Moving to Wausau? (Madison, Superior, Stevens Point: home, college, organic)

[rlane1444]

We're researching moving to Wausau, Wisconsin. We currently live in Ashland, Wisconsin and here the Summers are too short and the Winters too long.

Also we're looking for a more culturally diverse and open-minded area without moving to a really large city.

We are really into organic gardening. We've found a lot of conflicting data about first and last frost dates in Wausua.

And we're looking for telecom work, part time or full time.

Any ideas?

[CowsAndBeer]

Is Wausau any warmer in the winter than Ashland? It's part of the Canadian Shield so it's elevated a bit, only a short drive south and it's not moderated by Lake Superior. I'll bet the two are about the same, though I'm sure Ashland gets much more snow. It's certainly a good bit bigger with some more amenities, but I wouldn't call Wausau diverse or open-minded!

[cometclear]

Originally Posted by rlane1444

We're researching moving to Wausau, Wisconsin. We currently live in Ashland, Wisconsin and here the Summers are too short and the Winters too long.

Also we're looking for a more culturally diverse and open-minded area without moving to a really large city.

We are really into organic gardening. We've found a lot of conflicting data about first and last frost dates in Wausua.

And we're looking for telecom work, part time or full time.

Any ideas?

Wausau is solid culturally, but Stevens Point would be closer to what I think you want. It's 30 miles further south, about 25,000 people, a college town with a lot of people into the organic lifestyle. Longer growing season. Because UWSP is the campus you go to for a natural resources major, it has a heavy environmentalist culture. Just a very progressive smaller town. Wausau would be fine, but Point is probably a little better fit for what you describe.

A Google search revealed several telecom jobs around Point.

[CowsAndBeer]

Wausau is not solid culturally - this is from someone who lived in Point for many years and worked a couple different Wausau jobs. The suggestion of Point vs. Wausau is a good one, though. Point is smaller and much more "culturally diverse" than Wausau, though you have to stick with a lot of UWSP-generated items, as outlying areas of town/suburbs are just like Wausau/Marshfield/Rapids and offer little to recommend, given your points above.

[NowInWI]

I would definitely choose Wausau over Stevens Point. Much larger, much more to do, a diverse population, and the surrounding area is definitely more interesting. Wausau has Rib Mountain, the lake, and hilly terrain, and a vital, active downtown...Stevens Point is flat...just flat, and downtown is nothing to write home about.

[CowsAndBeer]

Disagree, Stevens Point (with the college) is more diverse, and how exactly (be specific) is there "more to do" in Wausau? They're 30 minutes apart (I used to live in Point and work in Wausau), so any concerns over local terrain should be minimal. The best thing about Wausau is that it's in the shadow of Rib Mountain, certainly.

[NowInWI]

Originally Posted by CowsAndBeer

Disagree, Stevens Point (with the college) is more diverse, and how exactly (be specific) is there "more to do" in Wausau? They're 30 minutes apart (I used to live in Point and work in Wausau), so any concerns over local terrain should be minimal. The best thing about Wausau is that it's in the shadow of Rib Mountain, certainly.

I don't know how you can call Stevens Point more diverse - 90% of the population is white, compared to 82% for Wausau. Neither are that diverse, but numbers don't lie.

[CowsAndBeer]

Well, it's a town of 26,000 plus around 10,000 students from all over the globe. Wausau imported a larger Hmong population over the years, but I'd hardly call it "more diverse" because of that - walk around the Polish Square and you'll see a population of people from all over, a population that flips every semester/year/4 years, while Wausau's is stagnant northwoods + Hmong + a trickle of other races. The numbers do in fact lie, in this case, because anyone familiar with both cities (like me) can tell you that the true make-up of Point is more diverse than the true make-up of Wausau.

[Ragnar]

Well, if you already live in Ashland, why don't you consider coming all the way down to Madison? There's plenty of diversity in granola down here. We're a sheet of blue in a sea of red, just like Ashland. Madison is a lot larger than Wausau or SP, so it may be too large for you, but it's certainly something to consider. Some good farmland down in this area too.

[43north87west]

Madison.