Waupun, WI (Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton: city hall, homes, look for a job)

[jjto2001]

Ok- thinking about moving to Waupun. Anyone have positives or negatives? We're used to living in Holland, MI. (If anyone knows that area) We love our current area but need to move for a job. Are there good hospitals in this area? My wife is a Nurse Practitioner and will need to look for a job. We also have two kids- are the schools good?

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by jjto2001

Ok- thinking about moving to Waupun. Anyone have positives or negatives? We're used to living in Holland, MI. (If anyone knows that area) We love our current area but need to move for a job. Are there good hospitals in this area? My wife is a Nurse Practitioner and will need to look for a job. We also have two kids- are the schools good?

I grew up in Waupun and Ive been there off and on ever since. It strikes me as an overly-regulated town. If you don't mind conforming with the neighbor's ideas of propriety, you'll be OK. The church has a lot of power there (Christian Reformed)---Supermarkets and restaurants were still closed on Sundays in Waupun until into the 90s, and my mother was afraid to hang her laundry out on Sundays, for fear the neighbors would think her a sinner. Waupun residents successfully "discouraged" African Americans from living there, too, until less than ten years ago. I think most people in Waupun, being Dutch, have relatives in Grand Rapids/Holland MI, probably including Pete Hoekstra, which is a common name in Waupun, so you should feel right at home there...

There are no decent restaurants there, everybody goes out of town to eat. There is no WalMart or anything similar, and you have to shop out of town for competitive prices on some fairly ordinary things like jeans or a toaster. The hospital seems to me to be quite good for a town that size. There are also large comprehensive health centers in Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac, both within a 30-minute drive.

The people are overly fastidious, they mow their lawns with nail clippers, and look down their noses at you if you if you leave a leaf on your grass. It's had a reputation as a speed trap for decades, so make sure you don''t exceed the local speed limit or make a rolling stop at a stop sign. (No, its not sour grapes, I never got stopped.) Get your kids bikes---it's a confirmed bike town. Get one yourself.

It's the most conservative town in the world to have a life-size nude statue on the city hall lawn. The name of the town rhymes with the bus conductor's cheerful "Hop on!", and saying it wrong will tip you as an ousider.

[Bowie]

I used to work with a guy who commuted from Waupun to Madison. He claimed that the only good jobs there were at the prison. Since he liked both living in Waupun and working for the state, he endured the long commute.

[SLSGA]

Could anyone tell us how the commute is from Waupun to Madison, especially during the winter months. My husband and I may relocate to WI and would have to live between Appleton and Madison to be able to commute in opposite directions for our jobs in Appleton and Madison. We are also looking at Beaver Dam.
Any inputs on
(1) the commute (nearly an hour one way by mapquest) and
(2) choice of living in Waupun or Beaver Dam
would be greatly appreciated.

[TAB1452]

I forgot to answer the commute question in the previous reply but I have traveled it a bit in winter months and it is better then most other commutes you will have...with the high amount of traffic that goes back and forth from madison to smaller communities along the way it is plowed and salted quite a bit but you will have a few crazy drivers to avoid along the way

[jtur88]

Beaver Dam has many more shopping opportunities, everyone from Waupun shops there. There would probably only be about 2 or 3 days per winter when the roads would be really bad, during an active storm with no visibility. Call in sick on those days. Otherwise, it will be pretty good.

[SLSGA]

Thank you for your replies.
Mapquest gives me an estimate of
~50minutes travel time between Beaver Dam and University of Wisconsin, Madison (40miles) and ~1hr15min between Beaver Dam and Appleton.
Is that a reasonable estimate or do the drives usually take longer?

Thanks!

[TAB1452]

In my experiences I would say it's about an hour from BD to Appleton...and I would say the Madison one depends on what time of day you are driving...Madison will have a higher influx of traffic and I've never had to drive there on a consistent basis so I would not be able to help but I'd assume its no more then an hour

[waupunchamber]

Originally Posted by jjto2001

Ok- thinking about moving to Waupun. Anyone have positives or negatives? We're used to living in Holland, MI. (If anyone knows that area) We love our current area but need to move for a job. Are there good hospitals in this area? My wife is a Nurse Practitioner and will need to look for a job. We also have two kids- are the schools good?

Waupun does have a hospital and there are neighboring communities (within 30 minutes) that also have medical facilities. The Waupun Area School District website has information on their schools. http://www.waupun.k12.wi.us/newsfile13933_1.pdf There is also a private Christian 4K-12 grade school, Central WI Christian in Waupun that has a good reputation for high test scores. The City is located within an hour of Madison, Milwaukee and Fox Cities; if you are looking for larger cultural activities. Waupun has many parks. We have a population of approximately 10,000. There are no major malls or shopping centers but you can get your basics in town as we have two grocery stores, Radio Shack, Walgreens and an Ace Hardware store. As for restaurants, we have many to choose from including; 2 Chinese restaurants, Italian, Mexican and homestyle cooking as well as a couple of bar/grill type establishments. I encourage you to come to Waupun and the surrounding area and see for yourself all we have to offer.

[waupunchamber]

Waupun is about half way between Appleton and Madison. Wisconsin weather can always be treacherous in winter as it changes quickly and it might be sunny where you are and snowing at home. In choosing between Waupun & Beaver Dam will depend on the type of community you are looking for as far as size, shopping, etc. Beaver Dam will put you slightly closer to Madison than Appleton. It also takes about an hour to get to Milwaukee from Waupun, so as you can see we are very centrally located to many large metro areas in the State. Waupun also is situated along side the Horicon Marsh Federal Wildlife Refuge & is known as the City of Sculpture due to our large collection of outdoor scultpures. The City also boasts of many parks, walking trails, a hospital and a great variety of restaurants. Come see what we have to offer