Portage Wisconsin (Baraboo, Luck: property tax, living in, moving to)

[sassyfur98]

And I apologize for the delay in responding, as I have been very sick,,,,,you get that everywhere too...lol
Saundra

[sassyfur98]

Originally Posted by JoshB

Portage, the Mayberry of Wisconsin? Hardly anymore. My dad has lived here his whole life and has said that this town has not changed for the better. I've also lived here mu whole life and can tell you one thing I'm moving to Tennessee. Portage has nothing for a young guy like me.

Thats my .02 cents from a local!

So, why the sudden drastic swing? Are you just trying to cause conflict? I see you've changed your mind from TN. to NC. Good luck to ya. I just don't want to see a family move, with young kids, and be terribly unhappy. This is why I give my HONEST opinion.
Saundra

[JoshB]

Saundra, first of all I want to say I'm not one to start conflict. I said that Portage hasn't changed for the better as you recently brought up. Earlier in the thread it seemed as though you were attacking our town. I didn't bring up one thing in particular. So does Portage have crime? Yes, but as I said earlier it isn't any different than other towns of similar size. You said Portage has lots of crime because people move closer to the prison. I don't think that's exactly right. It may be true but it's not the main problem in this town. Stephen asked me what I knew about the town, and I told him. As I said before Portage has nothing for me. Maybe a family that wants great schools and a decent city government. Recreationally I enjoy hiking and canoeing. Thats why I'm moving. I don't want this to turn into some sort of argument.

You asked me why I've changed my mind about NC or TN. This is kind of confusing so please bear with me as I may not describe it in the best way. The tri cities in Tennesse is about 15-20 minutes from the NC border. I've been looking at Boone, NC, Johnson City, TN and Bristol, TN. These cities are all within 30 minutes of each other. So am I changing my mind? No not really. I'm just not sure which city is best? That's why I'm traveling there this summer.

I'll sum it up. Saundra sorry if I mis-informed anyone. Portage is no better or worse than the surrounding communities. They all have there pros and cons. Baraboo has beautiful scenery, but not as accessible to the Interstate as Portage. Portage is closer to the Interstate But there's really no bluffs like Baraboo.

I still seem to find amazing scenery in Portage though. Check out the thread.

[sassyfur98]

Josh,
I must apologize if I took your answers the wrong way!! I was (and still am) very sick, and I received terrible news, so I may have been short fused...lol.
I just gave my honest opinion of Portage. I did not mean to attack it, and I am sorry you feel that way. I loved Portage for so many years. I wish now that we have to move back, it was the way it used to be.
I knew the Pardeeville police chief (Breindenbach) personally, and the best thing that ever happened for the people of Pardeeville was the dismantling of the police department, and his departure!!!
Yes, you will find drugs and crime everywhere you go. IMO though, Portage has seen it's growth faster than the rest of the surrounding area.
Good luck with your move, and enjoy the south. I sure am going to miss it!!
Saundra

[JoshB]

I will say Portage has changed alot in the last 10 years.

[pms-portage]

Originally Posted by stephenluscombe

I agree that we would ideally like to live in Madison but the price increase in houses and property taxes seem to be astronomical - prices drop precipitately the more you move away from Madison. We are both geographically independent as far as work is concerned - as long as we can get Internet access we can work from pretty much anywhere. We would like to be able to buy property outright - as we are coming from overseas we don't really want to get into negotiations over mortgages and whatnot. Experience tells us that simplicity is key. US banks may not trust or even understand our credit rating.

We have toyed with the idea of Tomah for similar reasons to Portage. Even Mauston and New Lisbon - but Portage seems to have the advantage to proximity to Madison - and to grandparents - who we hope will make excellent babysitters:-)

Thanks for your opinion though and if we had deeper pockets we would probably take ti.

I've lived in Portage for about 6 years now - it's a nice place to live. It's not the MOST progressive place - change is slow and the downtown is suffering some stagnation at the moment, and yeah, the taxes are high in WI, but don't believe the stuff about Portage being a crime hub that I've read on these posts. Yes, there was a murder/abuse case in town, but it's important to know that those folks were drifters and Portage is just the place they ended up doing their worst. Most Portage residence are nice folks. I can't say as the prison being on the edge of Portage has introduced any particular "element" to Portage, but that's just gut feeling - I don't have a ton a exact stats at my disposal. Portage IS a blue collar, working class kind of town. Not a lot of people rolling in dough here, and not a cultural mecca, though we do have The Portage Center for the Arts ([url=http://www.PortageCenterfortheArts.com]PCA - Home[/url]) and they put on a performing arts series and a youth/children's theatre workshop.

The trains - Amtrack is NOT the Eurorail. Know that for sure. There is ONE Eastbound train and ONE Westbound train and they are FREQUENTLY late. I'm sorry to say that the railway is not really a regular travel means. There is SOME train noise - we usually hear a few train coupling bumps throughout the day, which would be bad if we were nearer the train action, I suspect, but as it is, it's just background noise.

The schools are good - not top notch, but not struggling - there are a lot of good teachers and good programs. Portage is a great place if you want to raise a family, are interested in rolling up your sleeves and getting involved in things. If you're looking at JUST being entertained, Portage probably isn't for you.

You later asked about Baraboo - I'd definitely look into it. I haven't lived there, but visiting the area regularly for the music store and other things, it seems like a nice place to be. As for getting to/from Madison, it depends which side of town you're looking at visiting, Baraboo is straight North of the West side, Portage the East side. There is a two-year UW campus which adds a bit to the town and there is a bit more tourism dollars that come in.

About the Dells - I would avoid living there like the plague. In the summer it SWARMS with tourists and is essentially a huge midway. There are great restaurants and it's worth a peak, but if I had ended up in the Dells, I would have gone nuts. I'm sure there are people who would like the Dells, but for me it has zero appeal.

I stumbled across this posting, and just needed to reply, but I probably won't check it again in case you post questions to me based on this, FYI.

[JoshB]

Some one else from Portage on here, cool!

[hckplyers]

If someone has children please check out the sex offenders web site for the number of offenders in Portage. My daughter moved there a few years ago and likes it except she was appauled at the numbers after she found out about the web site. She doesn't let her son go anywhere alone.
She grew up in a smaller town and likes the feel of Portage, but was sad about that fact.

[JoshB]

I know what you mean by the number of sex offenders per capita. For some reason Portage has always had a high amount of them. Maybe because the county jail?

[BadgerNut]

I've worked at the prison for 1 1/2 years and my experience of Portage has been one of not so nice people. I tend to think I'm a pretty happy guy and love to smile, say thank you, open doors for people but rarely do I get a smile, "hi", "have a nice day". It's unfortunate because I live 1 hour and 15 minutes away from work and was considering moving there with my family, however over the course of my time at my job I've decided it would be better to continue to commute. Don't get me wrong, not everyone has been that way. It does seem that people are friendly with the locals. Just my opinion.