West, North or Central?? (Madison, Green Bay: how much, employment, living)

[elevation]

Anyone have any recommendations as far as areas to relocate? What would be the best of "all" that is Wisconsin? If that is possible!

More into Hiking, kayaking and outdoor scenery (lots of trees) than malls and shopping. A good bistro and an eccelctic local coffeeHouse are my indulgences - so a close proximatey to these would be nice.

Any suggestions would be GREAT!!!!!!!!

[politikally]

Here's the low down:

There's really a couple of different regions (more so than just north, west, or central).

South West - is the hilly area. Way back in the day the glaciers didn't hit this area (South of Tomah to Iowa), and the result is a massive amount of hills, ridges, and cliffs. Big Hills. There's tons of biking in that area, but believe it or not it's a ton of farms so they're aren't as many trees. If you are into Biking though South west Wisconsin is the place to be. (look into Sparta, WI).

West - This is mainly areas in an around Hudson and Menominee. Basically this area is farmland, and is starting to become part of the Twin Cities Metro (at least St. Croix County). There isn't much

Central - This is mainly a 40 mile radius around a little town called Abbotsford (where hwy's 13 and 29 meet). It's basically farmland and cheese factories. It's small town life for sure, but there isn't much in terms of trees and scenery.

East - Urban. The Coast of Lake Michigan from Green Bay to Chicago is pretty urban. There are swaths with a few small towns but for the most part if you drew a backwards L starting with Madison up to Green Bay you can bank on Shopping malls. (Exception is Door County which is UNBELIEVEABLE for scenery (you may want to look into this).

As for the most scenic place - head north. Wausau to Rhinelander is gorgeous. Wausau has some World class Kayaking. The northwoods is dotted with little tourist towns, gorgeous scenery and tons of outdoors activities. I'm partial to Lake Superior coastal areas (Ashland and Bayfield).

Anyway that's my take on Wisconsin.

Though I'd like to make one suggestion... if you really want to move somewhere with unbelievable hiking, biking, outdoors stuff, kayaking, etc... I suggest Marquette, MI -- it's only a hop away from Northern Wisconsin and it's GORGEOUS. Especially Presque Isle park. Look into it.

[elevation]

THANK YOU so very much! I appreciate the input!!

My impressions/concerns thus far were:
DOOR COUNTY - Too expensive ?
NORTH - RHINELANDER/EAGLE RIVER - Too Isolated ?
SUPERIOR/ASHLAND - Too Cold ?

I was hoping to find the "Happy Medium" ????????? I guess it makes for a more difficult decision when you have such a beautiful state! Good problem to have, right?

[politikally]

Door County - Yes it's expensive. It's the main tourist trap of the state if you ask me. Nearly all the property is bought up already. Lots of out-of-towners, FIBs, etc.

North - Really isn't that isolated. Ashland is about 4 hours from Minneapolis. Rhinelander isn't that far either. Yes it's a little off the beaten path, but we're only talking about 1-3 hours off the major highways. Pretty much everything in northern wisconsin is 1-2 hours from Hwy 29 which crosses between Green bay and minneapolis. If you are saying that isolated should mean distance from Chicago - then yes it can be a drive, but I consider isolated to mean anything more than 3 hours from Green Bay or Minneapolis. Northern Wisconsin doesn't really fall into my definition. Though parts of the Arrowhead of MN and parts of the UP of Michigan do fall into that.

As for Superior and Ashland being too cold - not true. Remember, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan actually keep the coastal towns WARMER than the inland towns in the winter. The Lake acts as a heating element in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer so conditions are considerably better than those inland. That being said, it can still get pretty rough up there, but it's not too much different from the rest of the state other than the Lake Effect snow. Just be prepared for a midwest winter.

[dreamhunter65]

Cadott area near Eau Claire so have bigger city close.Close to trails, woods, still smaller town feeling..
Ladysmith has hiking, canoe/kayak, biking area but no real coffee shop or bistro..North may be colder than the south but keeps more bugs out..

