Advice on moving to Green Bay (Milwaukee, De Pere: appointed, apartment, to rent) - City-Data Forum

centrifuge · 04-09-2011, 10:23 AM

Hello,

I recently took a job at the University, which means the wife and I are moving to the midwest. Our long term plan is to look for a house but we want to take our time and get a sense of the place before taking the plunge. At the moment we are thinking of looking for an apartment or condo to rent somewhere in downtown GB. The Riverside Place condominiums look nice on the internet, but I am not entirely sure what they look like in reality.

In any case, I am hoping that someone here can offer me advice on the best place to search for a clean, quiet, and convenient apartment/condo. I would rather not commute, which means I would like to have access to the public bus system. It also means that I would like to live within walking distance of grocery stores, restaurants, etc. I have read the mixed reports on downtown living, but most of these seem a bit dated. Can someone out there give me an updated account of the downtown scene?

Thank you for your time and help!

gbpreblewr3 · 04-11-2011, 07:20 PM

Hey! I'm Jordan, I live on the east side of Green Bay and used to work downtown at a place called APAC Customer Services so I'll be able to answer these questions. Our downtown is an alright area, its been growing lately & their thinking of putting up a few new condos/apts, and work on a skyscraper plan for 2012 so we should be growing a bit but as for right now..you have a subway, chinese, italian food, coffee shop, smokeshop, a few clothing stores, and the rest bars/city buildings. There's a couple grocery stores on the other side of the bridge (bridges have sidewalks) that would only be a 10-15min stroll to get to. The local bus transit system is pretty slow, but the bus comes every 45-60mins to each stop. Downtowns pretty much based around bars so its loud on thursdays, weekends, and Packer gamedays. However, the local police force has been doing random pullovers the passed 5 weekends and really cracking down on drunk driving so I'm sure that'll cool off a bit here as well. Are you working at the university supermarket? If so, that'll be about 10minutes away from the downtown area. Green bays a great place to start a family as the crime rate is pretty low ATM, and schooling is very good. I went to preble high school 3 years ago and thats one of the top schools in the state as far as education (if you have children I might recommend you sending them there or to Notre Dame academy, if you live downtown your children will go to East- a very ghetto school).

Just 2 more things I have to say, my friend Josh and his cousin TJ Lang- a Packer player live downtown at this residence, and its very nice. It may be a bit pricy but this is a quiet area on the river, and you'd have a walking trail in your backyard as well. These condos are amazing, Charles Woodson & TJ Lang live here during the season. Riverside Place Condominiums Green Bay WI - Condos along the eastern shore of the Fox River - Downtown Riverfront Green Bay, Wisconsin. And #2, I'm not sure how old you are- but I'm very involved in the sport of Airsoft. If you ever want to participate when you move here, feel free to check out our website @ gbpreblewr33.proboards.com

So I hope that info helped ya out, if you have further questions just reply below and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

centrifuge · 04-12-2011, 02:52 PM

It seems that the more I read the more it seems as if De Pere is a better bet. The downtown area of Green Bay sure gets a lot of bad press. Can someone tell me about the bus system between De Pere and the University? If forced to choose, would most of you prefer to live in De Pere or Downtown GB? Is there some other place I should consider?

strawflower · 04-12-2011, 06:55 PM

De Pere is definitely your best bet. It's much nicer than the downtown area of Green Bay. The Green Bay bus system does have stops in De Pere- where is your work?

bay2bay · 04-12-2011, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centrifuge

It seems that the more I read the more it seems as if De Pere is a better bet. The downtown area of Green Bay sure gets a lot of bad press. Can someone tell me about the bus system between De Pere and the University? If forced to choose, would most of you prefer to live in De Pere or Downtown GB? Is there some other place I should consider?

De Pere is a nice suburb. The population is around 25,000. It has an old downtown on both sides of the Fox River and St. Norbert College is adjacent to the west side downtown. Something unique about De Pere is the school districts. They have two separate districts with separate tax rates. If you live on the east side you're in the De Pere School District which includes other communities such as Ledgeview and Rockland. If you live on the west side you're in the West De Pere School District which includes other communities such as Lawrence and part of the Oneida Reservation. Both districts are quite good. UWGB is a bit of a haul from De Pere as they are on opposite sides of the metro area. You'd need to take a bus from De Pere to the transit center in GB and transfer on to a bus to UWGB. That'll take you about an hour.

centrifuge · 04-13-2011, 05:45 AM

Thank you all so much for the replies. Are there perhaps other options that don't involve such a long bus ride? Ideally I would like to ride my bike to UWGB but I know that is not realistic in the winter.

Kandy · 04-13-2011, 06:23 AM

I know someone who works at UWGB and lives in a very happening area near the college. I will try to find out the name of the townhouses. You could bike from there for sure.

MLPearson79 · 04-13-2011, 08:27 PM

There are some residential areas DIRECTLY around the university that are nice. But the northeast side in general is not very nice.

I would stick to Bellevue or East DePere/Ledgeview, or you can go to the northwest side of town towards Suamico and there are newer subdivisions out there that are nice also.

ExBmWeX · 04-14-2011, 12:30 PM

When i lived in Wisconsin i prefered Howard. It quiet, small and its only 10 minutes from everything.

Ljbadd · 04-16-2011, 02:48 PM

I've lived in Green Bay for two years now though I'm about to bust out of here in 2 weeks.

Most of Green Bay is safe for the most part. You'll be fine if you avoid any area near St. Vincent's Hospital. The big issue here isn't outright violent crime but drunk driving. You're not likely to get shot or robbed walking on the street but you have to be extra careful driving on the roads on weekends past 10 PM. Believe me, this state has an incredible drinking problem that residents seem oblivious to.

You'll be disappointed with the Green Bay bus system. Most people use a car to get anywhere because bus routes are very inefficient but it's your decision.

The best part of Green Bay is not the downtown. Ever since the Packers won the superbowl back in '97 (or was it '96?), businesses have been steadily moving to Oneida St. where the stadium is located. So, the best part is actually Ashwaubenon where the mall is. Downtown is a broken shell. Yes, they're trying to build up Humpty Dumpty again but there's a lot of resistance from residents who are terrified of this city becoming Milwaukee. I'd recommended looking at Mason St., near NWTC. That's the center of the city where everything is at most a 10 min ride away. I live around there now in a luxury 2 bedroom. Let me know if you want more info about it.