Wausau WI vs. Marshfield WI...HELP! - BEST TOWN for kids/family (Milwaukee: transplants, rent)

[Happy3mom]

Because of a new job (sales rep) for my husband, our family w three kids will be moving to the Marshfield/Wausau WI area from a nice Milwaukee suburb. His job will include a lot of travel (driving), so we can choose just about any town in this area to call our new home.

We are looking for great schools and a great sense of community. We like friendly people. Our lives center around our kids. Our eldest will be starting middle school. He likes sports and skiing and academics. The two younger ones (girls) are just starting grade school.

We also LOVE the outdoors in just about every way.

Academics for our children are VERY important for us. I've heard Marshfield has really great schools. What about Wausau - and some of the other surrounding areas?

How would you compare the two areas? And which would be best (including suggested suburbs or areas of town - higher end without being snobby) that you think would be best for our family of 5? THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!!!

[Stone1]

My best guess is that Wausau would have a few more options for things to do, shopping, dining, Ski hill, river, snowmobiling and such. I have been trough Marshfield and it seems a lot smaller but you could still do about the same out door things as in Wausau. Wausau would put you right on I39 and Hwy 29 so it is easy to head to Green Bay/Appleton, Madison or you only an hour to the tourist/resort areas like Minocqua and Eagle River.

[famlife]

i would say wausau for all those reasons as well. wausau also has a great community feel. it's laid back and very safe. i think your kids will find a lot more to do and be more content in wausau than marshfield. it's really affordable too, especially compared to most milwaukee suburbs. we lived in waukesha for a year and our rent in wausau was less than half of what we were paying in waukesha for a comparable home. good luck! wausau is wonderful!

[Wisco_#1]

Wausau provides better shopping and dining. Marshfield is safer and has better schools (2nd ranked in the state for public school AP testing). Your kids won't find much difference in the two because, like a lot of Wisconsin, everything is 21+. Marshfield would be the cheaper option and the new HWY Ten project makes Stevens Point a real quick trip.

[the_windwalker]

D C Everest is an excellent school in the Wausau area. Wausau East and Wausau West are now rivals, but both are good. Neuman High School is the only Catholic high school in the county, also very good. But, as far as ranking academically in the State, Edgar or Marathon rank higher than either Wausau or Marshfield. I also don't believe that the State Budget Cuts will have as great an effect on them as the ones in Wausau or Marshfield.

Over the last four years, it may have changed, but as of then, Edgar was ranked in the top ten percent in the state. If I remember right, Marathon is right up there too. I know they out-rank Wausau, Marshfield, Unity, Colby, Abbotsford, Spencer, and others in the area.

They are small towns and when my own kids went there, there were no street gangs and few drugs in the area. Wausau does have street gangs, and there are also drugs available. My daughter moved out of Wausau into the Edgar area because she was concerned about "drive-by shootings" in some parts of Wausau. I currently live in Florida and have not kept up with whether the police have gotten a handle on that or not. There again, in the rural communities, they did not seem to have any problem with that. Places like Marathon, Edgar, Abbotsford, and Stratford. I won't try to tell you what housing will cost you in those areas because I have not kept up with that either. I signed my farm over to the kids and moved south. No more snow.

[Wisco_#1]

^How can Edgar and Marathon have better schools than Wausau and Marshfield? They offer half the progams and extracurricular activities. Small schools are dying, don't go there. If you don't want your kids to grow up being football farm bigots I suggest you stay within the bigger city school systems.

http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_27.pdf (broken link)

Both Marshfield and DC Everest are on that list for AP programs.

-On a side note, both cities increased populations with the latest census. I dont know much about the happenings in Wausau but a dental school is opening in Marshfield in the upcoming years. Can't go wrong in either city.

[Happy3mom]

Hi all that have posted replies thus far. Just a quick but sincere THANK YOU to you!!!! The information you have posted is really, really great and helpful.

Anyone living in now or know more about Marshfield area? Also (LOL) my soon to be 7th grader wants to know if there's some kind of snowboard club at any of the middle schools in the area...apparently that will help HIM make up his mind as to where we should live!

Everyone that commented really brought something different to the discussion - thanks and keep em coming!

[notmuch69]

Marshfield! Community Profile - City of Marshfield - Marshfield, Wisconsin
It's the central shopping/medical hub for the surrounding smaller communities. It even has a small free zoo.

[Happy3mom]

Thanks again!!! Great link.

[Drover]

I also wonder if you might find more transplants in Wausau and thus will be more open to newcomers.