Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, the Mpls/St. Paul area is crazy expensive and way out of wack with the rest of the state. It's a nice place to visit but it's a mystery to me why people live there.
If you can adapt to a smaller metro, Rochester MN is a good pick. (I live in the boonies about an hour away.) Take a look at property prices via zillow.com or realtor.com using an area wide search, and take a look at the stats about Rochester on the regular CD site //www.city-data.com/city/Rochester-Minnesota.html and see if it fits what you want.
FYI, I lived in Madison, WI and hated it, and have visited Rochester, NY and loved it.
So you think it should be fine to get a job in the pharmacy techninian field up there? Since I am from the Alps I of course love the outdoors, thats for sure, from fishing to mountainbiking to just hang around... so does my Fiance and that is incredibly important to us. Thats why we need wand want to settle down with a nice House/Hobby farm with 2 - 3 acres.
It could be very well and we would love to look further into that area you have mentioned. We have only looked into Minneapolis and around (of course we figured that there are the better jobs with the higher pay...) and it was crazy and shocking.
You said that schools are excellent - any good montessori schools around there? Also I bet that one can buy a good amount of local products and food from farmers markets...?
Thank you very much. I ll look into your link now.
There are lots of other places you might like very much if you let go of the "big city" idea. If you'll open up your concept of "city" to smaller metros you'll find lots of other good options throughout America, IMHO.
Last edited by 601halfdozen0theother; 06-30-2014 at 12:59 PM..
There are lots of other places you might like very much if you let go of the "big city" idea. If you'll open up your concept of "city" to smaller metros you'll find lots of other good options throughout America, IMHO.
I agree and areas like Ithaca NY, La Crosse WI, Duluth MN and Holland MI, among others, could work. It may be a matter of specificity in terms of what you want OP, but you have more options than you may think. It really will depend on what you are looking for.
There may be areas with a decent sized city with enough of what you are looking for, but aren't in a metro. So, that may be something to consider too.
Another thing I thought about is that given that you have a daughter, perhaps you could look into private colleges/universities for employment. I say that because many offer a benefit that could allow your daughter to attend that college/university or if they are in a system such as Tuition Exchange which allows for attendance at other colleges/universities in that system at a reduced cost. Here are some private colleges in NY State, for examples: NY Colleges
Other states that you are looking into may also have private colleges/universities with similar benefits. Tuition Exchange
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 06-30-2014 at 02:33 PM..
Well, what we want is a home or hobby farm off the land, near or outside of a nice village with a bigger city, "bigger", in reach so that she can attend montessori school, college and we have employment opportunities in the city. my fiance does have a jewelry business as her second income. she is extremely into that and very succesful aswell. so maybe that might be something to consider aswell.
I agree, private colleges for employment is not a bad idea at all! very good one! I am sure I could find work anyhow, in the IT or business administration sector; pharmacy techs get paid very differently from state to state, AZ aint bad at all with the pay, but seriously, its not worth it for us... its all relative. #
Thanks so much again! Great job with your help, highly appreciated. Were gonna sit down and take a look at WI, MN and all the places mentioned above!
Look at Jefferson County, WI in Johnson Creek, Lake Mills, and Jefferson areas. Also unincorporated areas in between are filled with family or hobby farms that can be well within the price range you mentioned. One I know in particular for sale in Johnson Creek at $189K needs a little work but has a beautiful home with some effort.
Jefferson Schools are great, Johnson Creek just passed a referendum for new middle/high school, and Lake Mills has excellent schools at all levels.
Johnson Creek is on the interstate midway between metro Milwaukee and metro Madison with suburbs and malls within 30 minutes each way - city center 45 minutes each way. Also directly to the south 30 minutes is Janesville, a decent sized town and one hour north is Oshkosh (EAA Airfest) and the start of the Fox Valley area. Johnson Creek is only 2800 people but has a 70 store outlet mall, a truck stop, 10-plex theater, and good restaraunt choices. A landmark supper club is being converted to a 500 seat music live stage venue to open next year.
