Viroqua, Wisconsin (La Crosse, Oregon, Winter: apartment, renting, how much)

[jodib31415]

After deciding against a move from Central Oregon to Western Nebraska, my husband and I started on another search for our perfect small town.

Viroqua just might be the place. (I would actually move there sight unseen, it just seems that perfect, but my husband is more hesitant, so we plan to visit in April or May, and if we like it as much as I'm certain we will, move in June or early July.)

When I mentioned to my parents that we were considering Southwestern Wisconsin, my dad said, "Jodi, they have two seasons there -- winter and bugs." Is this true?

Coming from Central Oregon, we have very little bugs and a long, cold winter (but not too much snow, maybe 5 inches all winter; and it never rains here). I'm not that opposed to snow or rain; it looks as though precipitation occurs about one third of the time in any given month (on city-data.com), and I think I can deal with that.

As far as bugs go, of course I don't love bugs, but I can't imagine they could be that bad in an area so heavily populated by organic farms ...

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Is humidity horrible in the summer? I've always heard the Mississippi is the "line" when it comes to humidity. It's very dry here, but again, I am not really opposed to more humid air.

Also, it seems as though Viroqua is pretty "open minded," but are they generally accepting of newcomers? Especially those with young children who practice cloth diapering, extended breastfeeding, very wholesome organic diet, etc.? We are not too concerned with being loved by everyone (at least not right away, we know it takes time to build friendships and relationships in small towns), but we don't want to be total outsiders, either.

Thank you in advance!

[radraja]

Haha..there is truth to what your dad said. WI gets extremely cold. Half the year you'll be wearing a jacket, with winter temperatures often dropping significantly below zero. Summers are sticky humid and there are a great deal of bugs (especially mosquitos, from what I can remember). Percipitation doesn't come in gentle, lingering drizzles as it would in the pacific northwest, but rather in concentrated, heavy storms. Tornados aren't too bad, but they do come by on occasion.

I personally never minded WI weather, but to be completely honest, most people hate it.

As far as openmindedness, Viroqua is fairly liberal, but you have to understand that WI is WI. You're not going to find all the Whole Food junkies that are common on the west coast. People will jokingly say that beer, brats, cheese, hunting, and the Packers are the WI culture, but there's actually a good deal of truth to that. Additionally, most people, especially in small towns will still hang out with all the people they knew since grade school. People will be polite, but it's going to be hard to really break into the social circles.

None of this is meant to be discouraging, but you should know what to expect. Anyway, I grew up in southeastern WI, but my sister lived in the La Crosse area for awhile. If you have any more questions, I can give her a call and ask for you.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Originally Posted by jodib31415

Viroqua just might be the place. (I would actually move there sight unseen, it just seems that perfect, but my husband is more hesitant, so we plan to visit in April or May, and if we like it as much as I'm certain we will, move in June or early July.)

As much as I love living in Wisconsin, I would never, ever recommend moving here if you haven't taken the time to visit and really get to know the place first. The biggest mistake we ever made was doing just exactly that back in 1981; we found that we absolutely hated the region where we wound up, but a combination of family obligations and financial strictures kept us there for 18 long years. No matter what people tell you, and in this forum, they'll tell you plenty, there is just no substitute for going there and trying it on for size yourself.

At a very minimum, you should try to spend a couple of weeks in your proposed destination, and during that time, act as if you live there. Buy the local newspapers and read them; get a glimpse of local hot-button issues, and how the political winds blow in the area. If your political beliefs are at one end of the spectrum and you wind up living someplace where most folks take the opposite view, you'll either get in a lot of arguments or wind up getting callouses on your tongue from biting it so much.

While you're looking at those newspapers, take a good, hard look at the classified section, too. Are there jobs in your field available? Is the pay comparable to what you're making now? How much of a commute would be involved? Then flip over to the housing section, and check out rents and home prices. If you sell your current place, will the equity be enough to get you into something comparable in your destination? Or, if you'll be renting, what's the apartment market like? Lots of places available at reasonable rates, or are they scarce and overpriced?

Go to the stores (grocery, department, hardware, book, whatever you consider essential in your life) and really look around at what they're selling. Can you find things that you'd buy? Is the selection and variety adequate? Are the prices what you'd consider reasonable? How helpful and friendly are the clerks?

