I thought we might be moving south (Yeah!!), but now my husband mentioned Green Bay as a possibility (Yikes!!). I'm not a huge fan of cold weather, but I do love snow, trees, water, and beautiful fall colors. I could be convinced to take on Green Bay, so I want to know all there is to know. One note...we are not sports fans so no need to comment on that. Are there areas of old, beautiful homes? Are there lots of trees (coming from central ohio...land of no trees). What's Lake Michigan like? I love driving through Chicago and seeing all the sailboats. Is it a good place to raise kids? In a nutshell, is it a beautiful place with lots of things for kids to do?

It's a decent enough city,but the Green Bay Packers are like a major religion there. It's hard to picture anyone moving there and fitting in who didn't get into the Packer. As for cold weather, how many months of the year can you tolerate it? It lasts from Nov. till April and even then spring is usually cold and comes late. As for Lake Michigan it's great if you have a boat. Very cold for swimming.

I live in Chicago, but can give you a visitors perspecctive of Green Bay. First, the Packers are somewhat of an obsession there, even the mall has a Packers theme. I don't know if that would really keep you from fitting in though. There are plenty of beautiful old homes, though, on leafy tree lined streets. Downtown is currently in a renovation phase, and you'll find more and more restored buildings with restaurants, night spots and some shops. One of the things I love about Wisconsin is that even the small cities seem better maintained than anywhere else I've seen.

You can't swim in the lake (too cold) but I love just knowing that it's there. I love bike riding along the lake in the summer, or just taking time to watch it. Less than an hour away is the fine city of Appleton, which personally I prefer a bit over Green Bay. Packer influence drops to negligible levels at this point. For entertainment, UW-GB has a performing arts center that attracts a wide variety of performances, and there's a new PAC in Appleton as well.

Not having kids and not living there, I will still guess that it's a great place to raise kids. The crime rate is very low and Wisconsin schools are generally good. On the other hand, taxes, especially property taxes are very high. However, you get what you pay for and Wisconsin is very well run. There's a kids oriented museum of science and art in Green Bay. Milwaukee is just a couple of hours south and you'll never get bored there. There are also plenty of summer festivals, including a bratwurst fest in nearby Sheboygan.

In the winter there are all sorts of sports to try. Downhill or cross country skiing, skating, hockey, snowshoeing, ice fishing, snowmobiling. Who doesn't love an activity that has ice or snow in the title? It does get very cold, for very long, but on the bright side it really keeps the insect population down. And summers are not usually overwhemingly hot and humid like in Chicago and Milwaukee. Finally, if you like trees, neighboring northern Wisconsin is one of the big lumber producing regions of the country. You'll be in heaven.

I live about 60 miles S. of Green Bay and will freely admit that it seems everyone in NE Wisconsin is a bit "Pack Happy". I'm not one of them and manage very nicely--it's great to go shopping during a game because the stores are empty!
Just wanted to clear up one point--there are very nice beaches along Lake Michigan and it isn't too cold for swimming in the summer. Don't expect to be swimming in June!
Children enjoy Bay Beach --an amusement park (no fancy rides here) but tickets are about 25-50 cents each. There is also the 700 acre Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary and the NEW Zoo.
Between the Fox Valley PAC and The Weidner center there is no end to high quality entertainment for the entire family.
Plenty of trees,water, and beauty. A great place to raise a family.

Thank you kp and flamingomonkey. Your input was very helpful. I'm going to get the newcomer's guide right away.

As for the Packers, I'm fine with the obsession. That's great that they support their team so enthusiastically. However that has no bearing on whether I would move to Green Bay. I just wanted to know what the city is like. Is there a shopping district? Is there a walkway along the lake? Can you sit in a restaurant and look out at the water? Is there a particular "suburb" that is more desirable than Green Bay?

There is parkland along the lake, though I don't know of any restaurants. Techincally, the water warms up enough by August to swim, but it's still pretty chilly. Another option could be Lake Winnebago, the biggest inland lake in Wisconsin. It's smaller and shallower than the Lake Michigan, so it probably warms up moere quickly. I don't know if there are any beaches, though.

Most shopping is out by the mall, all your typical middle market stores. In nearby Appleton there's a larger mall, with a new wing of more upscale stores. Marshall Field's, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma and others. Also, there's an outlet mall in Oshkosh. There are suburbs of Green Bay, like Ashwaubenon, which may be more desireable, as suburbs often are.

I live a little less than 100 miles west of Green Bay and I get over there several times per month. It is a nice community and I agree with many of the comments I've seen so far. It's large enough to have some amenities, attractions and entertainment -- but small enough that you won't have too many problems figuring things out or joining the community quickly.

