; and marriage and intermarriage.
There are many more issues to contemplate, of course, but one that came to mind recently again focused on geography. Our study indicates that of our population of more than 30,000, 15 percent lives in the city of Milwaukee proper.
Because zip code 53211 encompasses both part of the East Side (from North Ave. to Edgewood Ave.) and the suburb of Shorewood, the Jewish population figure in our study included it in the North Shore total — 40 percent of the total Jewish population.
However, there are three congregations — all Orthodox — in that area, and the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study Orthodox high school. Thus the Milwaukee city percentage is an undercount because the Upper East Side is excluded.
Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin of Chabad has 1,000 addresses with that zip code on his mailing list, and there are an estimated 700 to 1000 Jewish students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Another neighborhood in Milwaukee, surrounding Congregation Beth Jehudah, Yeshiva Elementary School, and the Kosher Meat Klub on the West Side, is a known Jewish community that came into its own when the Jewish population moved from the Haymarket/North Side area to Sherman Park after World War II.
It continues to attract young, Orthodox families who want to be able to walk to Shabbat and holiday services and live among other families who do the same. There are between 200 and 300 families in that area.
However, this article is not about these two neighborhoods. We know that some Milwaukee Jews live in other neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, our sample size is too small to generalize exactly how many people live in each zip code in the city (or any zip code in the region), as the lead author of the study, Dr. Stephen Percy, explained to me.
I heard about people living in Bay View or Riverwest, and in talking to a resident from those neighborhoods, I heard about people also in the Third Ward, or in the Northwest.
Ken Stein lived in Glendale and Mequon from 1973 until 2008. After he sold his downtown business he found the suburbs “too quiet.” He and his wife wanted to be with people and “re-grow their legs.”
They find the city friendly, diverse, and here “people talk to you.” Ken is an active member of many Jewish organizations, including two congregations, and several community boards.
Besides the towering condominiums lining Prospect Ave., there are also Jewish residents tucked into single-family homes on the “Lower East Side.”
Susan Ellman and her late husband Barry purchased a roomy, affordable home near Brady Street in 1988. Their three daughters attended the Milwaukee Jewish Day School in the North Shore, but attended public high school in the city.
Susan said she enjoys her pedestrian neighborhood, and her daughters’ friends from the suburbs found Brady Street boutiques and coffee houses a great draw. For Susan, the supposed danger of city living is a “myth,” and she worries more about “teenage drivers, no sidewalks, and winding roads in the suburbs.”
In addition, many citizens of the former Soviet Union live in the neighborhood, some at the Golda Meir apartments. The Jewish Home and Care Center tends to seniors at all stages of need.
The neighborhood is also the home of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation offices, the Jewish Family Services, and the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.
Historic Third Ward
Just south of Downtown, and filled with condominiums, art galleries, theaters, restaurants and boutiques, the Third Ward attracts young professionals and empty-nesters alike.
Sharon and Rich Canter sold their Whitefish Bay house when their children graduated from high school to “explore new horizons” in an open concept condominium.
Members of Congregation Shalom, where they continue to attend services, Sharon now serves on the board of the nearby Jewish Museum Milwaukee, but she and her husband love being able to walk everywhere — to the Broadway Theater, to restaurants, and to the Public Market, for example.
Bradley Komisar grew up in Bayside and as a young professional wanted to live closer to Milwaukee nightlife on North Ave. and Water St. He has been in the city since 2004, beginning in Brewer’s Hill, but jumped at the opportunity to take over his sister’s condominium in the Third Ward, “a nicer neighborhood where there is more going on — stores, restaurants, the Public Market, the river, and the lake.”
Bradley continues his family’s connections to their synagogue, the Jewish National Fund and Israel Bonds, as well as to his friends who have stayed on the North Shore. He doesn’t anticipate a move anytime soon.
Bay View, on the southeastern corner of Milwaukee, faces Lake Michigan and is known for its community spirit. Its main commercial street, Kinnickinnic Ave., has coffee shops, restaurants, galleries, and a Milwaukee Public Library branch.
