Most beautiful town in Wisconsin? (Milwaukee, Madison: apartment, rentals, theater)

[plantedbystreams]

Hi, I'm new here and I was delighted to find this forum on the web! What a great website.

So I am presently living in Michigan, but I plan to move to the state of Wisconsin this summer. I'm trying to decide on a town to relocate to. Which would you say is the most beautiful/visually pleasing town in Wisconsin? I've been eyeing (and researching) Mineral Point and Stevens Point for a while. The buildings and streets in Mineral Point look especially pretty.

I used the word "town" in my question because I'd like to live in a small(ish) town as opposed to a big city. Preferably somewhere thats easy enough to get around if you have a bicycle but no car. I would be renting a small apartment or room that's in walking distance (or bus riding distance) to the grocery store and other necessities. I also love the outdoors and plan to be spending quite a bit of time out in nature. But it's the appearance of the town itself --the buldings, streets, etc-- that are of most importance to me.

So what do you think? What is the most beautiful town in Wisconsin?

[sholomar]

Grafton. Amazing amount of commercial shopping right along the interstate, plenty of sports bars and restaurants, great downtown, bike path across the entire county north to south, (ozaukee interurban trail, is marked on google maps), near lake michigan, tons of parks nearby. Aside from Mequon and Cederburg, one of the most expensive towns to perhaps live in in the state. All of Ozaukee county is really nice. Port Washington and Belgium would be cheaper to live in and still close enough. Both towns also intersect that bike path.

[Gehrs]

Ephriam (Door Cty)

[nidex]

I disagree with Grafton being the "prettiest" town in Wisconsin. It's just another bland suburb, almost far enough out to be an ex-urb. Either way, you will really be struggling in a small Wisconsin town without a car. In Milwaukee County and I'm sure around Madison it is plausible to rely on the bus, but anywhere else... forget it. I know you said you have a bicycle... but when you need to go to the store in January, how pleasant/safe is that going to be?

I think you're in the right ballpark with Stevens Point. It will have a decent amount of rentals because of the college population. I used to spend a lot of time around Glenbeulah, it's very charming with a couple events (like the firemen's picnic) in the summer. However, you will need to go to Plymouth for groceries, not really doable without a car. Also don't think you'd find anything to rent there, but it's a possibility.

[bay2bay]

Originally Posted by Gehrs

Ephriam (Door Cty)

I'll second that.

[Drover]

You might look into a town somewhere in the driftless area. Mineral Point, Dodgeville, Prairie du Sac/Sauk City, Virocqua, La Crosse, etc. Often there's nothing spectacular about the towns themselves -- typically they're built in the flat valleys because that's the easiest place to build towns -- but they're often neat and tidy little places and the surrounding countryside is quite lovely.

If you're more into the Northwoods/Lake Country motiff, there's always the resort areas like Sturgeon Bay, Eagle River, Minocqua, Arbor Vitae, Hayward, et cetera.

[nonexpat]

Spring Green is the most beautiful town in Wisconsin. Located in the valley close to green, rolling hills and the beautiful Wisconsin River, it boasts a world-class Shakespearean/classical theater, Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and numerous art galleries. It is only a 40 minute drive to Madison and The Wisconsin Dells, various ski hills and other attractions.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by plantedbystreams

Hi, I'm new here and I was delighted to find this forum on the web! What a great website.

So I am presently living in Michigan, but I plan to move to the state of Wisconsin this summer. I'm trying to decide on a town to relocate to. Which would you say is the most beautiful/visually pleasing town in Wisconsin? I've been eyeing (and researching) Mineral Point and Stevens Point for a while. The buildings and streets in Mineral Point look especially pretty.

I used the word "town" in my question because I'd like to live in a small(ish) town as opposed to a big city. Preferably somewhere thats easy enough to get around if you have a bicycle but no car. I would be renting a small apartment or room that's in walking distance (or bus riding distance) to the grocery store and other necessities. I also love the outdoors and plan to be spending quite a bit of time out in nature. But it's the appearance of the town itself --the buldings, streets, etc-- that are of most importance to me.

So what do you think? What is the most beautiful town in Wisconsin?

Where in Michigan are you moving from?

[susancruzs]

The driftless area is really pretty, and Mineral Point is nice, hard to imagine being in a small town, apart from other towns then not having transportation to get from point A to point B.

[Stone1]

This may not be the ideal place but LaCrosse has been mentioned so I thought I would point out somethings about the area. It is very nice with the rivers,and bluffs around it. You can get around by bicycle but they also have a very good MTU system which also provides some service to outlying areas like Onalaska. If you like public transportation, you can get everything you need done by riding the bus.