Should I move to WI? (Milwaukee, Madison: crime, cheap house, buy)

[antipode12]

Originally Posted by BlackKnight

Teaching salaries in Wisconsin are pretty good and the retirement system is one of the best you can find. It is also possible to find less expensive places to live. The comments about the cost of living in Madison are pretty accurate - you'll spend a lot more to live in that area for housing, but most other things are comparable to other parts of the state.

What are your teaching areas (you and your girlfriend)? There is a real shortage in some fields that allow you to get better offers than others. I work for a school district that will pay for related professional experience in certain teaching fields putting you higher on the salary schedule. In some cases, we have even paid bonuses and moving expenses. Reply or send an e-mail and let me know your fields. I might even have a job you would be interested in.

Well, we're both English teachers, so I know we generally are in less demand. However, as long as it's not a feeding frenzy, I'm sure I'd find a nice place to land.

One of my greatest concerns has to be salary. Based on the average salaries I read about in WI (household averages from $68K to $80K). I'm not sure how people scrape by. I mean, with car payments, rent, student loans, and retirement funds, it looks tight. And it doesn't seem feasible to start saving for a house. Any thoughts?

lem: no football fans, here. Would we be caned in public (or simply bored)?

[B'Goshboy]

Originally Posted by antipode12

Well, we're both English teachers, so I know we generally are in less demand. However, as long as it's not a feeding frenzy, I'm sure I'd find a nice place to land.

One of my greatest concerns has to be salary. Based on the average salaries I read about in WI (household averages from $68K to $80K). I'm not sure how people scrape by. I mean, with car payments, rent, student loans, and retirement funds, it looks tight. And it doesn't seem feasible to start saving for a house. Any thoughts?

lem: no football fans, here. Would we be caned in public (or simply bored)?

In all probability, your portion of Wisconsin Retirement would be paid for you by your school District. There are some districts that will put $$ into a TSA for you if you don't take the health insurance, so get married.

From what I've seen for starting teachers is about $27K to $30K, but that is for the 9 months.

[lem]

Originally Posted by antipode12

Well, we're both English teachers, so I know we generally are in less demand. However, as long as it's not a feeding frenzy, I'm sure I'd find a nice place to land.

One of my greatest concerns has to be salary. Based on the average salaries I read about in WI (household averages from $68K to $80K). I'm not sure how people scrape by. I mean, with car payments, rent, student loans, and retirement funds, it looks tight. And it doesn't seem feasible to start saving for a house. Any thoughts?

lem: no football fans, here. Would we be caned in public (or simply bored)?

Absolutely not caned in public, just private

Actually Green Bay and the surrounding area get a terrible rep for being packer packer packer when in reality the only day like that is sunday.Green Bay and the Fox Cities in the valley are some of the fastest growing areas in the country and if given a chance i would certainly take a peek next time your here.

[BlackKnight]

The truth is, you could easily make it on two teachers' salaries if you're willing to live simply for a few years. Though homes in the Madison area are still pretty high priced, the housing market is cooling quickly which is a huge benefit to first time home buyers who don't have to worry about selling a home before buying. Find something affordable (but not near the limits of what the bank says you qualify to borrow) and build up the equity - while taking advantage of the tax deductions. Maybe even find something you can put some sweat equity into. I bought a house in Madison for $84,000 in 1993 and sold it for $165,000 in 2004 after doing some improvements. At the same time, my wife and I drove used cars, got by with our old furniture, and carried no debt other than our mortgage. We accelerated payments on the house saving lots of interest and were able to move into a new home in a great neighborhood and furnish it pretty nicely. We also waited until we were in a good financial position before having kids - they get expensive quickly.

Something to think about is look to locate between a couple of the larger cities where your work options are better. A lot of couples live between Madison and Milwaukee with one spouse working in each of those metro areas. Another good option, if only one of you gets hired right away, is to substitute teach for multiple districts. Madison pays subs very well and has a sophisticated automated sub system that allows you to be selective about when and where you work. They also have some benefits for subs if you work enough.

In the meantime, if one of you doesn't get hired immediately, you can also start to work on a masters degree. There are a lot of options for that and the initial graduate credits and the masters when complete will provide a significant boost on the salary schedule - not to mention the classes will help make you a better teacher.

I hope this helps and good luck!!

[antipode12]

Those are good ideas.

