Researching Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay: transplants, for sale, home)

[chaz1178]

Hello all! I have been creeping the threads for awhile now as we are thinking of relocating to WI. We are a family of 10 (me, husband, 2 daughters, 1 son, 3 dogs, 2 cats) and currently live in NW Arkansas. We are planning a small trip in October to check out the areas of Madison (including Middleton and Fitchburg), Milwaukee areas of Brookfield & Whitefish Bay, Mequon, Cedarburg, Green Bay, Appleton, and Shawano. Will probably plan another in March next year if further scouting is needed. Rather than ask the typical questions, I'd like to know:

If someone asked you to make a Top 10 List of things you'd like people to know about moving to WI (given those areas above), what would it be?

If you can't think of 10, give me what you got. I'm trying to do as much research in my spare time as possible and you guys are great about giving extra info.

By the way (in case it helps any), the kids are 20, 19, and 18 so colleges have also been under consideration. The 20 yr old is currently going for Anthropology, the 19 yr old works at the Walmart Home Office currently as a CAD Specialist, but is thinking of getting into nursery & plants and not sure if she wants to do college , and the 18 yr old will be graduating HS this year and thinking of a career in mechanics or engineering. As for myself and my husband, he'll most likely be able transfer locations pretty easily as he's in the electrical field and I am currently laid off from Walmart, but would be seeking a job in sales/marketing up there.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks all,
Chasity

[Milwaukee City]

My Wisco Top 10:


1.Summer's in Wisconsin are fantastic, nice weather not too hot not too cold and with two huge lakes there's plenty of variance of weather.
2. Fall in Wisconsin is again fantastic, we have a ton of great hiking trails and areas with nice hills and lakes make for a Rockwell type of image.
3. The People, I have traveled all over the country and lived many different places but I feel no matter where you are in the state the people are friendly and welcoming. Louisiana is another place where I found the people to be bend over nice to you as a stranger.

4. Clean, our state is clean. I like how we do roads, sidewalks medians and general up keep of towns and cities. Even Areas of the hood in Milwaukee are nowhere as filthy as say Philly or Memphis.

5. Location, close to the Twin Cities, Chicago and two of the best Great Lakes. We have tons of beaches and shoreline.
6. Parks, we just seem to have a ton of parks and nature areas. Now a lot of other states have us beat when it comes to National Parks but on the local level we do pretty good.

7. Sports, we have great sports teams Packer and Brewers, Badgers, Bucks and Marquette.

8. We have a lot of different options as far as schooling, UW Madison is about as good as it gets in the nation. Milwaukee not generally know as a college town has but with all the different tech colleges and private college's Milwaukee's student population is around 100,000 and is around 6th highest in terms of college students per 100 residents. You don't have to be in any of the big cities to go to college there are states schools all over the state.

9. Feel, I can't describe it other than Wisconsin just has a certain feel to it, maybe because it's home and I left and came back thinking the grass was greener everywhere else but to find out that I actually do really like it here.
10. Unique, Wisconsin is unique, with our history or food and our traditions and customs due to our pat heritage. Not a lot of transplants but enough. There are things found here that you won't find anywhere else, true same can be said for every other state except maybe boring Iowa or Nebraska but we have a nice diversity of things to do and see.

Look I grew up hating this state, then I moved ad traveled and spent some time away and now at 35 I come to really enjoy Wisconsin. We have 2 huge negatives, Weather and no striking natural beauty like you see out west but that doesn't mean we don't have views or nature areas we do but we are more forest land and gentle rolling fields and farm fields.

[chaz1178]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post all that! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the shorelines and I've seen some really pretty pictures from all over WI to be honest. As for the food and traditions, I've read a little about Fish Friday and some of the Swedish festivals. It does seem appealing. If I may ask, what made you not like it growing up?

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by chaz1178

If I may ask, what made you not like it growing up?

I think when you are younger nature and appreciation of traditions and history and quality of life issues are not that important. I had big city eyes and always wanted to live in NYC or San Fran but after a few trips out there and growing up things I overlooked as not important are now very important to me and I came to realize I really like Wisconsin. Basically Wisconsin lines up for more people who care about quality of life issues and family and people that aren't materialistic. We are pretty down to earth here even our rich people are not like the east coast snobs or San Fran snooties.

