Possible opportunity in Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison: crime rate, how much, houses)

[cincylifer]

We have a job opportunity in Appleton Wisconsin, which was SO not impressive to me, so we may commute from Milwaukee. I need good schools, with some diversity, I have 3 kids, 4-5 bd room house,300,000-400000, something on the north side, as close to Appleton as possible, where should I look?

[yo vanilla]

WOW, its no Carribean paradise but what may I ask was SO unimpressive about Appleton? Let me guess, you drove around by the mall and gave up lol.

There is good schools here. If you are a religious snob then you can look at Xaivier HS which is ranked in the national top 50 catholic schools. Otherwise Appleton North HS is nothing to turn your nose at either. Crime rate is extremely low. And you can find enough 300K houses on the north side to keep your nose held high for long enough.

As far as commuting from Milwaukee, lol. You want to spend 3 or 4 hours a day in the car just to get to work and back, be my guest.

[amax41]

You gotta be nuts to want to drive from Milwaukee to Appleton and back every day... that will take 4 hours per day and on snow days forget it! You gotta be kidding. You need to experience Appleton, it's a great city. You'll find everything in Milwaukee not what you think it is.....

And from your post it's real obvious you know nothing about either town except for how much of a map they take up. You better do some studying..... ..


LOL north side of Milwaukee....good luck

[cincylifer]

obviously I dont know anything about Milwaukee, which is why I posted here, .We would not commute daily, just on the weekend perhaps. Appleton is a nice quaint town, but there was NO diversity, and I dont just mean black/white, there was nothing, its not where I want to raise my kids, especially since we are in an awesome, diverse district now..so again, can anyone give me the good areas in the Milwaukee area, north or not, I dont care, I am just trying to do some research, it also appears, looking at the stats, that Green Bay is just as homogenous as Appleton, or is that not correct?

[yo vanilla]

thats funny since i've got a hispanic mother with a half black half hispanic son right next door, a hispanic family the next house over, and there's a couple black and asian families in the neighborhood, along with lots of asian people all over town.

green bay has a bit more but double the crime.

[alle]

Milwaukee public schools are not where you are going to want to send your kids even though more "diverse" due to budget problems, crime, drugs, gangs. Plus the commute to Appleton is just not feasible. The north side of Milwaukee is not a safe place to raise a family (sadly). The more northern suburbs are not diverse. Milwaukee is an extremely segregated city. Appleton may be predominently caucasian but it has excellent schools and is safe. I think you would be welcomed.

[Wellstone]

if you think appleton is bad, green bay is definitely worse.

for a town of that size appleton is all right. would not be my first choice but there are far worse places around than that.

commuting to and from milwaukee would be a joke. milwaukee is the type of place you tolerate, not a place you go out of your way to live. what's funny is folks that work in milwaukee are making 70+ mile (one way) commutes just to stay out of the city and you seem to want to do the opposite.

the other thing is that if you don't want to live in appleton for its lack of diversity, for sure you don't want to work there.

[cincylifer]

so is all of Milwaukee bad? Are there any nice suburbs? Also the folks in appleton were very nice when I visited, and if it were just adults I could live anywhere, however, I dont think its fair to my kids to put them in an environment that has no diversity. Its not a good feeling being the only one of anything in a school. If not Appleton, what about Green Bay, what is a nice area with any type of diversity?

[mikki]

I know that this will be of no help to you, but after living in the Milwaukee area for 27 years and recently moving to Reno, NV, you are quite right. I see diversity here like I NEVER saw it in all of the Milwaukee areas I lived in (which includes Bay View, Mequon, Wauwatosa, Franklin, Waukesha, and the small town of Burlington). Appleton has quite a large Hmong population from what I recall, but that's about all I know. Good luck you and your family as you make your decision!

[alle]

No, not all of Milwaukee is bad but it is not a feasible commute to Appleton. The rising cost of gas, 4+ hours on the road (in good weather) and Wisconsin's high gas tax will eat you alive. And commuting just on weekends doesn't make for much of a family life day-to-day. Most of the "diversity" in Appleton and Green Bay comes from Hmong and Hispanic folks. Most of Wisconsin is caucasian with black folks mostly in Milwaukee and Madison areas. There are some blacks in Green Bay and Appleton if that's what you're asking but not many, though it's changing gradually. If you decide to take the Appleton job that's where you should live and become part of your new community. If you are a black family and don't wish to move to a predominantly caucasian community then perhaps the job is not for you. As a mother, I guess I'd talk it over with the family including the kids if they're old enough to give input. Appleton is one of the more thriving areas in Wisconsin and is considered an excellent area to live and work. Good luck with whatever you do!