It's just a little scary when you know it will be tight, both of you are starting (hopefully) with new jobs, AND you're moving X-country.

Anyhow, *lem* help me convince my girlfriend. She's skeptical about WI in general because she loves to ski. What are her options?

[Primal1]

What type of skiing? The snowfalls in southern WI have been meager to moderate the past few years so even cross country skiing can be difficult. We have several downhill ski hills that make their own snow so skiing can be done most of the season. The U P (Michigans Upper Peninsula) has better ski hills and is is a 5-7 hr drive to get there. Northern WI can have good cross country trails and downhill all season.

And My $.02 on Wisconsin in general as a place to live. I am a lifelong resident and called Madison home for most of my years but now live in Beaver Dam. I think WI is a great place to live. People talk about "high Taxes" but the difference is here we call them taxes and other states have "fees" not actually taxes but you have to pay them nonetheless. So I think it's pretty much a wash all over. You need to somehow pay for good roads, schools and everything else which WI has.

I've traveled a bit and there is no other place that really makes me want to move there over here. I think that it's going to be what you make of it. Friendly people find friendly people where ever they go. I have always had strangers wave or nod hello everywhere here and I respond too.

We don't have the amount of historical background that NY may have but we've got history from the 1600's when the french explorers came down the Fox/Wisconson rivers to the Mississippi. Of course the Native population has a much longer history. We have wonderful scenic areas too. We are the home to some of the best enviromentalists the nation has produced. John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Gaylord Nelson to name several. It' a great state to bicycle also. Rated very high as far as the different and difficult terrains to ride in. We have numerous ethnic/local festivals all over Wi. There is always something to go see or do.

It's a smaller state that up until a few years ago had more dairy cows than people. We dont get the newest things first here compared to the coasts but Madison has been called the "Berkely of the midwest" and has things appear sooner there than the rest of the state. Of course the internet is exposing people faster to new things in more areas now too. People just don't adopt new things as fast here. The bulk of the state can be catargorized as conservative with large liberal metro areas. We have had some very good political represenitives and a few bad as anywhere else.

So all in all I'd say it's a great place to live. As said before it's what you make of it. Come give us a look over. We need good dedicated teachers too. As in any profession there are the ones that are just there until they retire and don't or can't make any difference.

Dave

[lem]

Sorry i took so long to respond, i was on vacation in Somerset Wisconsin floating down the Apple River, anyway Primal pretty much summed it up with snow skiing but if your into water skiing i swear you won't have to drive more than 10-15 miles anywhere to find a lake. I think once you check us out you'll see that we are nice to put it in the blandest terms possible

[proud wisconsinite]

Originally Posted by Primal1

I've traveled a bit and there is no other place that really makes me want to move there over here. I think that it's going to be what you make of it. Friendly people find friendly people where ever they go. I have always had strangers wave or nod hello everywhere here and I respond too.
Dave

EXCELLENT point! I love your comment on friendly people finding friendly people wherever they go. I'm a firm believer in that. I too have always had strangers wave or nod hello everywhere. You get the occasional downer that won't nod or smile back and will look away, but that I've had anywhere, in fact, more often when I'm travelling. Great comments!

[WiscNativeAmerican]

Ahniin niijii (hello friend) - antipode12, you asked about the porcupine "problem" LOL - that darn porcupine has darn near chewed all the wooden support posts on my back porch clear through! I am having to replace them this year! He's a pest but I don't want to shoot him, after all, I'm invading his territory, not the other way around! Someone suggested spraying the posts with WD40 & it has seemed to work.

Anyway, I LOVE Wisconsin! I lived in other states but still love it here! And there's skiing in Wausau on Rib Mountain.

[Schnidly]

I live in SE Wisconsin, Mukwonago, the schools in Waukesha County are ranked near the top in the nation, taxes are low by Wisconsin standards and we have the Kettle Moraine Forest and over 135 lakes in this county for recreation, most are crystal clean! The economy in Waukesha County is thriving, I have met alot of relocating people from all over Wisconsin because of the job market here! We are between Madison and Milwaukee, small town atmosphere, but close enough to bigger cities to get our cultural fix! The only way to find more lakes in Wisconsin is to head north of hwy 2 from what I have been told! Also, the Mukwonago River is one of the most protected rivers in the entire state with over 32 species of fish if thats your thing! WE LOVE IT HERE!