Milan Neighborhood

Cemeteries are usually outside of town, or at the edge. This one is nearly 5.5 kilometers away.

You might try the area around the Duomo to be more central. I travel solo and always stay near Milano Centrale.

Actually the Cimitero Monumentale is close enough to the city center. It's near the Porta Garibaldi station.
The tramway no. 2 can get you to the Duomo in 15 min.
Of course I'm sure you can find apartments closer to the Duomo, maybe even walking distance.
In terms of safety Milan city center is safe. Chinatown around via Sarpi might seem a bit seedy at night, but what Chinatown doesn't.

There is also the No 5 Metro on the south end of the Cimitero, with another station to the west at Gerusalemme

We took the city bus from the Duomo Square up to the Cimetero Monumentale and it is pretty far out. I would prefer to stay closer into town.
I always stay near the Centrale Train station (the Hotel Garda or the Hotel Berna) they are about 2 blocks from the train station and there is a metro station on the corner. With the Metro, you can go all over .... or take a city bus.
I like to walk, so I walked thru the park to the Duomo and La Scala area.....
but don't miss the Cimetero - it is truly amazing and not to be missed. We spent several hours there, because there is so much to see.
Happy Travels.

We stayed at the Hotel Tocq south of the cemetery and near the Garibaldi train station. We liked the area and felt safe there. We walked down to the Duomo, about a 25 min walk and we also took the bus. We liked the restaurant scene along Corso Garibaldi as they had extensive free appetizers with evening drinks and it was a lively area.

You should look at google street view though to check your surrounding carefully. If you aren't happy with what you see or the distance look for an apartment in the Brera neighborhood. It is much closer to the Duomo and center of the city.

I'm not really sure if we are talking about different cemeteries here. The Cimitero Monumentale is not "out of town", it is virtually in the city center (approximately 2.5km, or 1.5 miles from the Duomo). It is actually closer to the Duomo than the Central Station (by 200 meters).
If anybody states the opposite, they need to come here and show factual evidence. There are enough fake news around.

The information I posted came from google maps. 5.4 kilometers, but I rounded up.

I got em both the same at 8000 ft, but it depends on where you are in the Cimitero. If you're 6 ft under, then I guess it doesn't matter.

It is not out of town at all. As Roberto said, Garibaldi Station is very close, which means it is also close to the new district Porta Nuova, to Corso Como etc. It is a nice area, also near to China Town, which I don't find seedy at all.

If you want to stay right in the center, then maybe you can look for something else, but if you don't mind a little walk, or taking the metro, it is a nice area.

I was thinking of coming into Porta Garibaldi - photographing the Cimitero Monumental is the only request
my brother in law has on our entire two week trip. We will rent an apt vs hotel (it's cheaper for 3) So would
prefer to stay in that area if it's not "too seedy". Thanks for the advice!