Can't decide where to live (Milwaukee, Madison: crime, find a job, schools)

[KateDaum]

With your husbands line of work I would think you have a decent shot of getting a job. I talked to my hubby and he said check out Milwaukee and Madison. But also university towns. He also said to look around La Crosse.
Good luck and let us know how its going.

[Mpla]

I would say Brookfield, Delfield, Port Washington, Cedarburg area.....small areas all close to Milwaukee for work.

[ndheah]

Fox Cities area seems ideal.
You have Oshkosh, Appleton, Green Bay, and various other cities ranging from 1-10,000 people. I believe the 'core' of NE Wisconsin holds a half million or so people.

I don't care for the Milwaukee area in terms of family living. The Fox Cities has a booming retail area, great restaurants, good schools, decent taxes, water, and plenty of other activities - Packers, Gamblers(Hockey), Timber Rattlers(Baseball), and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.

My wife and I grew up about an hour north of Green Bay, and currently reside in the Eau Claire WI area - life is a bit too plain for us out here and we're moving back to NE WI May 1st.

All of the areas I mentioned are a 30-45 minute commute tops if you live in the middle...

[crazyme4878]

I would like to add a warning that you probably already know: people are passionate about small towns. They either hate them or love them. The nice thing about CD is that you can click on a poster's name and read previous posts they have made. That can give you an idea if someone doesn't like a certain small town or all small towns (or all of Wisconsin). All the posts here have been pretty great and even the all-negative small-town-hating posts can be insightful--but they only paint one picture.

[MovingCrossCountry]

Well, it certainly is giving me a lot to think about!

Thank you all so much for the help and taking the time to give input!

What do you guys think of this plan:

I was thinking we could live in some area of Kenosha and my husband could take the metra into chicago for work. It would only be a half-hour ride each way and we'd still be in what seems like a small nice area. But then again, all I see about kenosha is what's on the internet. Is it the small town atmosphere I'm looking for based on what I wrote before, or should I keep looking?
Also, plan B I thought of of was maybe living in Middleton and husband could (maybe) find some work in Madison? A lot less work opportunities probably than in Chicago, and also the teenage/university population to deal with (ugghh).
Let me know which if any you guys think would be best suited for us.... THANKS!!!!!!

[Hntr]

I never cared much for Kenosha, so I'm biased. And I can't see getting to Chicago and a job in half hour. I would pick Madison. There are a lot of small towns within a few miles of Madison.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by MovingCrossCountry

Well, it certainly is giving me a lot to think about!

Thank you all so much for the help and taking the time to give input!

What do you guys think of this plan:

I was thinking we could live in some area of Kenosha and my husband could take the metra into chicago for work. It would only be a half-hour ride each way and we'd still be in what seems like a small nice area. But then again, all I see about kenosha is what's on the internet. Is it the small town atmosphere I'm looking for based on what I wrote before, or should I keep looking?
Also, plan B I thought of of was maybe living in Middleton and husband could (maybe) find some work in Madison? A lot less work opportunities probably than in Chicago, and also the teenage/university population to deal with (ugghh).
Let me know which if any you guys think would be best suited for us.... THANKS!!!!!!

If you live in Kenosha, your husband's Metra ride will be well over an hour each way to Chicago.

If your husband works in Milwaukee, I think Cedarburg is a nice option. Middleton is also nice, if working out of Madison. I'd also look at Cambridge or Lake Mills (if commuting to Madison). The Appleton area has lots of possibilities as well.

[susancruzs]

There is no way to get from Kenosha to Chicago in a half hour even in the middle of the night when the roads are empty.

Metra takes over an hour from Waukegan to Ogilvie Station (downtown), from Kenosha over an hour and a half, each way.

[yo vanilla]

I've got to first ask, why in the world move somewhere far away looking for a better quality of life and still get stuck with an hour commute to Chicago? No offense but you have to cross off that CA mentality. That's one of the best parts of WI - you don't have to screw around with that. You can live where you work and still afford it. What kind of IT does your husband do? Network admin, programmer? I won't ask what his salary is but you should keep in mind that your dollar is going to stretch way farther here than it is in CA (I've been looking at various CA places to move to myself, damn it's expensive everywhere!!)

I'd bet you can make literally half and still live more comfortably. You can buy a new 2000+ sq ft home in Appleton or Neenah for less than $250K, or a moderately new one in an established, quiet neighborhood for $190K or less. That's your high side; mine's an older one in the center of Appleton, quiet, clean neighborhood 2 blocks from a great park, 1600sq ft, worth around $105K. My morgate pmt is $804, car insurance on both cars is $125/month, heat/energy is like $230/month. Double the mortgage and you still don't need to pull even $200K/yr to live comfortably up here. Appleton area does have some big companies but be warned no one's hiring right now. Kimberly Clark and Oshkosh Truck both have data centers in Menasha and most businesses employ a few on-site IT people but that job market is more on the full side than not.

Food for thought. Middleton/Madison will be more expensive than Appleton but still less than any CA place I've looked into.

[Hanna B.]

Maybe look in NW Wisconsin, too. I can drive to the Mpls/St. Paul area in 20-30 minutes. There is a huge area here where most workers commute to the Twin Cities.