If you follow a particular faith, try to locate a congregation of that faith in the community. If possible, attend a service there, and talk to the pastor or rabbi or imam, as well as to some of the congregants.

Sit down with a radio and scan through the dial. Can you find a station that plays the music you enjoy? If you can't, can you tolerate listening primarily to your own music collection rather than to the radio? Is there a store in the community where you can buy your prefered type of music?

Contact the local civic center or fine arts league to learn about the arts in the area. If you enjoy live music and/or drama, find out if such things are performed locally. If you are fond of the visual arts, find out where the nearest museum is. If you enjoy movies, check out the local cinema; find out what kind of shape it's in, how many movies they show at a time, and how frequently they change.

Got kids? Lots more checking to do for them. If your kids will attend public schools, try contacting the school district ahead of time to see if you can set up a tour and meeting at a school. If they'd attend private schools, look to find out if the type of private school you want is in the community. If you home-school, you'll want to find out what kind of network of other home-schoolers exists and connect with them.

The weather is another factor. Yes, it gets pretty sticky in the summer, and it gets really, really cold in the winter. If you're prudent, you'll visit at both weather extremes to see how it REALLY feels instead of just assuming that you can handle it. I can tell you from experience that it's one thing to hear someone describe weather extremes and it's another thing entirely to experience them.

Every single one of the items mentioned above was something that we did NOT research before our cross-country move in 1981, and as a result, we wound up in a region that was about as far from the kind of lifestyle we wanted as we could get and still stay in the continental US. Visiting forums like this one is a great way to gather preliminary data, but there is simply no substitute for some on-the-ground research.

Good luck to you; I hope you find the place of your dreams!

[anablic]

I realize this was posted a few months ago but just stumbled upon it. Since you were looking at visiting in April or May, I thought maybe it could still be helpful if you ever stumble back here.

Having grown up in Wisconsin, I have a love/hate relationship with it (moved away, moved back, will be wintering away). People who don't live here or have never really visited have a tendency to over exaggerate our weather ("It gets warm there??"). I do not like cold, so I don't like the winters here. They can be long, but not always that bad. While it does go below zero, it's not like it sits at that temp every day of the winter. It's more likely for it to be in the 20's during the day, with only a few days of sub zero days throughout the winter. Those days are nasty, but not unbearable. We will also usually get a warm day or two during the middle of the winter, which is nice!

Snow is hit or miss. This last year, we got a LOT of snow, but it was very unusual for the last ten or so years. It snowed on December 1 and stuck through the whole winter with many snowstorms, which has become relatively unusual. One winter, areas didn't have any accumulated snow. The more likely scenario is a few snowstorms, some accumulation, some melting (this varies depending on parts of the state).

Our summers do get hot and pretty humid, though not nearly as humid as other areas and the heat lasts a much shorter period of time. Spring and fall here are beautiful (apparently, our two forgotten seasons!). Spring usually starts in April. The weather starts getting really nice and there's little humidity and few bugs out. The foliage starts blooming and there are so many flower trees, lilacs, tulips, etc around (most don't go into a good bloom until May). Fall usually lasts until the end of November or even mid December on a good year! Cooler temperatures, beautiful leaf color changes, bugs drop off.

Bugs... well, I never thought WI was overly buggy, but I've never lived in the NW. Yes, mosquitoes, gnats, flies, ticks, fleas, bees, etc are rather prevalent. Again, this depends on location. It's never been unbearable in my opinion and well, there's bug spray!

This area (around Viroqua) is a an outdoors-persons mecca. Lots of rivers, streams, bluffs, parks, etc. Tons of fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, nature walks, skiing, snow shoeing etc. Very, very beautiful.

As far as Viroqua itself -- I never heard much of the town before moving back to the area and now it seems everyone raves about it for those of us on the more "liberal" side. They have an amazing coop, a farmer's market, a huge organic farming industry, etc. My midwife who specializes in homebirths is based out of there. So, I'm sure you'd be fine.

Good luck.

[Drover]

Your dad about has it right. Winters are long and harsh, snow is measured in feet not inches, and sometimes lakes stay frozen enough to support snowmobile traffic through early April. Even right now it's in the 30s throughout most of the state after reaching highs in the mid 40s through mid 50s. Below average for this time of year? Yes. Uncommonly cold for this time of year? No.

And in the summer the mosquitoes will carry you off in the evening if you don't bathe in DEET.