Moving to Wisconsin from the Pacific Northwest. (Milwaukee, Madison: middle-class, transplants)

[lovorlando]

Originally Posted by fortunatus

At some point, I thought PNW was cheap... Bay Area was the comparison. I no longer think that BTW. Anyway...

I know next to nothing about WI, what got me responding is your mentioning the kids. Once upon a time, I never thought twice about moving states with kids in elementary and middle school. Now I realize I should have. Moving is a trauma for young kids. I was reminded of that many times, especially with our oldest, who lost his "naturally acquired" friends and never really made any deep friendships on the new soil.

Don't discount this "con", or if this never occurred to you, consider it. In my opinion, from a kids' mental health perspective, a good time to move would be when the youngest is in high school and not earlier.

Exactly! That's what happened to our two oldest sons.

[lovorlando]

Wisconsin has brutal winters. I mean it even hurts your face. This winter is very unusually mild, thank goodness.

[mjstef]

Originally Posted by Kaseface03

Hi there. Just looking for a way to get some unbiased (meaning not our friends/family) thoughts or perspective about moving to Eastern Wisconsin.
We have 3 small children and are looking for a better balance with cost of living and quality of life. We would love for our kids to grow up on property, maybe a small farm (5 acres-ish) and still be able to afford to live comfortably. We love nature and being outside. We love rural life but still being an hour or so from the city if we need to visit from time to time. I make good money working in healthcare but everything has blown up here in the PNW and the cost of anything here seems outrageous, especially a home on land. We budget, we don't eat out, date nights are non-existent, and we rarely take trips or vacations and we're still struggling (the small house we have now is a little bit of a fixer upper). My parents are about 4 hrs from us now and my husband's family is in Illinois. We don't really have a ton keeping us here other than this is where I was born and haven't lived anywhere else. My parents will be very upset if we move but the childhood I hope to give my kids is unattainable here. I don't believe everything will be 'rainbows and sunshine' if we move but from everything we have researched from jobs to schools to weather and things to do, Appleton/Green Bay seems like a really good area to raise a family and not go broke in the process. - I appreciate your thoughts and advice.

We really need healthcare workers in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. While the pay will not be what your used to the quality of life is second to none and you can still buy a nice single family home on acreage for the low 200's. Message me and i'll point you in the right direction if a small town life away from the big city is what your after. They are currently staffing a new hospital here that will be finished in May.......

Here is a little info.... https://www.practicelink.com/facilit...hfield-Clinic/

[Kaseface03]

This is all super helpful info. Thank you all.

[ccjarider]

Grew up in WI and also raised a family in WI. The adult children are now strong willed, leaders in their respective professions. One lives in NC the other in CA. They both now recognize the value of the strong, quality midwest education and work ethic compass they received. They see the value daily in the interactions with others.

A friend of mine in Louisiana hires all his business and technical people from WI, IL and MN. He says people from others areas cannot compare.

We now live in Portland OR. Have been here for almost a decade. The reality is that while nice, the folks here are not as cognizant of making process based decisions and thinking of the long term ramifications of decisions. The work ethic is lower too. Thus I see more people struggle in life than in the midwest. From what I see, the public schools here have been transformed into liberal propaganda brainwashing shops. My neighbor tells me Oregon public schools gave his kids a great education in the 3 R's. (Recycling, Racism and Redistribution)

If this move is primarily for family and children, I think it could be a very good idea for kids future. Based on aptitude scoring, I would much rather have my kids in a WI public school than an Oregon Public school. Not sure about WA public schools.


Concur with others in that your $ will go much farther in WI than in PNW. We are considering returning to that part of country when retirement comes.

Millions of people have moved as kids to other locations and have lived fine lives. A non-issue in my book.

[guidoLaMoto]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Millions of people have moved as kids to other locations and have lived fine lives. A non-issue in my book.

Good post.

When I was 6 y/o, my family moved....It took me four weeks to track them down.

[mjstef]

Originally Posted by lovorlando

Exactly! That's what happened to our two oldest sons.

We moved from Florida to Wisconsin when my girls where 5&7, Then from Wisconsin to Montana when they where 6&8, Then from Boulder MT to Helena MT when they where 8&10 and finally from Helena MT to Kalispell MT when they where 9&11 where they both graduated high school. They never developed any really "close" friends which hasn't really bothered them and i have asked them. They hated the drama in High School with a passion and only talked to a few more mature kids. Both graduated with honors. Oldest is a new mom and small business owner at 23 and youngest is in vet school at 21. Both turned out great. Friends are not your whole world. The wife and i devoted our time to our kids and have never really had time for any close friends either. Been married 26 years this year and still spend more time with our kids & family than with "friends". We are back in Wisconsin now as a family and my new grandbaby lives right down the road.........

[EllieKay56]

We moved from Chicago to Central Wisconsin was our son was going into 5th grade. It was our cut-off date age wise. Our daughter was almost 4. He was so happy with the move and adjusted well. That was 33 years ago.

Our daughter moved to Alaska 3 years ago. Their daughter was going into her freshman year, a boy in 8th and a 4 and 2 year old. They have also done well. The oldest is a champion swimmer and can't believe how much stronger the coaching team is. She has thrived. They all have. I think it helps it is a strong military area. Many of their friends move every 2 years.

We moved without jobs and bought a house on 5 acres. Once we got use to the area and had jobs we sold that house and bought something a little bigger.

No regrets. We all thrived being here.

[lovorlando]

Originally Posted by mjstef

We moved from Florida to Wisconsin when my girls where 5&7, Then from Wisconsin to Montana when they where 6&8, Then from Boulder MT to Helena MT when they where 8&10 and finally from Helena MT to Kalispell MT when they where 9&11 where they both graduated high school. They never developed any really "close" friends which hasn't really bothered them and i have asked them. They hated the drama in High School with a passion and only talked to a few more mature kids. Both graduated with honors. Oldest is a new mom and small business owner at 23 and youngest is in vet school at 21. Both turned out great. Friends are not your whole world. The wife and i devoted our time to our kids and have never really had time for any close friends either. Been married 26 years this year and still spend more time with our kids & family than with "friends". We are back in Wisconsin now as a family and my new grandbaby lives right down the road.........

I'm talking teenagers. Up to 12 years old its a non-issue.

[lovorlando]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Grew up in WI and also raised a family in WI. The adult children are now strong willed, leaders in their respective professions. One lives in NC the other in CA. They both now recognize the value of the strong, quality midwest education and work ethic compass they received. They see the value daily in the interactions with others.

A friend of mine in Louisiana hires all his business and technical people from WI, IL and MN. He says people from others areas cannot compare.

We now live in Portland OR. Have been here for almost a decade. The reality is that while nice, the folks here are not as cognizant of making process based decisions and thinking of the long term ramifications of decisions. The work ethic is lower too. Thus I see more people struggle in life than in the midwest. From what I see, the public schools here have been transformed into liberal propaganda brainwashing shops. My neighbor tells me Oregon public schools gave his kids a great education in the 3 R's. (Recycling, Racism and Redistribution)

If this move is primarily for family and children, I think it could be a very good idea for kids future. Based on aptitude scoring, I would much rather have my kids in a WI public school than an Oregon Public school. Not sure about WA public schools.


Concur with others in that your $ will go much farther in WI than in PNW. We are considering returning to that part of country when retirement comes.

Millions of people have moved as kids to other locations and have lived fine lives. A non-issue in my book.

Again, I'm talking teenagers!