What they say about real estate holds true for college dormitories: location is everything.

For the nearly 3,000 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students who reside at Sandburg Hall, convenience is a way of life. The four-tower complex, situated on the north side of the campus at 3400 N. Maryland Ave., contains a coffee shop (Grind), convenience store, cafeteria, laundry facilities and a location across the street from the library and an easy jaunt to just about every important building on the compact campus.

Newly-opened RiverView Hall simply can't compete with that.

Or, can it?

RiverView, the sparkling $25 million dorm that opened in January at 2340 N. Commerce St., is about 1.5 miles from heart of campus. With a capacity of 488, the new facility features its own coffee shop, convenience store, laundry facilities, spectacular views of the Milwaukee River and three classrooms in the lower level.

On blustery winter days, some RiverView residents -- most of whom are freshmen -- can head to class without putting on a jacket.

"It's a living, learning community," said Scott Peak, UWM's director of university housing. "We're very excited about it."

Peak said that RiverView, which was slated to open last September before some construction delays pushed that back, has about 380 students and full-time staff in place and is sold out for next fall.

"You have to go through a bit of a paradigm shift," Peak said. "We have a 92-acre campus, and everything is compact. You can get anywhere you want to go really quickly. At many campuses, normal activity is really spread out. Students have to ride shuttle buses and use public transportation to get to different buildings."

RiverView students, as well as the upperclassmen and graduate students who reside at the Kenilworth Square complex to the east, take advantage of shuttle buses to get to campus.

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7 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by olsonc76 on March 12, 2008 at 11:58 p.m. (report)

Scottage Cheese I would like to say hello and thank you for your promotion of 620 am and linking it to your ridicoulous and uninformed comments. I am also a UWM alum and grew up in Wauwatosa now I am a Riverwest property owner. I invested in a community Riverwest that has seen over 300 million dollars in investment in the last 5 years. Might I remind you that Riverview is less then a 1000 feet from townhomes that are selling for over 250 dollars per sq ft. And if you think they took advantage of low cost property I would encourage you to try and buy my house. As for expanding the campus in Wauwatosa a few urban planning credits and economic classes would have helped avoid that recomendation. I am sorry if scottage cheese takes these remarks personally but I feel he has slandered the hundreds of people he obviously dosen't know that are building a better community in Riverwest. Scottage Chesse stay in Waukesha and we who know will work on the important stuff.

Posted by Scottage Cheese on March 11, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. (report)

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/16491411.html Case in point. Marquette has been expanding in to the 'hood for many decades now. Look at their problems. UWM has a harder case here because the building is on land that is not connected to the campus. I do have one idea though. There should be a box to check on the application, "If you like to celebrate diversity, and don't mind living in a crappy neighborhood....check here: _______ ".

Posted by reelgood23 on March 11, 2008 at 1:25 p.m. (report)

I hope they like the smell of paper in the morning...and in the evening...lol I'll never forget *that* familiar smell

Posted by East Sider on March 11, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. (report)

Wonder what the students think of the location? Sure, it's a nice building and it has sweet views. But, it's so far away. Would seem that it would really lessen the on campus/student experience. Any students out there care to comment?

Posted by admiral on March 11, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. (report)

How many spots for how many people....62 Spots 488 People. Does that include staff who do not live there? With parking such an issue on the East Side this sounds irresponsible and slightly criminal.Is UWM going to compensate Pick N' Save for the lost parking spaces? " It has been a great thing for us,"said Peak.Yes I guess it is.