Small town preferences?

[suecen]

Smalltown: I heard Galena, IL is a great place for a visit? Any recommendations, as I know nothing about it. I'd like to go for a few days in summer - thanks.

[susancruzs]

Galena is great! Lots of info at their website! Galena CVB You can find all ranges of places to stay. I like staying at the B & B's just to be right in town so I can walk everywhere. If you don't mind the hills/stairs, Galena is very walkable.

They have a great trolley that does a tour around town to give an overview and history. There are quite a few houses that are open for tours, if you like historical old homes. Galena isn't cheap but is great fun!

[suecen]

Thanks, Susan! Sounds like a place I'd like to see and yes, I love historical old homes!! Maybe a visit this summer is in order!

[slamont61]

Originally Posted by Schnidly

Lake Country in Waukesha County, without a doubt!!!! I forgot to mention, property taxes are low as compared to the rest of the state and the economy here is somewhat resilient to the rest of the state. Home values remain pretty steady here too!

Which Lake Area communities interest you? When I lived there my real estate taxes tripled causing me to have to get out of my Mortgage. The taxes were on Par with those of other areas.

Oconomowoc is by far the larger of the Lake Area towns and one that has several grocery outlets a semi thriving down town and also very good schools. Okauchee Lake is one odd body of water, shape wise. It snakes around offering many beautiful lake homes. In winter it's a fine playground too.

Pewaukee while large in Population has almost no townage beyond the small lake front. The few shops are trendy and it hasn't had the same atmosphere since the old Five and Dime Store (forget the name but loved the place) folded up and closed. Pewaukee Lake is the biggest of the area lakes and provides GREAT fishing and boating oportunities. The Beach was always pleasant for swimming, usually. Once Pewaukee freezes, it's a huge and wonderful 2500 acre playground.

Heartland is more bedroomish but has a very quaint and small down town area. This community lacks one of the Lake Area "Lakes" but does have a great walking trail through a marsh area that is well maintained. If you live in that area I trust you know of it.

Delafield is also considered part of Lake Country. It's an upper scale community with nice places to eat and a small down town. Nagawaukee Park and Lake are splendid places. It's quite pretty there too.

I would live in any of these places if I ever found myself living in Wisconsin again.

Along the many travels to and from the Dells, there was a few really nice small towns which rival any out there. When you drive in to Lake Mills it's like driving in to the past. The small town square looks like any small town from the 50's. Another I saw but did not explore was Jefferson. We would go to the Drive-in movie out there on Highway 18. What a Gem of a theater.

[oboe_chic]

I think the Eau Claire area would be a good fit. I have some friends that live outside of Fall Creek. I don't know Fall Creek's population, but it is tiny. My friends live in a very rural area--I don't know how they get anywhere in the winter--but it's only a 15-20 minute drive to Eau Claire, which has a population of about 60,000. Around Eau Claire there are also Altoona, which I think is about 15 minutes away, and Mondovi, which is about 30 minutes away, and plenty of rural homes in between.

Right now I live in the outskirts of River Falls. I'm actually not sure of the population here--12,000 I think?--but it's relatively close to the Twin Cities in MN and the whole metro area. Depending on where you're going, it could take a half hour to more than an hour to get to somewhere with a population of over 50,000.

I used to live in Two Rivers. I don't remember too much about it--we moved when I was 11--but I know the population is actually down about 1,000 people since we left 11 years ago. You also want to be aware of the nuclear power plant. It doesn't really bother any of us who live(d) there, but I suppose there is the possibility that something could go wrong and it could blow up. There are plenty of places to live with more of a country feel around there. Manitowoc is much bigger (but I don't know how much) and I think it's a 10-15 minute drive. Green Bay is also about a half hour away, if I'm remembering right.

I don't know as much about the southern half of the state--I have relatives in Baraboo, Madison, and Milwaukee, but we usually go to their houses and then leave. La Crosse seems like a nice town, and I have a friend who loves living in Platteville.

[suecen]

Anybody out there know anything about Hudson,WI? Is it worth seeing and what is there to do??

[geekduo]

Originally Posted by suecen

Anybody out there know anything about Hudson,WI? Is it worth seeing and what is there to do??

North Hudson has a cool Italian festival in the summer. Hudson has a good nightclub called Dibbo's and a good local meat market. Can't seem to remember anything else particularly special about it except that it's a good place to live if you want to stay in WI and commute to the cities.

[suecen]

Thanks!

[notmuch69]

We live outside of Owen Wisconsin, about mid point beetween Eau Claire and Marshfield. Those two cities are both about 45 minutes away and have everything you could need. There are many other small towns around the area including Withee, Thorp, and Greenwood and real estate is cheap.

[notmuch69]

I notice the posts on this site from small town Wisconsin people are much more positive than the city threads. It's nice to hear some positive things and not just "it's too cold", "there's not enough cultural diversity", "not enough fancy places to hang out", etc.