Lake Mills is also on the interstate ~7 miles closer to Madison. Beautiful downtown, central park area, and Rock Lake with beaches, watersports, and fishing. Slightly pricier than Johnson Creek, more artsy-fartsy, bedroom community. I personally love this town - just found a better priced home 11 years ago in Johnson Creek and have stayed since.
Jefferson is the county seat, and is located south of Johnson Creek on Hwy 26. Rock River flows through it and city has a significant German/Bavarian heritage. More to do here, downtown shopping area struggling to keep up with malls and business moves to highway bypass. Ethanol plant, Purina (cat food I think), Tyson Foods, and other light industrial make a pretty good business mix. There is a significant Hispanic population in the county, particularly in Jefferson and Fort Atkinson to the south.
With the very strong economy in Madison and the improving situation in Milwaukee area, I highly recommend this over MN and IL. IL is broke and business' cannot get out fast enough as the state is taxing them to death. MN not much better. WI growth has been slow and it is a politically divided state, but the pendulum is swinging back to positive growth numbers and several significant corporate announcements bode well for southern WI near future.
Thanks a lot! So you are from WI? Awesome, thank you so much for your advice! Yes, we are looking for a place like that, exactly. Out little hobby farm, a strong economy (or stable at least in our careers) with good school... since I was born, raised and lived in southern bavaria for a long long time, the cultural heritage of the people in Wisconsin is of course something that attracts me aswell.
How do you experience life, family life in Wisconsin and the people up there in general? Do you know about properties and their costs in the areas you have mentioned? Do you think it would be easier to find work their in the medical/pharmacy sector?
Actually - I am a lifelong resident of WI and currently live in Johnson Creek. We are in the process of relocating out of state due to a career opportunity but have loved Wisconsin for life and Jefferson County for 11 years personally. My parents are both from Lake Mills originally and we have relatives there so are also very familiar with that town/area which is only 7 miles away. My wife is originally from Milwaukee so we are familiar with most of the state. I recently spent a couple years managing a transportation company that encompassed the entire state - so have familiarity with most of it.
Wisconsin people are generally friendly, most are pretty easy going. In true Germanic fashion, most are slow to change and accept new ideas but incredibly kind and loyal to the death to their friends. We have enjoyed building deep friendships and will miss the area greatly as we take on a new adventure. Side note - Beer is a way of life here, plan on it being everywhere. People aren't nosy, they just aren't private either. Small town WI includes letting down barriers and being a little vulnerable. The alternative is letting gossip take over and people will assume they know your business instead of actually knowing your business.
Madison economy never really faltered. I think peak unemployment there was at or under 3% and the area real estate market continues to recover rapidly. Homes are selling in close suburbs (Dane County) at list prices and moving quickly. Jefferson County is nest along the freeway and offers a little relief from the Madison market and significant relief from Madison taxes. Madison is "progressive" - so there are some benefits to living there if you lean left. Most of the rest of the state other than Milwaukee is pretty conservative so there is some political and ideological division in the state. Jefferson County is in the middle of the two metro areas and so has developed a little bit into a mix without any overt conflict some areas have seen.
Job opportunities in pharma/medical will likely be best around Madison but I think fairly strong in most areas. That field is strong even when others have been weak and there are several medical groups in the areas including UW Health, Aurora, and Wheaton Fransiscan Health that are all operating in many of the local towns. We also have numerous pharmacies and independent clinics.
Within reasonable reach of metro areas but retaining affordable home options makes the choices relatively limited in WI outside of the southern part of the state. I suggest you take a map and draw a circle around Madison at ~25 miles and do the same for Milwaukee. Inside the circles prices for land/homes will be much higher. Moving out, the prices drop. Best convenience to services and choices for quality of life will be near the circles but outside the high $$ areas.
Other areas to consider are any location with a UW campus. Those areas are always stronger economically and offer a little more than similar cities/towns without the student population. Whitewater, Stevens Point, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Oshkosh, Superior, or the Wausau area.
If you wanted a 4 bdr home on a double lot in the Village but not a hobby farm we could make a great deal. Instead I can refer you to a great non-pushy realtor if you are interested in learning more about area properties. Otherwise, keep the questions coming, I will answer whatever I can.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
