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.
I've accepted a job in the Merrill/Wausau area, start work in a couple weeks. Big move for us, I'm from the St. Louis area so I know a bit about snow and driving in it, and cold weather to an extent. I've traveled a lot of the U.S., but never got to spend much time in Wisconsin, much less northern WI, so I'm wondering what to expect. I keep hearing horror stories about winters, snow, etc. So, ok some questions. Yeah, I know, search is my friend, but most of the threads seem to be pretty old, some back to 2006, looking for some more recent info. Half the threads of "should I move to Wisconsin" wind up political discussions about the place the person is moving from.
Winters, just how bad is it? I'm used to snow, cold, such as a week or so where the high is -2 or so, and having to chip a quarter inch of ice off my driveway. I've never really "NEEDED" a 4 wheel drive to get around in the snow, a rear wheel drive with snow tires and 2 60lb sand bags in the trunk did just find. The year I did finally break down and buy a 4WD suv there was only 1 good snow, then I moved to California. Otherwise, for the previous 25 years I drove in St. Louis in the snow, did just fine without.
Summers, how hot do they get? Do apartments absolutely NEED air conditioners? Lived in east TN and got by mostly with ceiling fans, window fans and open windows. Last couple summers in the Lou have been pretty hot though.
Any odd customs? I've gotten to specifying unsweetened or sweet tea from living in the south for a couple years. Know if someone says "bless his heart" it isn't a good thing. Any "local color" customs in the area?
Those familiar with the Wausau/Merrill area, where is a good place to look for apartments/rental housing other than Craigslist. The job is in Merrill, so far in Merrill I'm seeing rental mobile homes, a few upper/lower apartments, I'm assuming duplexes or what I would call '2 family flats" and a couple of apartment complexes. Wausau seems like more choices, the drive to Merrill not all that bad with the new hwy 51, maybe 15 minutes the couple times we drove it. Plus more going on. Wife will be back and forth to STL for a while for school, so for much of the time I'll be playing bachelor. I'm a cyclist so the availability of the biking trails in Wausau is attractive.
Eventually once the wife is done with school we'll be looking to buy house/land as in a few acres but for now a 2 bedroom apartment, hopefully in the $600-650 or below range will work fine. Any suggestions, good areas, areas to stay away from, etc? Do mobile homes in that area carry the same stigma that they do in the south? One requirement apparently is a garage, from what I gather not having one is not a good idea.
I've lived in the area and actually may be moving back in a couple weeks. Winters are bad, but you don't need 4-wheel drive unless you aren't that good of a driver.
The summers get plenty hot and humid, you need AC.
Not too many odd customs, there are a lot of hicks around, which is stereotypical but true.
Winters I could probably deal with, at least it looks like people have fun with it, ice fishing, snowmobiling, etc. I don't ski, tried that and snowboarding a couple times, with not so great results. We do like the outdoors though, have to get used to fishing for trout/walleye instead of bass and catfish.
Not too concerned about "hicks," lived and worked in some pretty small town areas in TN, MS, MO and such. Not big on dealing with gangbangers, luckily it seems they're not too common up that part of the country.
From my short visit, seems pretty eclectic, country bars/supper clubs next to antique stores selling quiche and salads for lunch. Wausau downtown has a definite "yuppie" vibe to it seems like. I'm sort of in-between hick and yuppie ends of the spectrum.
From what I've read/heard/seen it sounds real inviting, although I might be underestimating the winters.
I don't consider Wausau to be very Yuppyish at all. Sure, there are a few places, but for the most part, we are just down to earth people. The Winters seem to vary from one year to the next. Last year was very mild, this year it sucked and lasted for ever. I don't think it's gone yet. Summers are great up here, although it cam get humid. We have all kinds of fish up here.
Personally, I would live on the NW side of Wausau and drive to Merrill to work. It's about a 15 minute drive.
I don't live in Wausau but have been there many times. It is a nice area with plenty of outside things to do. The winters can get long and this winter is one of them. We did not have our first 60 degree day in the LaCrosse area, for this year, until April 26th and now some areas of Wisconsin are expecting over a half foot of snow thru tomorrow, May 2nd. The cold will be for much more time than you are used to in St. Louis; below 0 can be common during Dec - Feb.
Fishing should be good and your close to fishing/tourist spots like Eagle River, Minocqua, Boulder Jct. & Tomahawk, just to name a few.
Summers are short most of the time but do have some hot humid days so the AC is desirable. Last summer was the most humid that I can ever recall so our AC was on a lot, it sure made sleeping much better!
Winters I could probably deal with, at least it looks like people have fun with it, ice fishing, snowmobiling, etc. I don't ski, tried that and snowboarding a couple times, with not so great results. We do like the outdoors though, have to get used to fishing for trout/walleye instead of bass and catfish.
Not too concerned about "hicks," lived and worked in some pretty small town areas in TN, MS, MO and such. Not big on dealing with gangbangers, luckily it seems they're not too common up that part of the country.
From my short visit, seems pretty eclectic, country bars/supper clubs next to antique stores selling quiche and salads for lunch. Wausau downtown has a definite "yuppie" vibe to it seems like. I'm sort of in-between hick and yuppie ends of the spectrum.
From what I've read/heard/seen it sounds real inviting, although I might be underestimating the winters.
Great fishing to the north - northerns (that's "pike), walleye, perch, panfish and you can go out muskie hunting, too. Plenty of bass, actually, though more smallmouth than largemouth up there. Good trout streams northeast of Merrill.
A lot of places to road bike. If you like mountain biking, there are several excellent trail systems in the area, with the best being, in my humble opinion, Underdown, which is north of Merrill.
