Possible relo to Wisconsin
 

My husband and I have a possible job opportunity in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Can anyone tell me how it is to live there, and what are nice areas to live in? Thanks in advance.

I'll let someone with more direct experience reply with specifics re neighborhoods, etc. But I would have to say that, with the exception of the Packers - and that's if you give a hoot about football - GB just doesn't have a whole lot going for it.

We use Green Bay as our nearest "metropolitan" area and I'm consistently underwhelmed by it.

Are you familiar with Door County? That's a primo Midwestern resort area about 50 minutes (and more) to the north. And that basically is one of the best things about Green Bay.

Not a great deal going on there besides the Packers and cold weather. But if you're looking for a nice Midwestern place to raise a family, you may like it.

Where are you relocating FROM? That will give us a point of reference. I lived in Appleton, WI for 6 yrs through Jr. High School and High School - it's about 40 minutes south of Green Bay. Great community, all in all. Not much more than a small midwestern college town (pop. 80,000? plus surrounding "metropolitan" area, maaaybe a total of 150,000?- called the Fox Cities). I would recommend Appleton if you don't mind a commute. Door County would be the #1 choice of course, but that seems to be more difficult of a commute due to smaller highways.

Post more and let us know more details!

Right, LynnJoe - actually, in my post I was going to say that for any kind of real shopping (well, at least with Dayton's, and a few well-known chains) one would have to go to Appleton. Plus, Appleton at least has Lawrence and the verve of a school town.

The OP would do well to re-post with a Green Bay heading for real input.

Oh, what the heck - let's just discourage them at the outset: Yes, there are colder places in the Midwest. But, depending on where you are coming from, you need to think about how you feel about winter temps that probably average 20 and below...and can easily dip FAR below. Recent winters have been relatively mild, with not much zero activity. But that's not to say it'll hold. Well below zero happens. And with fuel prices as they are.....???

Snow....isn't all that big a consideration. There's some, yes, but GB is not in a 'snow belt' the way areas farther south are. The area is often on a par with Chicago or Milwaukee for precip. But in a 'heavy' winter...who can say.

Winter, however, lasts a looooooong time. Spring (in the midwest in general and northern wisconsin in particular) is a fearsomely fickle thing. True enough, some years its 8 months of winter and 4 months of bad skiing. Other years, something blessed happens are there are lovely warm ("is this spring????") days in March and April. But don't count on it. Also,Green Bay is a paper plant town and has inversion issues. Plainly put, the town can be smelly.

OTOH, if you can live outside Green Bay...somewhere rural, but near...you will be treated to soult-stirring vistas of expansive skies, storybook style scenes of farmland, cow herds and (too-fast disappearing) red barns; and the friendliness of Midwest folks - none of which is to be under-estimated!

I've lived in Appleton for the last seven years. It would be nice if you could get a response from someone who actually LIVES in Green Bay, but I'll do what I can. Green Bay itself, like much of Wisconsin, is not a bad place to live. Yes, the Packers call Green Bay home. And yes, during the season, people get a little packer-crazy. The Green Bay/Appleton FOx Cities area is growing. If you can't find something in Green Bay, you can find it in Appleton. And if that isn't even possible, you are an easy two hour drive from Milwaukee.

The entire state of Wisconsin has a lot going for it. The people here are typical midwestern people -- friendly and happy to help. The winters can get a little long, but the winters get just as long in Illinois, New York state, or even parts of Oklahoma. The trade off is beautiful summers that don't get horribly horribly hot.

