Racine, WI

[chazb40]

Glad to have you here (soon, anyway...)!

It's a nice town, but the lakefront isn't the best neighborhood. You would think the exact opposite would be true: waterfront real estate would attract more affluence, but with the exception of the block right adjacent to the lake, be careful about where you decide to own or rent.

A friend of mine thought he had a great deal on an apartment really close to the lake (so close you could hear the foghorn...), but after a few vandalism problems with his car and someone letting themselves into his apartment, he felt differently.

It's a shame, as the lakefront IS very nice, and the marina area particularly so.

Good luck with your move. And thank God CVS is coming to town. Walgreen's sucks (in my own humble opinion...)! They mixed up my daughter's medication a while back but wouldn't 'fess up, apologize or even correct the medication. We have never gone back since that day.

Sincerely,

Chaz

[rrjjbb28]

Racine has some very bad areas I would keep to the west side of town.

[EX-Racinian]

I have lived in Racine for about 25 years- grew up there... it has changed a bit, and not for the good. I would not recommend sending your children to the public schools ....there if you have any.. neighboring areas like Caledonia, Oak Creek or burlington offer a higher quality of life....

[manakinw]

We moved from Milwaukee (Oak Creek) to Caledonia 6 years ago and were never happier. Granted, we are people who think outside the box. Even though my husband works out of the home and we can live anywhere in the country we chose Caledonia over just about every place we looked, including out of state. Franklin is frankly boring, Oak Creek is okay but bland, South Milwaukee is getting somewhat better after being a dump for years, the eastside of Milwaukee is getting dangerous and overpriced, the south side of Milwaukee is crime ridden, so sad because I love the city of Milwaukee!...I love the lakefront parks, the restaurants, and downtown area of Racine. We used to drive up to Port Washington for something to do on a weekend but truthfully there is more to do in the Racine lake front area.
Of course, we were looking something in between the suburbs, which we find dull (with the strip malls and such), with a cute little town to play in. I take my out-of-town friends to the restaurants and downtown and everyone says, "How adorable!" It is like having the best of both worlds, the safe suburbs with a yuppie hangout 15 minutes away, without being scary like Milwaukee downtown.

Anyway, we wouldn't live in Wisconsin--the state I love! anymore if not for what the Racine/Caledonia gives us. If I could find an area in the country with a similar setting, low taxes, decent affordable upper middle class housing, FRIENDLY PEOPLE LIKE WISCONSINITES! I would move.