[anwalker]

Osseo, Eleva, Strum - near Eau Claire. Beautiful area. Close enough to Minneapolis and Madison.

[elevation]

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!! If this is an indication of what the people of WI are like - I'm leaving right now!!!! I really appreciate all of the direction here!!

I have been looking at the Chippewa Falls area - which seems nice and seems central. But the Lure of more treed areas in Wausau and further North have me doubting my resolve. Winona/LaCrosse has come up as well. Either way - it is better than Nebraska - Although I appreciate NE in it's own way - time to be amongst the great conservationists!

[politikally]

Originally Posted by elevation

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!! If this is an indication of what the people of WI are like - I'm leaving right now!!!! I really appreciate all of the direction here!!

I have been looking at the Chippewa Falls area - which seems nice and seems central. But the Lure of more treed areas in Wausau and further North have me doubting my resolve. Winona/LaCrosse has come up as well. Either way - it is better than Nebraska - Although I appreciate NE in it's own way - time to be amongst the great conservationists!

Glad to Help.

Some Quick Advice now that you've revealed your interest in Chippewa....

Chippewa is an excellent pick (I grew up in the area). What I said before still holds true however .. it's mostly farmland on that side. The thing Chippewa has going for it is the Chippewa River, and it's very pretty.

Three other things about Chippewa:

1. Everyone calls it "Chippewa" - only out of towners call it Chippewa Falls (in my experience)
2. Chippewa is fast becoming a suburb of Eau Claire. Especially since 29 was re-routed. So it's more City Living than you may think. I suggest contacted the Chippewa Chamber of Commerce for a Guide of some sort.
3. If you ever visit don't forget to have a Leinie's (visit a bar and ask for one) for reference: http://www.leinie.com/


And the other thing... LaCrosse --- is GORGEOUS. It's part of that Southwest "hilly" area I was talking about. It's basically the capital of that area. The Mississippi River Bluffs in that area are breathtaking, and it's very naturesque.

Between Chippewa and LaCrosse - LaCrosse is the more "outdoorsy" unless you count hunting which in that case - Chippewa would win.

[elevation]

I cannot even tell you how much this has helped. Very hard to do from another state. I am a physician so most of my choices are limited to FP openings within the state, but as it appears, they are all great choices! I am going to revisit the Winona/LaCrosse idea as well as Wausau and Rhinelander. I am partial to the "whitewater"/River offerings and the more abundnace of forests. The Hunting is not so much my forte - but I had better learn to live with it!

[politikally]

Originally Posted by elevation

I cannot even tell you how much this has helped. Very hard to do from another state. I am a physician so most of my choices are limited to FP openings within the state, but as it appears, they are all great choices! I am going to revisit the Winona/LaCrosse idea as well as Wausau and Rhinelander. I am partial to the "whitewater"/River offerings and the more abundnace of forests. The Hunting is not so much my forte - but I had better learn to live with it!

If you have any questions just ask.

As for possible employment for you - Most of Central and northern wisconsin is part of St. Joesph's (May also be called Marshfield Clinic - http://www.marshfieldclinic.org/ ) which is based in Marshfield, Wisconsin - it's a massive hospital/clinic. Aside from St. Joe's - Ministry Health is the other big Medical provider in Northern Wisconsin. I believe Rhinlander has a Ministry Health Bldg. (http://www.ministryhealth.org/)

The only other one I can think of is Wausau: Aspirus (http://www.aspirus.org/aspirus_hospital/ (broken link))

LaCrosse - I'm not to familar with the medical scene I think they're both christian hospitals (Gunderson Luthern and Franciscan something...)

My guess is St. Joe's would be a good place to start... It's a massive hospital. Biggest in the region really.

As for the Chippewa area -- There's quite a few providers, go punch this into Google and it will give you a list:

category: Hospitals near: Eau Claire, WI


Anyway, please feel free to ask questions!