4 x 4 not necessary. If you find you are not getting traction and the sandbags aren't working, all-wheel drive is the better answer, I'm told. The nice thing about Wisconsin has always been that roads are a priority. Keep them in good condition, keep them plowed. You don't appreciate it until you live in another state with a similar climate that does not value infrastructure as highly.
4 x 4 not necessary. If you find you are not getting traction and the sandbags aren't working, all-wheel drive is the better answer, I'm told. The nice thing about Wisconsin has always been that roads are a priority. Keep them in good condition, keep them plowed. You don't appreciate it until you live in another state with a similar climate that does not value infrastructure as highly.
that's a good point, though i'd maybe add that if living on or near major roads and hiway access then one usually is on the roads plowed first and kept open. If one chooses to live further out in the country, their roads fall down the list of priorities. It's understandable, but it can be difficult for those out on backroads (been there, didnt like it lol). If one does choose to live off the beaten path, then i'd really recommend awd or 4wd.
The stretch north of Merril is beautiful especially in fall, we had grandparents in the Mountain area and i used to run routes up thru Rhinelander and Minoqua from Madison. Plenty of lakes to go do some fishing, just try and find those not so "touristy" which can get hit hard in summer
Someone had direct messaged me about Wausau. Here are the questions and my answers to them. THESE ARE ONLY MY OPINIONS!!!!!!!!!!! My answers are in Bold
Not a problem about the message. I've lived in the Wausau area for 35 of my 39 years.
I think Wausau is a great community. When I talk about Wausau, I'm referencing Wausau, Schofield, Rib Mt, Weston, and Rothschild. The are all coomunities that overflow into each other. I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
There is a big Catholic and Luthern presence in the area. I too am Catholic. There are 3 larger churches in the area; St. Therese in Rothschild, St. Michaels on the East side of Wausau and St. Anne on the west side of Wausau. There are also some smaller Catholic churches in the area as well. St. Anne's has by far the biggest fund raising event in the summer. It's all weekend long and they have a softball tournament, live music, and different event gong on all the time. I know St. Anne's does fish fry's during this time, but not sure if they or the other churches do Friday fish fries. if not, it's not too big of a deal because almost every other restaurant does.
1) Now, I have also read here & there, that the water is contaminated, that something is up???
Have you heard of this rumor, what do you know?
I am worried about this, because my mother
has cancer
I have never heard this. I find the water quality in the metro area to be great. I actually love drinking the water out of the faucet.
2) Also, I have also heard that Wisconsin is very liberal, but it also has a history of a lot of Church type events, like Friday Fish Frys etc. In addition to your local type of activities. So, it has a community feel to it.
To give you an idea of what I like, I love New England towns, with their farmers markets, main streets, festivals, old architecture, history, etc. But, it is extremely liberal, Catholics are a minority & it has a high cancer rate overall
I don't really follow the politics a whole lot, but I think the area follows whatever the national trend is. Right now the national trend seems to be bashing the president and that's what you hear around here. It's not like everyone talks about it, but I think if you start talking politics with someone (which I try to avoid) the majority will bash the president. With that said, there are a lot of Republican state representatives elected in the area. But I don't think it's all that bad. There are a couple different farmer markets in the area. Weston has one and Wausau has one. The Wausau one is quite a bit bigger than Weston. In the Summer, there seems to be activity going on all the time. Some of the bigger activites are, The Balloon Rally/Chalk Fest, Art in the park, a couple of different fairs at Marathon Park, Weston Fest, the Church festivals throughout the summer, Birds in Art show, etc. The 400 block in Wausau also has live music during the weeknights on Thursdays I believe. There are others, but they slip my mind right now.
3) Is Wausau very liberal like Madison?
Will an old fashioned Catholic be OK there, and not feel discriminated against?
I don't think we are like Madison at all, at least I would like to think we are not. As stated earlier, I don't follow politics a whole lot. I would think that you would be just fine up here.
4) How is the economy there? The economy is doing ok up here. We have taken our lumps, as a couple big companies in the area closed their doors. Wausau Papers in Brokaw shut down as well as an Insurance company and a Window Manufacturer. Other companies that were laying off a few years ago, I think hired everyone back and I think business is starting to pick up again. I don't really look at what jobs are out there, because I'm gainfully employed and don't have a need to. It would appear that people are spending money here, so that's always good.
5) Is there a particular time of the year that is better for moving, to get a rental?
What about if I wanted to purchase, is there
a part of the year that is more favorable than another ?
On when to move? Anytime, but the winter time. I can't imaging having to move in the Winter, with the colder temps. Spring/Summer are definitely the best times to mover. The Spring time is usually when you start to see more houses go on the market for sale, although when talking to a realtor friend, he said he had the best February in quite a long time. There seem to be plenty of houses for sale in the area, of all different price ranges. House rentals seem to be hard to come by, but a lot of apartments/duplexes are for rent. If looking to rent, I would chose the Weston, Rothschild, or outskirts of the West side of town. Try to stay out of the city. For buying a home, you may consider the surrounding areas. I wouldn't buy in Wausau as the taxes are pretty high.
6) Have you heard of, or read of a lot of people getting cancer there?
I don't think people around here get cancer anymore than any other area, although I don't have any data to support that, but I haven't heard that at all. There are a couple of hospitals in the Wausau area, Aspirus and St. Claire's. St Joseph's hospital in about an hour away and UW Carbone Cancer Center is about a 2 1/2 hr drive in Madison.
Overall, I find the Wausau area to be quite enjoyable. I think I like it because we are in the middle of the state and in 3-4 hrs, we can be in a big city. I like to think of the Wausau area as the last bigger city before entering the Northwoods of Wisconsin. The weather is very nice in the summer. Winter can be a drag, but is tolerable for where we live. People are nice and considerate for the most part. I hope this helps you out in making your decision.
Good luck in your search.
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.
