Reviews & Comments
Plover, WI
Pros & Cons to Living in Plover / Stevens Point -
8/12/2010I'll start with the pros: The Green Circle trail system that runs around town is a great way to get outside and exercise. The air here is clean and breathable (and that means a lot to me since I have lived where it is not). It is very pretty in that it is very green everywhere and lots of trees, and good sized lakes and rivers within driving distance and the sky is a deep blue when the sun is out. Low crime. If you like dogs, this is a very dog friendly town with dogs and dog lovers everywhere (it is not unusual to see people out walking dogs on the streets). There are some very good restaurants here, but some of them are also expensive. Now to the cons: the winters are long and very cold which can get depressing and sometimes seems unbearable. In late summer it can get very humid and the mosquitoes can be so bad that you do not want to be outside in the evening which makes the late summer evenings useless for outdoor activities. Ragweed pollen is terrible here and shows up typically from late July through October (or first snow). It is difficult to find a place to live that is not near a highway or railroad tracks or mosquito infested rivers. Healthcare here is atrocious and expensive. I have been to many doctors here over and over again and still suffer without any help whatsoever. Most doctors here are old and seem uneducated, unmotivated, and unwilling to find the cause of whatever ails you, not to mention the staff at the healthcare clinics here are overall rude and unsympathetic. If you are an adult who does not drink, you will be left out of most activities as "bellying up to the bar" seems to be most common form of adult entertainment; and if it is not the bar then still expect plenty of alcohol of one form or another to be present, and expect many people to leave drunk (and yes, they drive afterwards, too). Shopping is almost non-existent, and I end up ordering things online or having to drive over an hour or more to get to a city with any decent shopping. Property taxes are very high. It it hard to make new friends here as a lot of people are very family oriented, and by that I mean they do things with their families and their families only. There is no place for you if you do not have relatives here or do not have friends from high school that you still hang around with. It seems like there is no room for someone new. All of the churches that I have visited here are shallow and boring. When looking for a home, I was shocked to find out that nearly every middle class home that I viewed looked like it was stuck in the 1970's or 1980's. Unless you are willing to pay top dollar for a brand new home, that is pretty much what you are stuck with. People here act bewildered when you ask for certain things, like quality items that you are not locating in the stores - they act like they have never even heard of those things. There are people here that do not even own a computer and never use the internet! Wow. So, while it is not a terrible place to live, it lacks in a few things.