Suggestions for full-time living in Northwestern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Green Bay: home, property taxes)

[MunkeyPuzzled]

Hello, currently in western Kenosha County, looking to move to the Northwoods in the next few years. Work from home in tech, so can really live anywhere. Prefer rural living with private land with access to a town when needed for groceries, etc. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MunkeyPuzzled

Hello, currently in western Kenosha County, looking to move to the Northwoods in the next few years. Work from home in tech, so can really live anywhere. Prefer rural living with private land with access to a town when needed for groceries, etc. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Do you prefer to be closer to Lake Superior or inland lakes? Rural areas with few tourists or more tourists? Price point and access to Duluth a factor?

[MunkeyPuzzled]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Do you prefer to be closer to Lake Superior or inland lakes? Rural areas with few tourists or more tourists? Price point and access to Duluth a factor?

All good points! Inland lakes/Rural, less tourists/price probably up to 300+-K, with a few acres/Duluth is nice, but not crucial to be close to. Starting to look at Sawyer County.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MunkeyPuzzled

All good points! Inland lakes/Rural, less tourists/price probably up to 300+-K, with a few acres/Duluth is nice, but not crucial to be close to. Starting to look at Sawyer County.

That is more of a resort/recreation/retiree area lots of nice lakes, tending to draw from the Twin Cities crowd a bit more. It is more touristy, but not as much as Oneida or Vilas counties from the Chicagoland/Milwaukee city crowds in the summer. Another area to look at is Bayfield County, it is a nice area as well.

[MunkeyPuzzled]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

That is more of a resort/recreation/retiree area lots of nice lakes, tending to draw from the Twin Cities crowd a bit more. It is more touristy, but not as much as Oneida or Vilas counties from the Chicagoland/Milwaukee city crowds in the summer. Another area to look at is Bayfield County, it is a nice area as well.

Many thanks. Bayfield County looks amazing also.

[Tyryztoll]

It's not northwest WI or the deep northwoods per se, but whenever we visit our family in Michigan we always drive through Shawano County northwest of Green Bay and we really love that area.....especially the town of Shawano with their picturesque downtown and that really nice, giant lake they have on the east side. One of the most quintessential-type upper Midwestern communities I've ever been in and the surrounding countryside is just beautiful. I always told my wife if we ever moved to Wisconsin I would want a couple acres just outside of Shawano. I could see us living there for sure. You could have your peaceful, rural northern (I guess it might even be considered more central) WI setting and still have a lot of the basic stores and eateries down the road. Green Bay isn't far away at all for stuff as well. Also have quicker access to the more heavily populated areas of WI if you ever need it from there than you would if you settled down in points north and/or west.

[chiociolliscalves]

Originally Posted by MunkeyPuzzled

All good points! Inland lakes/Rural, less tourists/price probably up to 300+-K, with a few acres/Duluth is nice, but not crucial to be close to. Starting to look at Sawyer County.

Just throwing this out there, but Rice Lake is near where you're looking and isn't particularly touristy. Nice little town.

[EllieKay56]

I think you should also consider the Rhinelander area. Rhinelander offers the shopping you might need. Outside of town lots of lakes.

[CtrlEsc]

You might want to check the internet situation. Many areas of rural Wisconsin are devoid of broadband internet. There are some remote areas where fiber was put in using a federal grant to draw more tourist activity. So some unexpected outliers are Eagle River, Cable, Cornucopia, and La Pointe. They have fiber. (I am a bit dismayed that a remote island has better internet than I do in East Central Wisconsin.)

https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/

You can search by address. Just remember that service availability can be vastly different from one side of the road to the other side.

My pick would be Arbor Vitae, WI due to the availability of shopping and medical services.

For the hermit-life, La Pointe, WI (Madeline Island) would be a close second.

[losadair]

Originally Posted by CtrlEsc

You might want to check the internet situation. Many areas of rural Wisconsin are devoid of broadband internet. There are some remote areas where fiber was put in using a federal grant to draw more tourist activity. So some unexpected outliers are Eagle River, Cable, Cornucopia, and La Pointe. They have fiber. (I am a bit dismayed that a remote island has better internet than I do in East Central Wisconsin.)

https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/

You can search by address. Just remember that service availability can be vastly different from one side of the road to the other side.

My pick would be Arbor Vitae, WI due to the availability of shopping and medical services.

For the hermit-life, La Pointe, WI (Madeline Island) would be a close second.

------

This is a good point - the broadband struggle is real in northern WI. I moved away, and when i go back to visit family I am STILL shocked that half the time it's impossible to watch Netflix.

I love LaPointe/the Island but it's really expensive, both the actual housing and the property taxes. Cornucopia and Cable and nice, friendly places if you want to be that far north.