How does Door County compare to New Hampshire? (Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay: house, to buy)

[TRlaura]

Originally Posted by Cabininthetrees

Thanks for the information. Do you like SE Wisconsin?

SE Wisconsin covers quite a bit of area, so if you would lop off the 3 southeast counties I would have to say yes. I live in northern Manitowoc County at Point Beach where my property abuts a state forest with 3000 acres of land and 6 miles of sandy beach, and I love it here.

I live within an hour of two wonderful airports, over 20 golf courses, miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, and several small towns that provide an ample amount of entertainment.

The past 2 winters I lived in my vacation rental in Door County that is less than an hour away from my home and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the pandemic brought thousands of people up here that can work remotely and it is greatly changing the flavor of the area. Two to three months there was enough for me. Just my opinion...

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by TRlaura

SE Wisconsin covers quite a bit of area, so if you would lop off the 3 southeast counties I would have to say yes. I live in northern Manitowoc County at Point Beach where my property abuts a state forest with 3000 acres of land and 6 miles of sandy beach, and I love it here.

I live within an hour of two wonderful airports, over 20 golf courses, miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, and several small towns that provide an ample amount of entertainment.

The past 2 winters I lived in my vacation rental in Door County that is less than an hour away from my home and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the pandemic brought thousands of people up here that can work remotely and it is greatly changing the flavor of the area. Two to three months there was enough for me. Just my opinion...

Would you mind sharing in what way(s) it has changed, as I have nothing to compare it to, as we moved here in July 2020 at the height of the pandemic? Just curious.

Personally, our neighbors are no longer as friendly to us as they were when we moved in, but I think that is because they know that we have remained unvaccinated, which at least a couple of them have very strong feelings about. (Not to turn this into any kind of political discussion about that!)

Oh, and just one other thing, in one of the latest Door County magazines put out by the Visitors Bureau, they did say they were going to stop trying to appeal to "everyone" -- that they were more interested in appealing tot the Boulder and Duluth kind of people than the Disney World kind of people. Although they made it clear that they were talking about keeping the natural environment clean, pristine and free from litter, North Door is much more politically leftist than I would have expected, and it seems to me to be getting more so, in my opinion. (Just FWIW.)

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Oh, and just one other thing, in one of the latest Door County magazines put out by the Visitors Bureau, they did say they were going to stop trying to appeal to "everyone" -- that they were more interested in appealing tot the Boulder and Duluth kind of people than the Disney World kind of people. Although they made it clear that they were talking about keeping the natural environment clean, pristine and free from litter, North Door is much more politically leftist than I would have expected, and it seems to me to be getting more so, in my opinion. (Just FWIW.)

So the Door is narrow.

[TRlaura]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Would you mind sharing in what way(s) it has changed, as I have nothing to compare it to, as we moved here in July 2020 at the height of the pandemic? Just curious.

Oh, and just one other thing, in one of the latest Door County magazines put out by the Visitors Bureau, they did say they were going to stop trying to appeal to "everyone" -- that they were more interested in appealing tot the Boulder and Duluth kind of people than the Disney World kind of people. Although they made it clear that they were talking about keeping the natural environment clean, pristine and free from litter, North Door is much more politically leftist than I would have expected, and it seems to me to be getting more so, in my opinion. (Just FWIW.)

I'll have to read that article. I guess I would not understand the "Boulder and Duluth" comment as they are complete opposites.

The covid pilgrims that began staying year round are predominately from Illinois, or more specifically, Chicago. The three letter acronym that is commonly used in this state accurately describes them.

They think nothing about berating a waitress or store cashier for minor trivalities.

A sheriff that lives close by said he has never received so many strange complaints than he has in the past few years. Just a brief sample:
"you people need to get the deer out of my garden"
and "why are people shooting at the ducks out in the lake"
and "there is a farmer out here that got mud all over the road and he needs to pay for my car wash"
and "there is some one burning brush out on CTH WD"
and "those people on Glidden need to be told that it is time for them to take down their political signs",
and on and on and on and on...

And then the award goes to the woman that screamed at me when I walked past her on a trail and didn't give her "advance notice so that she could put her mask on". It was 20 degrees out with a 15 mph wind. You just can't make this stuff up.

Hope that helps describe what the new flavor of things are up in DC..

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by TRlaura

I'll have to read that article. I guess I would not understand the "Boulder and Duluth" comment as they are complete opposites.

The covid pilgrims that began staying year round are predominately from Illinois, or more specifically, Chicago. The three letter acronym that is commonly used in this state accurately describes them.

They think nothing about berating a waitress or store cashier for minor trivalities.

A sheriff that lives close by said he has never received so many strange complaints than he has in the past few years. Just a brief sample:
"you people need to get the deer out of my garden"
and "why are people shooting at the ducks out in the lake"
and "there is a farmer out here that got mud all over the road and he needs to pay for my car wash"
and "there is some one burning brush out on CTH WD"
and "those people on Glidden need to be told that it is time for them to take down their political signs",
and on and on and on and on...

