Relocating from Charlotte, NC to Menasha, WI

[windhoverblue]

I would think about getting the "places Rated Almanac" from Barnes and Noble before making your decision. It rates places (MSA's) based on various factors that people/families usually consider important i.e. Public Schools, crime, cost of living, things to do, weather, employment rate, job growth etc etc. David Savageau's PlacesRated.com. Again, are you sure you want to trade a thriving sunny city for a repressed little town in middle wisconsin where the sun rarely shines and you have three months of short pants weather....hmmmmmm HAve you checked out Madison, WI...yep still cold but it has a lot to offer.

• Named “Best Place for Education” by Money Magazine!
• Highest ACT scores in Wisconsin!
• Record-level SAT scores!
• Experienced, award-winning teachers!
• Record-winning numbers of National Merit Scholars!
• Named “Best Place to Live in America” by Money Magazine!
• Madison recent winner of over 25 major national honors!
• Exceptional quality of life!

[Wingfoot]

What Polish Boy says is so. I lived in Buffalo and Menasha both. Folks in Menasha are more polite, but people in Buffalo are much more friendly.
Menasha does have a very low crime rate which just might be factor #1 as times get ever tougher.

Am 18 yr old female shouldn't have much problem making friends anywhere though.

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by windhoverblue

I would think about getting the "places Rated Almanac" from Barnes and Noble before making your decision. It rates places (MSA's) based on various factors that people/families usually consider important i.e. Public Schools, crime, cost of living, things to do, weather, employment rate, job growth etc etc. David Savageau's PlacesRated.com. Again, are you sure you want to trade a thriving sunny city for a repressed little town in middle wisconsin where the sun rarely shines and you have three months of short pants weather....hmmmmmm HAve you checked out Madison, WI...yep still cold but it has a lot to offer.

• Named “Best Place for Education” by Money Magazine!
• Highest ACT scores in Wisconsin!
• Record-level SAT scores!
• Experienced, award-winning teachers!
• Record-winning numbers of National Merit Scholars!
• Named “Best Place to Live in America” by Money Magazine!
• Madison recent winner of over 25 major national honors!
• Exceptional quality of life!

True enough but not to put too fine a point on it-Madison is a YUPPY town par excellance- many non yups ,even wealthly ones,find the all sing coom bay ya atmosphere tiring, even oppressive.

[davit]

Originally Posted by Wingfoot

True enough but not to put too fine a point on it-Madison is a YUPPY town par excellance- many non yups ,even wealthly ones,find the all sing coom bay ya atmosphere tiring, even oppressive.

Wildly liberal over educated tree-huggers!! A pretty noisy minority, but as the saying goes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[Wingfoot]

Was in Madison yesterday, rapidly becoming ghetto.Many used to-be nice areas now dirty and gritty-traffic out of a control etc etc-10 yrs from now will be MKE west.

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by NicePolishBoy

I wish I knew more about Menasha, but I'll tell you about a nearby city.

I would agree about the real part of the previous message. I've lived in the western and eastern parts of NY State, and I would definitely call it real. I compare notes with someone on the street from the south and neither of us see the friendliness in nearby Oshkosh as real. Now, maybe we just don't understand the nature of it here! Could be.

People from the NE are just more direct--they'll stab you in the front. I don't know about all of Wisconsin, but people in Oshkosh will stab you in the back. I'll take the knife from the front. People from places like Mass and NY don't pretend to be nice. They are nice or not to you. I've met plenty of both in New York, but you know where they stand. My experiences with people in Milwaukee have been much closer to my experiences in Ohio and NY than in Oshkosh.

I can't say that of Oshkosh. Neighbors will do something really obnoxious and then act like you are out of line by politely telling them about it. It is considered rude to stand up for yourself here. My friend from the south says that the obnoxious behavior(s) would not have happened in the south. If it did, someone would be embarrassed by the polite notification.

Here, people get upset if you tell them, for example, not to have their dogs poop on your yard every day. There is a "freedom" concept here that is 'free to do' rather than 'free from.' Dogs, including mean one, run wild in even the best neighborhoods, and the Oshkosh natives tend to think this is part of their freedom.

The last state I lived in was Ohio, and this place was a culture shock. I can't say whether Menasha is like Oshkosh or not. I'd read the leaving Wisconsin thread for one side of the story, in addition to the positive threads.

I'm sorry to hear that you haven't met the kind of people which would have given you a better experience here, but I should point out that blue-collar po-dunk Oshkosh is hardly the best example to judge the state on. In 31 years of living in WI I have not had these kinds of experiences.

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by mededitorinnc

Hi All:

My daughter and I are seriously considering a move to Menasha, WI. We have lived in Charlotte, NC for 8 years. I was born and raised in Memphis and Savannah, TN. My daughter was born in Memphis, TN. We lived in South Boston, MA for a few years about 13 years ago. Now, heading to Menasha, WI. In comparing costs of living, cultures, etc., what can we expect? We are aware of the climate in WI and considering that we hate the humid summers here and lack of snow and "real winter," the weather is a definite plus for the both of us. I telecommute and will be taking my job with me, so employment opportunites are not an issue for me. My daughter is 18 - wondering if this is a good area for people her age? Also, what is the general attitude to newcomers? When we moved from TN to MA, we were not welcomed in the least, and in fact, were treated badly, and found that most had applied their "Southern people" stereotype to us before knowing us. This is something I want to avoid.

Any advice or tips would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

First thing I'll tell you is that many of us love southern people 'round these parts. You guys are alot like us in many ways, and I base that on the southern folk I've been fortunate enough to meet over the years. Actually my boss grew up in Alabama. WI is not at all an uppity, egotistical kind of atmosphere (I suppose Madison can get close at times and I imagine super liberal whiny Boston to be ). Sure, we've got our share of jerkoffs like any place else, but for the most part, the Fox Valley (Menasha area) is kind of like a bunch of big "small" towns - it's quiet, safe, polite, there's concerts in the park and high school football games and all that.

May I ask why you picked Menasha? Not the first choice of most. Menasha is a bit of a run down town; very blue collar, not much shopping. Its got one or two nice parks and the small downtown has a couple of good restaurants. My first choices would be Appleton or Neenah, either of which directly surround Menasha. Neenah actually has a couple of snobs, but it's more fun to laugh about that because, c'mon, you're from little Neenah, WI, you're not that awesome

If you search my username you should find lots of good things I wrote about Appleton. Too much to list here, but in short it's a great city with alot of shopping, a good downtown, lots of parks, nice people, quiet, low crime, all that.

Winter - there's a couple of threads going on the subject right now, look for the "winter questions" one, should be on the first page. It's probably colder with less snow (on normal years) than Boston.

edit, just noticed someone dug this post up from January, lol.