One of the adjoining communities that I would likely take a look at is De Pere, which is the home of St. Norbert College. They've done some neat things in their downtown over the past few years and it has a nice feel to it. The population is something around 22,000.

If you're an aviation buff be sure and check out EAA AirVenture 2005 (Oshkosh). News is that both SpaceShipOne and the Globalflyer will be there. There are also daily air shows. During the week of EAA, Oshkosh is the busiest airport in the world--the sky is filled with planes as they arrive for the show.

I live 2 blocks from Lake Winnebago and it isn't known for quality swimming. There are few public beaches, the lake is shallow and can get a bit icky in the summer. Winnebago is known for it's sturgeon spearing (and ice fishing) each winter and fishing, boating, and windsurfing in the summer.

Wisconsin has so many public areas--an incredible vareity of things to do. A couple web sites to check would be www.wisconline.com and www.dnr.wi.gov

The area around the mall in Appleton (Fox River Mall) just keeps growing. More and more stores all the time. There are only a couple times a year I find it necesssary to shop in Milwaukee.

Both Ashwaubenon and De Pere are nice areas. Small town feel but with Milwaukee and Green Bay close by. You could even go to Madison for the day without any problems.

The Green Bay/Fox River Valley region is one of the best places to live in the Midwest...in my humble (WI is my home state) opinion. Actually that area often shows up on those "Best places to live" lists. Outstanding schooling at all levels, affordable housing, shopping. Nice mix of city, country or suburban living.

You won't be sorry if you move there. You probably know this but the city is not actually on Lake Michigan but rather Green Bay itself. Plenty big water but a bit warmer than the main portion of the lake. You say that you love fall colors...I would put Door County up against any place in the country in October.

I was born in Wisconsin, but I've lived in California almost my whole life. I do have family throughout Wisconsin, though, and I visit on a somewhat regular basis. Of all the places I've visited in Wisconsin (from Milwaukee to the small towns to Green Bay), Green Bay is a place I always look forward to. I don't even know if I can put my finger on it, exactly. It's a bigger city (though not as big as Milwaukee, naturally), but it's also small. You do have basically everything you need (my relatives who live in smaller towns next to the Lake will drive to Green Bay over Milwaukee to go shopping and such). What I really love about this little big city is that, a short distance away, you have open spaces, forests, countryside. Also, the people are very helpful, down to earth, friendly, open. Really, the best of lots of things.

I am a Packers fan, so the fact that it is known as "Title Town" does not bother me in the least!

Actually, if I could tolerate snow, cold, ice, and all the rest of it for about 9 months of the year, this would be a place I would consider living. (That's saying something as there are few places outside of California that I would actually consider living!)

I have a great aunt that lives in one of the suburbs of Green Bay. (Can't remember which, though) Very, very nice house in a lovely neighborhood. Lots of green, trees, quiet. It would be a perfect place to raise a family!

Don't know that I would spend too much time at whatever passes for a beach, though. Green Bay (the water, not the city) is just not that, um, nice looking. Of course, you have to consider the source here, but I've never wanted to spend much time there.

I would also have to agree with the previous poster regarding Door County. Last time I was there (late September) we made a special trip up to Door County - outstanding! And an easy drive to/from Green Bay. Also, in Sturgeon Bay, there is a restaurant called (I think) Cedar Creek Inn that has the best cherry pie, bar none! And I don't even like cherry pie!

If you can tolerate the cold and Packer madness, I don't think you would be disappointed at all.

Lake Michigan, one of the midwest's under rated treasures. I grew up right on LM and I think many of the beaches are beautiful. The water is cold compared to the Caribbean but I grew up swimming in it almost every day in the summer. One thing to keep in mind, the lake has a big effect on the weather and temperature. In spring in particular it can be 40's right by the shore and 60's ten miles inland.

