Moving to La Crosse, WI, need an advise!!! (Madison, Middleton: property taxes, jobs)

[Nattie]

My husband and I are moving to La Crosse, WI and we don't have any family there. Honestly, we know nothing about the city rather than it is very beautiful and green. We want to buy a house there asap, but we don't know what location is good and quality for a family. Could anyone please tell us what neighborhood is the best and what part of the city we should avoid by all means?

[XFILESMULDER]

Originally Posted by Nattie

My husband and I are moving to La Crosse, WI and we don't have any family there. Honestly, we know nothing about the city rather than it is very beautiful and green. We want to buy a house there asap, but we don't know what location is good and quality for a family. Could anyone please tell us what neighborhood is the best and what part of the city we should avoid by all means?

i just recently moved back from las Vegas back to lacrosse, id say all of lacrosse is pretty safe nothing thats really bad like in a big city. the only area i would avoid is neighborhoods around downtown lacrosse which are really rundown lots of minorities live their . also lacrosse has no jobs plus high property taxes. hope this helps

[Livewire]

I dont know but LaCrosse and Middleton were two places I wanted to check out, next visit. Every time I go to WI I almost dont come back!

[Huckleberry Dumbell]

You could save about one third in property taxes by living across the river from La Crosse in La Crescent. Downtown La Crosse is not, I repeat not, run down or "full of minorities". I don't know what Xfiles is up to. Also look at Holmen, Onalaska, Shelby, West Salem. Middleton is very expensive, but also nice.

[redhotcrystal]

LaCrosse has the biggest job market in the area. Jobs are pretty low paying every where though, unless it's in the medical field because we have 2 major hospitals. It depends if you have a degree for some positions ($20,000 to 30,000). For housing definately check into Onalaska a 15 min. comute to LaCrosse or Holmen 25 mins. away. The houses are much newer and nicer, and the price isn't that much higher. Some people really like this area and others not so much. The winters are my least favorite time here, roads need plowed before you can drive and nobody wants to be outdoors cause it is soo cold. LaCrosse or Lax is a family driven community with little violent crime, but it is also known as a college drinking town, as we hold the record for most bars on one street. The downtown area is literaly bar after bar after bar. The city gets alot of its revenue from the drunk fests that we have, Oktoberfest and Riverfest.I hope this helps you get a better insight of LaCrosse.

[hglc]

There are a lot of options for someone moving to the area. In the past 1 1/2 years I have looked at a lot of properties in the area shopping for my next house. You can find some very nice places just out of town, or in one of the many surrounding communities. If you want to be right in LaCrosse, I think overall the houses in the heart of town running west ave (12th) to Losey, and Madison to the UW-LaCrosse campus are some of the nicest kept properties. These tend to be older homes, many beautiful craftsman/prairie style houses. If you take a drive through this area I think you will see what I mean. The problem with living further out is a hairy commute into LaCrosse in the am. I bought an old house closer to downtown. With gas prices what they are, I think those neighborhoods will become more popular to fix up and live closer to the old downtown areas.

[DSMWXMAN]

I was born and raised in La Crosse, living there for 25 years. If you are looking to raise a family, I would suggest living on the south side of La Crosse, as it is a more family oriented section of town. Areas east of Losey Blvd adjacent to the bluffs are nice for raising a family. I would check out the areas by Shelby, especially down by the old Hillview Golf Course. The neighborhoods east of Harry Spence Elementary school are also nice as well.

I would stay away from the neighborhoods close to downtown, and near the college campuses. There are a lot of student housing here, and the area is a lot more active. The north side of town is also older, and again, not the best area to raise a family.

I can provide you with a lot more info if you need it. Please let me know if I can help you further.

Good luck!

[radraja]

Why was this bumped?

Anyway, all I have to add is that moving to a city that you don't know anything about is a BAD IDEA. Seriously.