Moving to Appleton from California (Milwaukee, Madison: transplants, home, neighborhoods)

[SoCalLove]

Hi all!

Im new and will be moving up to Appleton in a few weeks because my husband is in the military. I have been in Southern California my whole life and would like to know if you guys have any pointers-Where we should look to live, what are good schools, what do people do for fun. Any help would be great!

[gallon]

SoCal, for starters be sure to page back through these threads. There is a lot on Appleton, and the area. Be ready for a shock when you get here. Most everything will still be green. As we get into our autumn you will be here for the fall colors as the hardwood trees turn spectacular colors. After that prepare for the cold. Be sure to budget for winter clothing. Especially for any children who have never seen snow before. They will go nuts playing out in the snow. Just make sure they are dressed for it.

Others here can tell you about Appleton neighborhoods.

[mad420]

Originally Posted by SoCalLove

Hi all!

Im new and will be moving up to Appleton in a few weeks because my husband is in the military. I have been in Southern California my whole life and would like to know if you guys have any pointers-Where we should look to live, what are good schools, what do people do for fun. Any help would be great!

What do people in Appleton do for fun? My guesses...
Drink beer
Eat brats
Watch the Packers
Go bowling
Watch the Packers

Be prepared for culture shock my dear! I hope you don't hate it.

[BacktoNE]

Oh boy, S. CA to Appleton. Not to be negative, but yes, be prepared for a BIG case of culture shock.

As for neighborhoods, there are some really beautiful neighborhoods throughout Appleton. I can't imagine anyone having trouble finding a good fit. Do you want an older character home? Or brand new construction? There are parks in many of the neighborhoods and the schools here are reputed to be very good. We don't have kids so I have no personal experience.

Appleton has the Performing Arts Center which attracts some excellent and diverse types of entertainment. There is a lot of shopping here, although it will pale in comparison to what you are used to, I'm sure.

We moved here from the east coast just over 2 years ago. It hasn't been a good fit for us, but there are transplants who like it. Scan back through the pages of threads and you will find many that talk about Appleton.

[yo vanilla]

If you do a search under my user name in this forum, I've had a lot to say (good things of course). Except for winter. There's nothing good I can say about the winter here.

Where exactly in socal are you coming from? Camp Pendleton? If you can tell me that I can get an idea of what you are used to

[radraja]

Originally Posted by mad420

What do people in Appleton do for fun? My guesses...
Drink beer
Eat brats
Watch the Packers
Go bowling
Watch the Packers

Be prepared for culture shock my dear! I hope you don't hate it.

Agreed. Appleton is pretty, but there isn't a whole lot to do.

Also, coming from the super-diverse SoCal, be prepared: Appleton has very little diversity. It's an extremely whitebread town.

[yo vanilla]

There's alot to do. There are alot of great restaraunts downtown. There's a great performing arts center. Lively nightlife; the "scene" on College Ave is not a bunch of fat guys at sports bars anyway. Lots of shopping. Tons of parks. High Cliff State Park is right down the road. Lots of water to boat on, if you like that, or more golf courses than we can use. The farmer's market on Saturdays is excellent. The Pierce Park car show brings in 1000 classic cars or more. Octoberfest is coming so we get to see a few hundred of those cars again. Green Bay is a short drive away to catch a major headlining concert at the Weidner Center.

Or for those few times you need big city amenities, Milwaukee and Madison are 1.5 hours away. Shoot, anyplace you go in the LA area takes longer than that. Most of the metro LA area is just a huge urban sprawl anyway, with a few pockets of great spots here or there. If you aren't right on the beach or up in the hills, it's no different than the rest of Generica, lol. Plus Appleton's airport is super easy to get into and it'll fly to 5 major hubs, including Atlanta.

Except for the winter, can't forget that, Appleton is an excellent place to live. People who say there's nothing to do usually sit home complaining there's nothing to do. And that's fine, cause the rest of us will have fun without you kill-joys.

[mad420]

Originally Posted by yo vanilla

There's alot to do. There are alot of great restaraunts downtown. There's a great performing arts center. Lively nightlife; the "scene" on College Ave is not a bunch of fat guys at sports bars anyway. Lots of shopping. Tons of parks. High Cliff State Park is right down the road. Lots of water to boat on, if you like that, or more golf courses than we can use. The farmer's market on Saturdays is excellent. The Pierce Park car show brings in 1000 classic cars or more. Octoberfest is coming so we get to see a few hundred of those cars again. Green Bay is a short drive away to catch a major headlining concert at the Weidner Center.

Or for those few times you need big city amenities, Milwaukee and Madison are 1.5 hours away. Shoot, anyplace you go in the LA area takes longer than that. Most of the metro LA area is just a huge urban sprawl anyway, with a few pockets of great spots here or there. If you aren't right on the beach or up in the hills, it's no different than the rest of Generica, lol. Plus Appleton's airport is super easy to get into and it'll fly to 5 major hubs, including Atlanta.

Except for the winter, can't forget that, Appleton is an excellent place to live. People who say there's nothing to do usually sit home complaining there's nothing to do. And that's fine, cause the rest of us will have fun without you kill-joys.

Yeah I heard you have a nice mall for WI. With all those amenities what the hell am I doing in Madison?

[yo vanilla]

Madison's got all that and more. But that's not to say you'll be bored stiff up here.

[radraja]

Err...that came across wrong. I didn't mean to imply that Appleton was boring.

I guess it's just important to realize that it's more of a town than a city. It's a pretty nice town...but it's important not to expect the variety you would find in a larger city. Coming from LA, it will probably be a culture shock. That's all.