My In-laws live in DePere & we visit often. I like the area, & there are some paths down along the Fox River in that area.
Many people in Green Bay do not have AC because they think they don't really need it. Which in fact, most of the year they don't. But in July, it can get up in the 90's. My in-laws finally bought a window AC a couple of years ago. That was the first time they had AC in their house, & the in-laws were about 85 years old when they first bought it.
They have a really nice Farmers Market in GB on Saturdays, during the summer. If you are interested slots, bingo or table games, there are a few Indian Casinos in the area.
Personally, even though I like the area, I don't know if I coule live there year round, because of the cold & snow. Even from here in Chicago, there is a difference. We get much less snow, usually, & get about 2 - 3 months longer of warmer weather in Chicago than GB. Around here, I usually can put in flowers around early to mid-April. In GB the big time for that is Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. I-43 up along the lake is a good road to Green Bay, but during certain times of the year the fog gets very dense & the snow gets very heavy, up & down the interstate. You don't believe it until you have actually been in it, I know I didn't, even though you hear about once a year about a 10 car pile up in the fog on that road, but that is usually abit south of GB.
Another thing is that GB is a short jaunt, about an hour or so - to Door County & everything that area has to offer. I have seen first hands that GB is a good area to raise kids, not that it doesn't have some problems, all cities have some, but not as many as some cities. I know sports isn't a reason to move, but GB has the Resch Center (across from Lambeau Field) where the GB junior hockey teams & other are sports teams play & they also have other events held their.
As for prices, they are getting higher in GB, but on the whole, they are less than in Chicago, especially for food, housing, clothes, etc. Sometimes the gas prices are higher in GB, sometime lower, sometime the same. & as mentioned before, my kids went to Bay Beach quite abit, but not so much any more now that the kids are getting into their late teens.

Wow. I can't believe all of this great information. I'm actually starting to feel like I'm going to be upset if we don't get to move there. Thanks everyone!

Green Bay is great. Really. I'm from wayyyy northern Wisconsin (live in Chicago now ) but my best friend now lives in Green Bay and it's just a great area. It's got more of a large town feel, not so city like. A good nightlife and even though there is a University there, it's not too run over with college kids, etc.

There are also adorable towns just outside Green Bay if you dont' live right in Green Bay.

It's in a good spot...2 1/2 -3 hrs from Chicaog, 1 1/2 hours to Milwaukee...3 hours from "up north" wisconsin. You'll like it really...

I grew up in Green Bay and still have family there but most of my adult life I've lived in Denver (18 years), and also spent 4 years in (mostly southern) California and 7 years in Illinois (outside Chicago) and Ann Arbor, MI. I would find it difficult to live there again after being used to the sun, low humidity and not as much cold in Denver. There also seem to be more taverns there than anyplace else I've lived. Beer is almost as big as the Packers! I do love Door County and Northern Wisconsin, as well as Appleton/Neenah/Menasha and Madison.

Sue

I may start the fur flying here but... I live in Milwaukee, my city born inlaws seem to be heading out to the "counry" possibly for the fantasy reasons. Many of their children are moving back. To Milwaukee from Bonduel which is not far from Green Bay. And door county which is not far. Why? Oportunity is comparitively lacking. I myself grew up in the country and now live in the city. I do not know your children situation but think hard and careful the impact on them. Try to seperate fantasy from cold hard oportunity reality. My mother in law was born a tad north of Green Bay (farm in Flat Rock MI) Her mother's advice was move to the city. Then your children will stick around when they are grown. It worked for approx. 20 years. Admittedly I have made simplified generalizations about the whole issue but shall leave it at that.

correction:it should read - it worked for approx. 40 years

Actually, I've been idly looking at jobs, and I'm in Chicago, where the economy is pretty lousy. There seem to be more opportunities in Wisconsin, including smaller cities like Green Bay and Appleton, then there are here. Plus, salaries are comparble, and the cost of living is lower in Wisconsin. I'm starting to wonder if I should consider relocating. I agree, though, that if you're planning to move to a farm, or an isolated small town, your kids probably aren't going to stick around when grown.

I grew up right outside Green Bay and have lived here for the past 10 years since going to college at UW-Green Bay. I think that it is a wonderful place to live. I'm not a big Packers fan, but we live about a mile from the stadium. Even though I'm not a Packers fan, it is really quite an experience going to a Packers game or even just driving by the stadium or eating in one of the 3 restaurants there. I agree that the best time to go shopping is during a Packer game.

There are alot of great suburbs in Green Bay, some being Ashwaubenon, Howard, and De Pere. We do have a beautiful older neighborhood right along the Fox River called Astor Park.

As for raising children here, I organize a playgroup and there are a lot of activities that we do with our children here in all of the seasons. A great website to check out for things to do in Green Bay is www.packercountry.com .

It can be very cold in the winter but you get used to it and there are many winter recreational activities, many are free like sledding and ice skating. The fall is the prettiest time of year here. Many small towns outside of Green Bay as well as Door County have fall festivals and fall color tours. Another website I recommend for things to do in Northeast Wisconsin is http://www.travelwisconsin.com/index.htm .

Like it was mentioned before, downtown is being revitalized to include new shops, restaurants, and nightlife.

I do recommend living in Green Bay. It is becoming a diverse metropolitan area; however, it still manages to keep the small town feel.