• Milwaukee's Fourth Aldermanic District is home to Marquette, downtown, Avenues West and the Third Ward
• Marquette is the intellectual, social and cultural center to the district
• Crime in some neighborhoods to the west attributed to low homeownership rates
• Communities like the Third Ward in period of revitalization and growth

Most Marquette students who voted this week listed themselves as residents of Milwaukee's Fourth Aldermanic District, but they may not know just how large and diverse the district is. It has history, personality and more to offer than bookstores, gyros joints and Westowne Mall.

Alderman Bob Bauman of the Fourth District has served in the position since 2004. His district extends from 35th Street all the way to Lake Michigan, and from I-94 and the Milwaukee River in the south to Lincoln Memorial Drive in the north. It includes Marquette's campus as well as the neighborhoods Avenues West, Concordia, the Historic Third Ward and downtown Milwaukee.

Bauman said the neighborhoods that make up his district are extremely different from one another.

His home is near the western border of the district in the Concordia area, named after Concordia College, which used to sit in the neighborhood but has since moved. He said many of the homes were custom-built for the wealthy by stonecutters and woodcarvers, some as early as the as the 1880s.

By the 1920s, many of the aristocrats moved away and the homes were converted to duplexes and fraternity houses for Marquette students. Today, renovations on the homes help to preserve the historic neighborhood.

Sally Wiberg has lived in Concordia for 23 years and said the area is friendly.

"Everybody knows everybody," she said.

Just east of Concordia is Avenues West, home to the Ambassador Hotel and some of Marquette's student housing, but also to high-crime areas and the former home of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The Milwaukee Police Department recently named a section of the neighborhood "Crack Alley" because of heavy drug traffic.

"Twenty-seventh Street has been a problem for 35 years," Bauman said.

He said many of the problems stem from the area's low number of homeowners. He estimates less than 10 percent of residents between the Concordia and Avenues West areas own homes, so there is little interest in the area's upkeep.

In the 1990s, Marquette formed an alliance with other agencies to revitalize the near West Side, said Thomas Jablonsky, Marquette professor of history and director of the Institute for Urban Life. Last year, Jablonsky wrote "Milwaukee's Jesuit University: Marquette 1881-1981," which documented the university's history.

"If Marquette had been forced out of business or forced to move, Milwaukee would not be the better for it," he said.

Mansions used to line Grand Avenue (now Wisconsin Avenue) on Marquette's current site, he said. In the 1960s, urban renewal policies allowed Marquette to expand and solidify its campus from its original jumble of separated buildings and properties.

Humphrey Hall and the Dental School are both located where hospitals used to be. Many of Marquette's dorms, including Carpenter and Cobeen, are former hotels built for visitors of Milwaukee's downtown area.

"Marquette is an intellectual, social and cultural center for Milwaukee," he said.

Jablonsky said downtown used to be surrounded by breweries like Pabst and Blatz. Today, it is an economic and cultural hub. Recent additions and facelifts to the area like the Riverwalk and development on the lakefront would not have been expected 40 years ago, he said.

"The core part of Milwaukee has found a new future," he said.

John Eding, media relations manager at the Milwaukee Art Museum, said about 290,000 people visit the museum every year, not including visitors who take advantage of the free opportunities the museum offers.

Mocha, 124 W. Wisconsin Ave., is a popular hangout for Marquette students, said managing partner Rod Hanson. Many regular customers take advantage of the free wireless Internet the coffee shop offers. Recently, Mocha began offering live entertainment, Hanson said, which he hopes will attract more students.

Bauman said other than a lack of parking and some non-violent crime, he hears few complaints about downtown.

"I think downtown Milwaukee stacks up very well," he said. Its entertainment and restaurant scene are equal to any major city, he said and Milwaukee's amenities are easily accessible.

The Historic Third Ward is another "very prosperous and growing neighborhood," Bauman said.

Nancy O'Keefe, executive director of the Historic Third Ward Association, said the neighborhood is changing from an industrial sector to a residential area. Warehouses are being converted into lavish condominiums along the river and high-end retailers like Anthropologie and a wine and cheese shop are opening for business. Overall, she said the residents themselves are the biggest advocates of making the Third Ward a little more like a home.

"It's unbelievable," O'Keefe said. "We're turning into a neighborhood again."