[chaz1178]

I totally get that and can relate. Thanks again for the info!

[COcheesehead]

10. A great state to explore. Each region has it own unique character. Make sure you see the NW, SW, NE and SE parts of the state, they are all different.

9. Summers are full of mosquitos especially right after sunset.

8. The bigger cities aren't in the prettiest parts of the state.

7. Property taxes are very high.

6. Sundays in Fall are all about the Packers.

5. Lots of European heritage.

4. The largest cross country ski race in the US is in Wisconsin

3. Milwaukee has lots of good restaurants.

2. Madison is a fun town.

1. The winters are bad.

[Empidonax]

It overlaps with what others have said, but here's my "Top 10 Points" anyhow (in no particular order).

1. The winters are tough. Very, very tough. Some people thrive in the winter, but for me, it's the number one drawback.

2. There are all sorts of great towns and small/medium cities scattered all over the state, and they make great day trips and weekend getaways: Cedarburg, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Lake Mills, Baraboo, La Crosse, Columbus, Hudson, Stevens Point, the towns of Door County, and on and on. Other states I've lived in don't have such a nice array of communities to visit (and live in).

3. Lots of great state, regional, and local parks, even in the larger cities. As Milwaukee City says, the national level is kind of lacking, but even at the national level we have places like Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, a true gem of a place.

4. There are no true mountains in Wisconsin, but other beautiful, diverse areas with bluffs, tall-grass and short-grass prairie, old-growth deciduous forest, rolling meadows, an Ice Age trail, and more.

5. Property taxes are high, so budget accordingly.

6. Cheese is for real in Wisconsin.

7. Wisconsin Public Radio is excellent. Milwaukee doesn't have a classical music station.

8. Wisconsin is overall a very middle class and working class state. There are pockets of urban and rural poverty, and there are pockets of moneyed elites, but over all, the socioeconomic profile is very middle and lower middle.

9. Milwaukee is widely known for its summertime music/ethnic festivals, but a lot of the cities and towns know how to celebrate summer.

10. Sports are big here, and the Packers (and to a lesser extent the Badgers) exercise a lot of cultural influence. During football season, you will see lots of team shirts, ski caps, jackets, etc. out and about. The supermarkets will have Packers cookies and cakes for sale, and you'll see Packers flags everywhere.

[everwinter]

1. Healthcare is very good here. It's very hard for hospitals to set themselves apart because of the competition. It's like a bunch of A students trying split hairs & determine who is best.

2. Beer & alcohol culture is the norm & is excessive compared to any other state. Binge drinking is common, even in older adults older than college age.

3. A lot of people have the Wisconsin accent & it's not pleasant.

4. People are very friendly.

5. Outside of the cities over 100,000, a lot of the residents are very closed minded.

6. Winter is relentless. If the bitter cold doesn't get to you then the lack of sunshine, short days, gritty salty roads, gray/white blah landscape, or wind will. I still haven't figured out how to beat it.

7. There's a decent amount of diversity geographically from the drift less area & bluffs in the LaCrosse area, sandy soil & pines in the center & northern part of the state, & then all the clean lakes up north.

8. There's a lot of hidden gems (towns, parks, geography wise, museums etc.)

[ccjarider]

Having been gone from WI for over 10 years now, I miss a lot about it. Not the winters though.

Would not entertain returning until retired. Then I could at least get out for several months.

[JoeInMadisonWI]

What I love about Wisconsin (some Madison specific items)

1. Summers are incredible and they know how to pack a ton of activity into them
2. There are gorgeous local, county and state parks everywhere
3. Outdoor activity thrives here. Kayaking, Cycling, fishing and Hiking are all super accessible and affordable
4. There is good beer everywhere, there are at least 6 breweries within walking/bicycling distance of where I live
5. Almost everyone is friendly
6. Roads are very nice compared to Chicago where I am originally from
7. There are plenty of good jobs in Madison
8. The UW campus is absolutely gorgeous and a real treat for residents, especially in the summer
9. The winters are hard, but people still go out and do stuff, I've learned to embrace the opportunity
10. It is an easy place to move to and get acclimated quickly, probably because of the above reasons.

Feel free to DM me whenever if you have any Madison specific questions.