Best Rural/Country areas to live in (Milwaukee, Madison: homes, schools)

[WIHomemaker]

Hey everyone, I currently live in the Milwaukee area. I've traveled around the state a bit, but for the most part have never gone further than about 3 hours west or north of Milwaukee. I am planning on moving soon and would like to go to a secluded, rural area. Can any of you tell me where in the state you feel are the best rural/country areas to live? I don't really care so much about the schools since I plan on homeschooling (SHOCKING I KNOW), but I do care about scenery, town size (the fewer people, the better), distance from a "big city" (hopefully not too far) and property prices. I've been leaning towards the counties of Dunn, St Croix, Price and Vernon. I'm even considering Dodge county (which isn't that far from Milwaukee). Where do you suggest? Thanks everyone!

[CowsAndBeer]

Somewhere in the northwoods or somewhere in the driftless. These areas are actually quite different (but both have many options), so it depends on what you're looking for specifically.

I'm going to be making a similar move from Milwaukee next year, so I'm interested in what everyone will have to say.

[Newbern]

It depends upon a lot of things, the first one being, 'do you need to work?'
Generally speaking, I'd draw a line from sheboygan west, to fondulac, over to reedsburg, then down to mineral point and don't live anywhere within that. I'd avoid the green bay area and the upper thumb.
I'd also avoid living around any indian reservations.


Basically, I'd live in central wisconsin.

[WIHomemaker]

Newbern, we won't need to worry about work since we have our own business. Cowsandbeer, I agree, those two areas are completely different but are equally as beautiful. Thanks for your responses. Keep 'em coming!

[CowsAndBeer]

I'm in the same situation, I will not be tied to any work and I just want a nice place to live. I've done the central WI thing and honestly, the scenery in general just doesn't compare with the Northern Upland or Driftless areas for me. Another option is along the moraines that run from the Illinois state line up through the Kettle Southern unit, Holy Hill area and Kettle Northern to Lake Michigan. Much of the southern areas are filled with too many people for the OP I'm sure, but the "holy land" east of Lake Winnebago is fairly secluded and gives you a touch of the driftless region within an hour of GB, the Valley, Sheboygan, and a touch over an hour to the north side of Milwaukee.

If Madison is big enough a city to be near, look at Richland Center & the region around there, which is an hour or so from Madison. If La Crosse is big enough, you have a good chunk of the driftless to choose from. North of there, you have the Twin Cities. Duluth/Superior? Check out Bayfield or Hurley or Hayward.

[Newbern]

Then, as stated, I'd live in central WI. There are a few different geographic regions here, so best to just drive around and experience them. Where we live, it's basically 20-45 minutes to wherever we would want to go for any reason....But far enough away from the feces going on in gb, milw, and madison.

[bluescreen73]

I spent my childhood on the edge of the driftless area in south-central Jackson County. It's pretty rural country and it's roughly halfway between Madison & the Twin Cities, and also roughly halfway between LaCrosse and Eau Claire. Plenty of rolling hills and forested areas.

[WIHomemaker]

I've visited most of the areas that everyone has mentioned and I must agree that most of them were pretty nice. I liked some of them, and others not so much. Anyone familiar with the northern area of the state, near the Michigan Upper Penisula? I've never been anywhere near there so if anyone can tell me about it, I'd appreciate it. Feel free to continue mentioning other areas as well. Thanks!

[CowsAndBeer]

I'm not sure what "feces" is going on in GB (as opposed to any other small city like Appleton, Wausau, Sheboygan, Racine, Superior, etc.) where you wouldn't want to live within an hour and a half of it, but maybe things have changed drastically since I moved away 5 years back? The guy clearly stated that he wanted access to a city, so you are leaving no options for him there. And yes, the central plain is the most boring area of the state in terms of scenery. At least until you get to the edge of the driftless where there are some buttes and mesas framing it.

Northern Upland is lakes, trees (lots of evergreens), hills and very few farms. Very few people, in general, outside vacationers. It's quite beautiful, and is part of the Canadian Shield along with the UP and parts of northern MN. There aren't any real cities up there, though, and good (lake) property is often quite expensive in some areas due to tourism. Lots of back roads are dirt/gravel, as opposed to the driftless where the milk industry assured more paved roads to avoid glass bottle breakage. Bugs are insanely bad at times, due to the swampy land, lakes and thick trees. Ticks are particularly bad this year due to the cold spring. You do have to worry about some animals, including moose (just saw my first WI moose a couple weeks ago!), bear, cougars and wolves.

The upside is that if you want "remote," nothing comes close to up north. The moraine areas are more populated and dotted with farms. In the driftless, there's always another farm over the next ridge. Half the area is open farms/prarie land, whereas most of the northern area is forest. There are only a few naturally occurring lakes there, due to the geology of the area. Up north, there are over 10,000 lakes to choose from.

Culturally, there is definitely a different feel in both areas. The entire economy in the driftless area is driven by farming, whereas few farms even exist up north. Tourism is heavy up north, whereas (strangely, in my opinion) few seems to know or care about vacationing in the driftless, at least comparatively. The driftless is also heavily influenced by Mississippi River culture and the proximity of the Twin Cities. Up north is heavily 'sconsin and Great (and small) Lake based.

[WIHomemaker]

Thanks. That was very informative. I'm not a guy though, I'm a girl. Do I write like a guy? LOL In any event, thanks for the info. I was wondering if there was anything up there. I figured it wasn't but hey, thought I'd ask.