Green Bay, Madison or Milwaukee?? (Appleton, Marshall: safe area, schools, living)

[haha]

I agree...sick of the complaining! If you don't like the city you live in, then move. Great example is GreggB--except that he moved and still bashes Appleton!

Is anyone forcing you people to live where you do?? Is anyone stopping you from going out and making friends, enjoying ANYTHING your city has to offer or volunteering or MOVING TO LAS VEGAS WITH GREGGB??????

[Schnidly]

CHOOSE Milwaukee and the surrounding metro area, growth growth growth, as we all know when it comes to real estate its location, location, location and the metro Milwaukee area is one of the tops in the nation! Home values are incredible when it comes to weathering the resale market! There is alot to keep people busy here without having to drive far as gas prices continue to climb! The triangle from Milwaukee to Chicago to Madison is the tops to be in! Waukesha, Oconomowoc, Mukwonago etc.. continue to grow and the schools in this area are best in the state! Also, Elmbrook Church and all its satellite churces are overseen by Stuart Briscoe, a well known author and evangelist with a true heart and great teaching abilities!!! This area is truly the best area in the state of Wisconsin to live, raise a family and find entertainment! I have lived all over Wisconsin and I honestly love living here!

[CivicMinded]

My only problem with this city is that everything is so damn spread out. You have to drive everywhere. Take UW-Green Bay for example. THere's a nice arboretum around it but if you want to do anything besides nature hikes you've got to get in your car and drive. Everything is so car-oriented and spread out it makes me sick. Not even the downtown has any real density. Just lots & lots of parking lots. All anyone values, it seems, is how big of a parking lot there is at a destination before they even consider going there.

Green Bay is supposed to be a "small" or "midsized" metro but I find myself putting on a couple hundred miles every weekend (plus many more miles on weekdays) just getting around town. There are nice restauants, nice museums, other things to do but no real "district" where you can go and get your fill of culture and entertainment in any one place.

Other than that, I like this city, hell I love it. WOuldn't move away. I just hope to see the downtown redevelop into one place that feels like a vibrant city, instead of a bunch of dead streets & sidewalks and empty buildings surrounded by ghastly hideous empty parking lots.

[kjbem]

Hello, Hoosier and all,
I have lived in both Milwaukee and Green Bay. Milwaukee is really a cosmopolitan city, and yet a very liveable size. Green Bay doesn't have nearly the culture - except for bars and the packers! I was not a big partier or even a football person, so I found Green Bay difficult. Milwaukee offers lots of attractions and enough culture and diversity, if that is what you like.
As for churches - there are churches everywhere, especially in Wisconsin!
It always makes me wonder when someone says they want a "bible-believing church," though, because what church doesn't believe in the Bible???
I guess that's a whole other topic, though!

Good luck to you.
kj

[Toxic]

Originally Posted by CivicMinded

My only problem with this city is that everything is so damn spread out. You have to drive everywhere. Take UW-Green Bay for example. THere's a nice arboretum around it but if you want to do anything besides nature hikes you've got to get in your car and drive. Everything is so car-oriented and spread out it makes me sick. Not even the downtown has any real density. Just lots & lots of parking lots. All anyone values, it seems, is how big of a parking lot there is at a destination before they even consider going there.

Green Bay is supposed to be a "small" or "midsized" metro but I find myself putting on a couple hundred miles every weekend (plus many more miles on weekdays) just getting around town. There are nice restauants, nice museums, other things to do but no real "district" where you can go and get your fill of culture and entertainment in any one place.

Other than that, I like this city, hell I love it. WOuldn't move away. I just hope to see the downtown redevelop into one place that feels like a vibrant city, instead of a bunch of dead streets & sidewalks and empty buildings surrounded by ghastly hideous empty parking lots.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were referring to Green Bay, not Milwaukee, right?

Milwaukee does have a pretty nice public transportation system. You don't really appreciate it until you live somewhere like...oh...Louisville, KY, or Dayton, OH, ... where you LITERALLY wait between forty five minutes to an hour for the next bus if you miss a layover; and that's on the main lines!

[CivicMinded]

Yes I was referring to Green Bay.

Overall I love Green Bay but of course there are some downsides to it that I'd like to see improved. That doesn't equal 'city bashing'. Chill out and get real.

[vagabond wannabe]

i am very surprised to see so little support for madison. it is one of the best cities in the midwest for sure. culture, education, politics, recreation...i don't even know where to begin. it is easily the best of the 3 options.

sorry, but i need to say that as i recent transplant to the greater green bay area, it is really a hole. the crime rate (especially sexual assaults) is unreal! no academic culture (try to find a coffee house!), and ridiculous packer worship...and this from a packer fan. also, it is the most racist city in the state, hands down.

all milwaukee has to offer is population. dirty, run-down big rustbelt city.

just keeping it real folks.

