With many Milwaukee County suburbs developing at what seems to be a rapid pace, little has changed in Whitefish Bay throughout the years. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, the picturesque village with a population of 14,000 offers friendly neighbors, walkability and many small businesses and restaurants. “One of the draws about Whitefish Bay is that there is not a fast pace of change. We are a fully built-out, residential community,” says Village Manager Paul Boening.
Spanning just more than two miles, the compact village is extremely pedestrian friendly. “We are a walkable community. There is no part of the village that doesn’t have sidewalks,” Boening continues. Julie Siegel, longtime Whitefish Bay resident, village board member and village president for the last nine years, adds that the ease of getting around the village on foot is one of the main reasons she and her husband wanted to move to the village 30 years ago. “We wanted that walkability,” she says.
Family owned German restaurant Jack Pandl’s Whitefish Bay Inn has served customers for more than a century. According to Boening, “it’s part of the fabric of Whitefish Bay.” Third-generation restaurant owner John Pandl and his wife, Laura, who has been working in the restaurant since she was a teenager, enjoy owning a business in the small, friendly community. “People grow up here and leave for a bit but end up coming home to raise their own family,” John Pandl says. The Pandls agree that the Whitefish Bay community is supportive of small businesses. “I think people understand the value of supporting local shops and restaurants; it makes a community stronger,” says Laura Pandl.
The village’s business improvement district, renamed the Merchants of Whitefish Bay, was started 10 years ago to promote Whitefish Bay’s small businesses, many of them lining the East Silver Spring Drive corridor. Although two longtime businesses, Fitzgerald’s Pharmacy and Regina’s Bay Bakery, recently closed their doors (Fitzgerald’s after an impressive 65 years in business), several others, including Fox-Bay Cinema Grill (which opened in 1951) and Sendik’s grocery store, show no signs of lagging. Sendik’s, which opened as a fruit and vegetable stand in 1949, is “an institution of the Silver Spring corridor,” Boening says.
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Whitefish Bay will welcome two new businesses later this year. Coffee and donut pop-up shop Donut Monster plans to open its first brick-and-mortar location at 5169 Elkhart Ave., and boutique fitness center Burn Boot Camp will open at 415 E. Silver Spring Drive. “The village’s walkability and welcoming nature have helped keep businesses viable and successful,” said Jeff Commer, Merchants of Whitefish Bay president and a resident of the village since 1993. He noted that more than 100 businesses belong to the organization.
‘People Know Their Neighbors’
Both the Merchants of Whitefish Bay and the Whitefish Bay Citizen Foundation organize many community events, such as the environmentally themed Green Day in the Bay. Family friendly events include the annual Fourth of July festivities at Klode Park and the pumpkin festival at Schoolhouse Park. Held in July along East Silver Spring Drive, the annual Art Festival showcases more than 80 art and jewelry vendors, while the Holiday Stroll, held on the Friday after Thanksgiving, is “a testament to the merchants succeeding on the street,” according to Commer. The Silver Spring corridor also holds a Halloween event for children and adults, in which area businesses give out trick or treat candy, and Johnson Bank gives out hundreds of hotdogs to hungry pedestrians. These events, along with the Whitefish Bay Farmers Market, which runs May through mid-October, draw many nonresidents to the village. “Really, having the sense of a close-knit, quaint community is evident here,” Boening says. “People know their neighbors.”
The village’s home prices reflect its desirability. According to Zillow.com, Whitefish Bay has a median home value of $410,000, nearly triple that of Milwaukee’s. Built at 401 E. Beaumont Place about five years ago, the Mandel Group’s Beaumont Place complex houses 80 luxury apartments. “It’s really helped to revitalize the corridor,” Boening adds.
Siegel and Boening believe that Whitefish Bay’s exceptional school district and quality municipal services help attract and retain village residents. Garbage pickup, for example, is done by city employees, not contracted out. Recently, solar panels were added to the Department of Public Works building at 155 W. Fairmont Ave. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the building’s green addition was held on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Besides being eco-friendly, the solar panels will mean significant cost savings over time. “We are going to save more than $600,000 in 10 years by going solar,” Siegel says.
Whitefish Bay boasts several parks and recreation areas, including the newly named Craig Counsell Park (6300 N. Lydell Ave.), which features baseball diamonds, soccer fields, a concession building and restrooms. The village has entered into an agreement with local youth hockey organization Milwaukee Winter Club to build a full-size ice rink in Cahill Park, which would replace the park’s six tennis courts. Boening said the rink, which would utilize a commercial ice chiller, would be open to the public November through March, beginning next year.
“We are trying to create these public and private partnerships,” said Siegel. She maintains that, despite these added community amenities, property taxes will not increase. “[In Whitefish Bay], you get quality services and a sense of community with a hometown village feel,” Boening concludes.
