relocating to southern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison: house, job market, established neighborhood)

[tfolkerts]

My family and I are thinking about moving to southern Wisconsin, bringing the equity out of our Pacific Coast house. Would like to keep the house under 250K, need safe place for kids, a town/city of at least 25,000. Job market is less important.

[Bowie]

Limiting yourself to southern Wisconsin cities of 25K or more limits you to:

Milwaukee
Madison
Kenosha
Racine
Waukesha
Janesville
West Allis
Wauwatosa
Brookfield
New Berlin
Beloit
Greenfield
Franklin
Menomonee Falls
Oak Creek
Sun Prairie

The list is in descending order of population and the cities listed in bold are within 60 miles of Madison and fair game to discuss in the Madison forum. Most of the others would be covered by the Milwaukee forum on City-Data.

[Megan1967]

Could you give us more information about what you are looking for? For instance,

• You want a community of at least 25K, but do you want that community in close proximity to a larger metro area? If so, how close is close enough? Would it be okay if the city of 25K was itself the center of it's metro area?

• Do you want a great deal of diversity or does that not matter as much? By diversity I don't just mean race, but also socio-economic diversity.

• Do you want the community to be middle class, upper middle class or really ritzy?

• Are good schools important? Overall, Wisconsin has great public schools, but some are better than others and there are some good private schools available.

• Do you want a walkable neighborhood where you can stroll over to cafes, neighborhood grocery stores and such?

• Do you have pets? There are limits of the number of pets you can have in most cities (not Madison) and some housing developments.

• What are your political leanings? Most people want to live with like minded people.

• What do you do for fun? Are you outdoorsey, do you like cultural events, clubbers, typical movie and a dinner fair?

• Do you like to patronize small business or are you more comfortable with national chains?

• Do you want to live in a newer area or a more established neighborhood?

• Do you want a neighborhood where everyone knows each other and socializes together or one where neighbors are friendly, but not necessarily friends?

As you can see there are tons of details that go into determining which community is best for you (and then, of course which neighborhood). I'm sure there are other priorities you have that I haven't thought of.

Don't worry about sounding picky or overwhelming us with details. More info is good in order to really get a feel for which area is best for your family.

I adore Madison (first choice in the whole state ), but also really like Wauwatosa. 250K may not buy you to much in Wauwatosa though, not sure, you should ask on the Milwaukee forum to get more details about the community. Basically it has a really nice small town feel with beautiful older homes that are very well kept up and it is a hop skip and a jump from the best that Milwaukee has to offer.

For info about Madison try these links:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...t=Madison+love

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...t=Madison+love

[Ceanna]

We live in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Look it up on (craigslist lacrosse ) The Mississippi River on West side and the bluff on East side. Sits in a valley. Beautiful city. We are 2 hours from Madison, 3 hours from Milwaukee, 3 hours to the twin cities (Minneapolis and St Paul) 1 hour to Rochester, Minnesota, 5 hours to Chicago. Lots and lots of beautiful small towns around us. I have never seen a more beautiful area in my entire life. Our city and all small towns around us are beautiful and safe. Smaller towns around us West Salem, Holmen, Onalaska, French Island,Tomah, Sparta, Coon Valley, Viroqua, Bangor, and across the Mississipi River from us is La Crescent,Minnesota . Check all these out on craigslist, there are a lots of stats and pictures of these areas.