[Empidonax]

Uh-oh, let's not get so far into the "my city is great, the other cities aren't" routine. If we play the game of disparaging entire cities and metros on the basis of a stereotype, we'll probably have to conclude that there are no habitable cities in the world. Each of the three cities have advantages and disadvantages, and most people would be able to find a niche in all three.

I live in the Milwaukee metro, and no, it is not rundown, dirty, etc. Some neighborhoods are, and some neighborhoods aren't. The Milwaukee area is a true metro, with artsy rental districts, posh upper middle districts, abandoned warehouse zones, middle class white-picket fence communities, desolate ghettos, high rise condo clusters, and much more. Contrary to what the previous poster suggests, you don't have 1.5 million people standing around, scratching their bums and watching the factories rust. Much has already been said about Milwaukee's strengths, so I'll stop there.

Madison is also a great choice. The city and metro are smaller than Milwaukee, so it's easier to get around Madison. For people who work and live in the center (UW area), Madison can seem like a culturally rich bubble. For others, it's an intrusive fishbowl. Madison also has lovely suburbs, ranging from tony Shorewood Hills to more middle-class Verona. Though Madison doesn't have a hardcore ghetto like Milwaukee and other major cities do, some areas east of the Capitol are kind of rough-and-tumble. Contrary to stereotypes, not everyone in Madison eats tofu and reads Sylvia Plath. There is something for everyone in Madison, but size may be the chief factor here. For some it would be too small; for others, too big; and for others still, just right.

Green Bay is somewhat less culturally diverse and less densely populated than Milwaukee and Madison, but this has good points and bad points. If you want a walkable city with a tightly packed urban core and an abundance of cultural opportunities, Green Bay won't deliver like the other two cities mentioned do. On the other hand, Green Bay is probably the most traditional of the three cities, so what you lack in Indian restaurants and fair-trade co-ops, you'll make up for in hand-churned ice cream and venison sausage. But Green Bay is not without other interesting cultural features. For example, a sizable population of Hmong (from SE Asia) call Green Bay home; if it's good enough for them, it's probably good enough for most North Americans. GB has a lot of comfortable, middle-class neighborhoods with pleasant houses. There are also some very spiffy suburbs where rich athletes and industrialists live. And there are less fortunate urban districts, though no ghetto like you would find in Milwaukee. Milwaukee and Madison have an upper hand when it comes to artsy and bohemian neighborhoods, but people in GB looking for that kind of path will find their niche, too. Again, contrary to stereotypes, not all people in GB spend their days drinking beer and talking about the Packers. In terms of metro population, GB falls below Mke and Madison. That could be a good thing for people who seek more of an integrated community with a more consistent set of values.

Each of the three can offer what you're looking for, at least to some extent. Maybe some other fundmental questions need to be answered, such as how big of a metro you want to live in, what kinds of cultural amenties you need and can live without, and whether you can get the kind of house you want for the price you want to pay.

[CivicMinded]

Originally Posted by vagabond wannabe

i am very surprised to see so little support for madison. it is one of the best cities in the midwest for sure. culture, education, politics, recreation...i don't even know where to begin. it is easily the best of the 3 options.

sorry, but i need to say that as i recent transplant to the greater green bay area, it is really a hole. the crime rate (especially sexual assaults) is unreal! no academic culture (try to find a coffee house!), and ridiculous packer worship...and this from a packer fan. also, it is the most racist city in the state, hands down.

all milwaukee has to offer is population. dirty, run-down big rustbelt city.

just keeping it real folks.

I seriously doubt the sexual assault crime rate is any worse here than it is anywhere else.

One of the reasons you can't find a coffee house or that sort of culture is sprawl. It killed the downtown. Everything left the dowtnown and spread out to Oneida streets and countless other indescript locations along the beltline highway. I guess you could read into this local culture a little bit on that. Many people don't want to go anywhere unless they think they can drive right up to the door and park. So what we have are lots of parking lots. And many fat people.

That said, there area still some of these places downtown, though too. Didn't you find the Broadway district in Green Bay? Or what about downtown DePere? Lots of these sorts of places in these areas.

You said you moved to the "'greater' green bay" area. I assume that means you were in sprawl land. I don't like those areas either. I had to look hard to find the alternatives, but these places do exist. Don't knock the whole "Green Bay" area just because you spent all of your time driving all over Bellevue or Ashwaubenon or HOward or whatever.

[ekg56]

I commuted to UWGB for their Adult Education program for 3 years. I don't drink coffee but I loved the food at Kavarna Vegetarain Coffee House and the coffee always smelled good.
We went to a couple of Packer games last year and my husband liked the coffee at either Prail's Coffee House or the Coffee Bean Cafe.