It Ain't Cheap in Brookfield & New Berlin

I wanted to take a moment to point out a map from the current housing study that is being developed by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC).  The map below is from Chapter IV: Existing Housing.  In case you can't see it fully, the high-rent (median gross monthly rent of greater than $800) in 2000 sub-regions are coded yellow.  There are two sub-regions coded yellow:  Brookfield and New Berlin.


Source: SEWRPC.  Click to view in separate window.


The median gross monthly rent in Brookfield was $961 in 2000, and New Berlin was $830.  I can't imagine the new data for 2005-2011 coming in the next few months will show a reversal.  While rent costs can vary greatly not just from city to city, but also neighborhood to neighborhood, this map is a strong indicator of how affordable it is to live in an area.  Many of the areas with emerging employment centers  such as Brookfield, New Berlin, Oak Creek, Franklin, western Waukesha County (Oconomowoc, Delafield, etc.), and lower Ozaukee County are not very affordable to live in, which makes it very difficult for low-income people to follow employment opportunities.

SEWRPC will be exploring the housing/job balance later in Chapter VIII.