To be devil's advocate: Door County is a great place to visit, but I would discourage you from living there and commuting to Green Bay. THere is only one road in and out of the county, and it gets EXTREMELY congested, especially in the summer. Also, it is swarming with tourists between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So please oh please, keep in mind there is more to Green Bay than cold weather and the packers. If it is a serious relocation possibility, please ignore all of us and make a trip out. (Plan around home packer games, though, as hotels might be hard to find)

Not sure if you are still possibly moving to GB anymore but I've lived in Green Bay for the past 10 years and grew up right outside Green Bay. I think it's a wonderful place to live. Even though it is growing rapidly, the feel of it is still small town. You can get pretty much anywhere in Green Bay in 20 minutes or less. Yeah, we have the Packers but not everyone goes Packer crazy. I'm not a huge fan but it's still really neat to see the excitement on Packer days. It's not the same to hear people talk about it...but to experience it yourself by going to a game or tailgating.

In my opinion, the most desirable and fastest growing areas are Howard, Ashwaubenon, and De Pere. A lot of people are moving to areas outside of Green Bay and commuting such as Little Suamico, Pulaski, Sobieski, Abrams, Oconto and Oconto Falls to the north and Wrightstown and Freedom to the south. These are smaller towns ( I grew up in Oconto Falls).

Door County is a beautiful place; however, it is a tourist destination that mostly closes down in winter and they have very high property taxes due to the expensive vacation homes. The population quadruples in the summer by people from southern Wisconsin and Illinois. It's really hard to get where you are going. Love to visit but wouldn't live there.

We don't have as many of the primo stores that Appleton has like Marshall Fields, Pottery Barn and such but Appleton is only 30 minutes away. Alot of people go to Appleton to shop but we do have a rather large shopping area in Ashwaubenon with new stores and restaurants coming in. We also have a few restaurant chains that Appleton doesn't have.

I lived in Appleton for 9 months last year and didn't find that I liked it as much as Green Bay. I'm more familiar with Green Bay and this is where my family lives but it is still nice in Appleton and a lot of people commute between the two cities which makes driving a little unbearable at times. Appleton is one of 5 cities located next to eachother that make up the Fox Cities.

Winters can be cold and they do last a long time but you get used to it and the summers here are beautiful. Tons of recreational activities in all seasons. I don't particularly care for the winter but I don't think it's as bad as people say. It usually starts to warm up in April...

There are many things to do in Green Bay and Appleton. Green Bay has the Weidner Center and Meyer Theater for culture. Appleton has the Performing Arts Center. Wonderful broadway shows and acts. Green Bay has a semi-pro hockey team and The Fox Cities has a semi-pro baseball team. Games for both are fun and affordable for the family. As well as the hockey team, there is an indoor football team in Green Bay. If you like college basketball, we have the UW-GB Fighting Phoenix men's basketball team and a lot of locals go to their games which are played at the Resch Center also.

I think that is very affordable to live here, an average new ranch house about 1300 sq feet starts at about $200k. The cost of living is lower than other larger metro cities. I don't know what else I can tell about Green Bay but....

I recommend to check out these websites. I've compiled a list and maybe it will help to show you what's here in the Northeast Wisconsin area:
Green Bay Links
http://packercountry.com/
http://www.titletown.org/default.asp
http://www.ci.green-bay.wi.us/

http://www.travelwisconsin.com/place...n_greenbay.htm

http://www.de-pere.org/
http://www.village.howard.wi.us/serv...5&area_id=
http://www.ashwaubenon.com/


Fox Cities links
http://www.jefflindsay.com/Appleton.html
http://www.foxcities.org/
http://www.appletondowntown.org/index.html


sidenote: I just wanted to comment on
tuckerdc's comment about the smell in Green Bay, yes it is a paper plant town but Green Bay does not stink...I don't think I've ever driven anywhere in Green Bay and held my nose or commented on it stinking. There are a few plants (not even paper) that had a unpleasant smell but it lasted only while I was driving by. There are also paper mills in the Fox Cities and the only place I know of that doesn't smell good there is right outside Kaukana.

My sister lives in Green Bay (actually Allouez) and while the area is a little thin on cultural events, it's a great place to raise a family. Housing is VERY affordable.
The winters in Minneapolis are colder than Green Bay because the lake mitigates the air temp.

this thread is celebrating it's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! YAY!!

what happened to the OP, did they WALK to GB to check it out?