And then the award goes to the woman that screamed at me when I walked past her on a trail and didn't give her "advance notice so that she could put her mask on". It was 20 degrees out with a 15 mph wind. You just can't make this stuff up.

Hope that helps describe what the new flavor of things are up in DC..

Thank you! I am going to send you a DM, but I will say that one of my neighbors is a part-owner of a restaurant, and she has absolutely confirmed what I bolded. And COVID mask requirements just escalated things -- either people being mad because restaurants were not enforcing mask rules when they were no longer required or because they were insisting that people wear masks when it WAS required.

Btw, as far as the Duluth and Boulder comment, I know that Boulder is far-left, but I didn't understand the Duluth reference either. I did look Duluth up, and I found the following link, so maybe that is what the article was referring to. https://duluthmn.gov/sustain/

[SteelCityRising]

I am grateful for this thread, as I have recently become interested in Door County.

Can any of you elaborate a bit more, please, upon Sturgeon Bay? I just keep seeing it brushed off as "just a working-class town". Does this mean that the summer tourist crowds generally hit Sturgeon Bay and just keep going north?

For me I am surprised a town this small has a Target tore, as that is one of the requirements I have for a potential relocation destination. Other requirements are a local coffeeshop/coffeehouse (looks like Sturgeon Bay has several), a walkable Downtown with interesting historic buildings (Sturgeon Bay checks that off), reasonable housing prices (again, Sturgeon Bay seems reasonably-priced), and easy proximity to other areas for weekend getaways (looks like either Green Bay or Northern Door County would be the weekend getaways from Sturgeon Bay). A four-season climate also looks to be available here.

Is Sturgeon Bay LGBT+ friendly? We are a gay couple that leans left, but we aren't militant about things. I couldn't care less whether someone is vaccinated or not or wears a mask or not.

[ToriaT]

Sturgeon Bay is a regular town that people live in and do business, its not a "resort town" like the others farther up in the peninsula. They have big box stores and chain restaurants. The rest of the farther north Door County does not. No Culvers or McDonalds, north of Sturgeon Bay. No Target or Walmart. Yes, some people do vacation in Sturgeon Bay but its not the main thing people come to Door County about. But everything is open in the winter. Not so farther north on the peninsula, but enough is open. A lot of the local people and Wisconsin people don't like people from Illinois or Chicago and may refer to them as "FIBs" and I won't be able to say what that means. Look it up. Point is not all people from the Chicago area are like what is depicted in the thread above. Right now as of this writing, nobody is wearing masks. It was mixed during covid. If you feel you need to you can do so. Coffee houses abound in Door County, as do bars. Most of the coffee houses are open all winter. Seems like all of the ice cream places are shut down. Many restaurants are closed, and some that stay open have limited hours. IF you get to know Door County you will find out there are many places off the beaten path where the crowds don't go. And there are a lot of back roads you can take to avoid the touristy areas. Most tourists congregate around the bay side towns of Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, and Sister Bay. Once you leave Sister Bay and go north things thin down. Things are also quieter around the other side of the peninsula. Not as much action there, and some love that. Oddly, even though I have a house in northern door county, I've never really explored Sturgeon Bay. Its just a place we pass though, or would go to if we needed to buy something that was not available farther north. As far as the gay friendly thing, I don't know. By this time I would think most people would not give a hoot.

[Master Jay]

Toria T, you reminded me of that old commercial:

"Give a hoot. Don't pollute!"

Thanks for the memories!!.. But if you say most people are not giving a hoot, are they, then, polluting?!?

...

Wow, good ol' Door County. I have not been there in YEARS. I remember how clear their water was and how friendly the people were, and how beautiful it was. And that was YEARS before I started going to Chicago. But I'm sure the "FIBS" then, as well as now, are great!

P.S. I never use the term FIBS. Even though Toria T won't tell you what it means, it stands for: Fabulous Illinois Brethren.

[ToriaT]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Toria T, you reminded me of that old commercial:

"Give a hoot. Don't pollute!"

Thanks for the memories!!.. But if you say most people are not giving a hoot, are they, then, polluting?!?

...

Wow, good ol' Door County. I have not been there in YEARS. I remember how clear their water was and how friendly the people were, and how beautiful it was. And that was YEARS before I started going to Chicago. But I'm sure the "FIBS" then, as well as now, are great!

P.S. I never use the term FIBS. Even though Toria T won't tell you what it means, it stands for: Fabulous Illinois Brethren.

Thanks for that, Master Jay. You flatter us.

[Master Jay]

ToriaT, hello!

As much as I am treated like an Illinois brother when I am visiting Chicagoland, I will always go out of my way to chat or help someone when I see an Illinois car plate, when I see one here in Wisconsin.