could i be your neighbor? (Milwaukee, Madison: house, to buy, construction)

[kbug3]

We are searching for a small town, with a farmers market,parades, good schools, a town square..your typical perfect small town..but within driving of a bigger town for shopping. say 20min. We enjoy the outdoors, parks, hiking etc. We would like to be near some water, as we have lived near it our entire lives. (Chesapeake Bay in MD) We think Wisc. is such a beautiful state, i have family in Knapp..we have heard Middleton is nice..but it maybe to BIG..We have three small children, and need a town that is welcoming of strangers and strong family values. Thank you so much for any help...I am a stay at home mom and my husband works in Construction..not a great field to be in right now..but he can do alot of things.. again thanks

[JoshB]

I would look at Lake Mills, and Baraboo.

[dlk33]

Originally Posted by kbug3

We are searching for a small town, with a farmers market,parades, good schools, a town square..your typical perfect small town..but within driving of a bigger town for shopping. say 20min. We enjoy the outdoors, parks, hiking etc. We would like to be near some water, as we have lived near it our entire lives. (Chesapeake Bay in MD) We think Wisc. is such a beautiful state, i have family in Knapp..we have heard Middleton is nice..but it maybe to BIG..We have three small children, and need a town that is welcoming of strangers and strong family values. Thank you so much for any help...I am a stay at home mom and my husband works in Construction..not a great field to be in right now..but he can do alot of things.. again thanks

What size city do you consider too big?

[hankejp]

The Wausau Area might be a good fit. Sounds like it has everything you're looking for.

[JDCATONSVILLE]

Where abouts in Maryland are you from? I was born and raised in the Arbutus/Catonsville area. My wife, two kids and I moved to Merrill Wisconsin in November 2007 and we just love living here in north central Wisconsin. We both work in Wausau which is about 20 miles south of Merrill, but with only two stop signs it takes me less time than any commute I had back in Maryland. We feel that it is definitly a lot better quality of life for any family. The cost of housing is much cheaper and so is the cost of living in general. There is less congestion with people and traffic, less crime, less polution and lot more of the good things in life. There are some things that we do miss about Maryland like the ocean, steamed crabs, the pizza we had back there,french fries w/gravy and pit beef. But all in all there is nothing that we miss that much that would make us want to move back and have to deal with the things that made us want to move from there in the first place. Wausau is the "big" city around here and it pretty much has most of what you would be looking for as far as shopping and restaraunts, but it was a little too big for us to want to buy a house there so that's why we looked at all the surrounding areas when we were searching for a home. We found that Merrill had the house and town that we were looking for, but there are plenty of areas within the same distance of Wausau that you could choose from. If you have any questions just let me know I would be more then happy to help in any way I can.

[catfeathers]

Originally Posted by kbug3

We are searching for a small town, with a farmers market,parades, good schools, a town square..your typical perfect small town..but within driving of a bigger town for shopping. say 20min. We enjoy the outdoors, parks, hiking etc. We would like to be near some water, as we have lived near it our entire lives. (Chesapeake Bay in MD) We think Wisc. is such a beautiful state, i have family in Knapp..we have heard Middleton is nice..but it maybe to BIG..We have three small children, and need a town that is welcoming of strangers and strong family values. Thank you so much for any help...I am a stay at home mom and my husband works in Construction..not a great field to be in right now..but he can do alot of things.. again thanks

Oconomowoc...approx. 13,000 people
farmer's market; parades, excellent schools, nice walkable downtown, surrounded by two lakes (one is the 'walk around' lake...walking takes you downtown and around the lake!
within 20 minutes of Waukesha, 45-60 min of Milwaukee and Madison.
Lots of parks and areas to hike...we even have a tiny ski hill!

Watertown is a nice little place too, as well as Lake Mills ..that has a nice town square, and a great micro-brewery!
Middleton is nice, too, but it seems 'big' to me....Monroe is also nice though, and fairly close to Madison.

[Milwaukee City]

From Oconomowoc to downtown Milwaukee, I can make it during non-peak hours in 25mins.

[MSPLove]

I wouldn't rule out the Eau Claire area. The surrounding area has plenty of smaller towns. Festivals, farmer's markets, that kind of thing. Good schools. Very green. My cousin lives in the tiny town of Loyal. Barely a blip on the map, but it's just east of EC in the next county. And Eau Claire has a population of maybe a little under 70,000. (I can't remember the exact population.) And you're also very near Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN at that point. Just a couple hours.... but you wouldn't know it. It's cool... there's no hint at all in the lifestyle of the people that you're anywhere near a major city while you're driving through the countryside and farmland of that part of Wisconsin, and yet you are.

[LML]

I'd add my vote for Lake Mills. It is everything that small town America is imagined to be and seldom is. And it is an easy drive to either Madison or Milwaukee.

[rbehs]

I think Port Washington matches all of the requirements.