Great place to live, raise a family and have fun!
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8/30/2006
My husband and I moved to Appleton from Milwaukee in 1998. We have loved it since day one. Most of the people here are very friendly and down to earth with Midwestern values. Appleton has about 70k people (the enitire metropolitan area is about 300K or so) but you can do just about anything here you can do in a big city. And the water tastes GREAT! We often comment about how odor-free it is, and how crisp it tastes. Surrounding cities may get their water from different water treatment facilities, thus a difference in taste. Appleton has a state of the art water facility. There is a performing arts center here, large shopping mall, gourmet restaurants, a prestigious university (Lawrence), and a bustling downtown. There are now several ethnic restaurants including Indian, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Japanese, and several ethic grocery stores, including an Italian meat market and even a Russian store (which I'll have to check out!). We of course have cheese factories in nearby towns, but we also have a winery! The public schools are good (my daughter has only had kindergarten so far),probably nothing to rave about, but decent. I have spoken to the principal of the school for some concerns and he was more than helpful. There are also charter schools (part of the public school system), a Catholic school system, Lutheran (WELS) school system and another nondenominational christian school. There are the local YMCA's, the parks and rec dept, as well as many other organizations to become involved in. Wisconsin's foundation is in industry, so there are a lot of factory type jobs here, mostly at paper mills and printing companies. Of course these companies also employ many engineers and planners. There are also a handful of insurance companies that call the Fox Valley their home. I have never found Appleton to be a difficult place to find a decent job. My husband and I have found employment almost instantly after applying, often with several job offers. Entrepreneurs are welcomed here and the area is one of good economic growth see: www.thenewnorth.com. Appleton is just 30 minutes south of Green Bay, where you can enjoy the Green Bay Packers and a variety of other entertainment. There is also a zoo nearby Green Bay where one can enjoy all kinds of animals from deer to giraffe. We are just north of Oshkosh where there is a wonderful outlet mall and the Univ of Wis Oshkosh. Appleton is surrounded by several smaller cities and towns-Neenah, Menasha,Kim
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