As Nancy Ettenheim, a retired attorney, explained to me, “Bay View has the most affordable housing near the lake in Milwaukee.” She and her husband, empty nesters like the Canters, enjoy a walking neighborhood, but also cherish the sense of community in Bay View.
“Within one year, I knew more people than I ever did on the North Shore,” Nancy said, adding that she serves on the board of the local Outpost Natural Foods store.
The Outpost attracted Jenny Stonemeier and her family to Bay View as well. Her husband’s job requires city residency, and Outpost drew these Chicago transplants to Bay View six years ago, plus an appealing public elementary school right around the corner from their new home, which was far more affordable than a comparable home on the North Shore.
As its name implies, Riverwest, lies west of the Milwaukee River north of North Ave. and south of Capitol Dr. Favored by artists, musicians, students from UWM, and young professionals, it also has shops, restaurants, and galleries.
Five years ago Ellie Gettinger and her husband Mitch Nelles purchased a home there when housing costs had peaked, and prices were more manageable than the East Side or downtown, other possibilities for a young couple who wanted to stay close to the city.
“Even during the recession,” Ellie said, “many restaurants have opened and succeeded. Alterra is a community hub. There is a great community feel. There are lovely green oases in the middle of the city.”
Now expecting their second child, they regretfully had to move because they found that the available housing stock would not accommodate their growing family.
When Elissa Cahn and her husband were shopping for neighborhoods last spring, they also chose Riverwest, even though the western suburbs would have been more convenient for Elissa’s husband, a new resident at the Medical College in Wauwatosa.
Coming from the heart of Chicago, they wanted an urban neighborhood, and liked that Riverwest had many independent businesses and a food co-op, and that they could still live on a quiet street.
“Seeing all the ‘Recall Walker’ signs signaled that politically and socially we would fit into the community,” where people would “look like me,” said Cahn, a creative writer. The couple is not Jewishly affiliated, but said they may use Jewish social action groups to meet new people as they further acclimate to the area.
Jim Hagen lived in Bay View for ten years, but problems with the Hoan Bridge and the commute to take his children to the Milwaukee Jewish Day School made traveling a headache.
As a city engineer required to live within city limits, he found a charming neighborhood in the northwest corner of Milwaukee called Tripoli Heights.
Jim is very familiar with many Milwaukee neighborhoods, in fact describing it as a “city of neighborhoods,” each with its own character. Jim and his family are members of Congregation Shir Hadash, the Reconstructionist congregation currently renting space in Mequon.
Questions and observations
How well is the Jewish community serving residents in the city who don’t live near synagogues, the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, and other services that could be provided to them?
I knew that some of the people I interviewed were already well “connected” to the Jewish community, either through employment, family, or agency and committee work. Whether empty nesters, young couples with children or young professionals, these individuals have found the Jewish community.
Others noted privately that the Jewish community had not reached out to them. A few said they sensed snobbishness and materialism in the “core” areas, stating that they enjoyed a more diverse social and economic neighborhood experience.
On the other hand, some expressed a longing for introductions to more people like themselves in their own neighborhoods, feeling certain that those people are there.
Meagan Holman, who represents Bay View on the Milwaukee Board of Education, told me that she is part of a Facebook group called “Bay Jews,” which met after Rosh HaShanah and had a Chanukah party last year. She recently met with Rabbi Hannah Greenstein, newly hired as an outreach specialist.
Greenstein believes that “outreach is about meeting the needs of the broader Jewish community and identifying and lowering barriers to entry. Outreach occurs through relationship-building between institutions and with individuals. Outreach is an area of Jewish life where we have an opportunity to work together towards a common goal, for the rabbis teach, ‘The one who saves a life is like one who saves a full world’ [Talmud Sanhedrin 37a]. Jewish engagement opens new worlds for the individual, the family, and the community.”
That is an excellent first step. Let us work together to be inclusive and reach out to those who live throughout our metropolitan area.
Jane A. Avner, Ph.D., is the community study consultant for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Loading ...