Reviews & Comments
Appleton, WI
Reply to Posting 6-18-2009. Are we talking about t -
7/11/2009I grew up in Appleton and since have gone to college and grad school in Oshkosh, Madison, and out of state. I really don't know where this prior post is coming from. In the past decade, Appleton has been consistently rated among the best cities with populations under 100,000 in the country. It is a great place for families. It is still a city where in most neighborhoods you can still let your kids play in the neighborhood - even after dark - without worrying that they're going to be harmed.
The public school system is excellent, paid for for the most part by property taxes, which I admit are high. Of course, they are high because the area supports its schools. The high schools offer many Advanced Placement classes (which count for college credit at the state schools if students score high enough). The middle schools start teaching foreign languages in seventh grade. The school system also has a charter high school for the arts that is led by a fantastic teaching staff.
The private schools are also high quality - although it's been a 15 years I attended a private Catholic grade school and came out of fifth grade with the reading, math, language, and music skills of an eighth grader.
It's changed a lot since I lived there, for the better in my opinion. The city had a rough time after a major employer, AAL, changed to Thrivent, but it has since recovered. There is a large mall nearby and for a time that put stress on the downtown. In the past five years, though, the downtown has reinvented itself. It is full of great restaurants and boutiques. Also, the downtown has a new performing arts center that brings in off-broadway plays and other smaller shows. I went to see several shows there and have never been disappointed.
The city is also home to Lawrence University, a small liberal arts college with a very good reputation. It brings a different feel to the city - it's not a college town, but it is a bit more diverse with that population. The University also offers some great student performances for very little cost.
I, personally, don't like the water, but it's clear and clean and completely safe to drink. I will also echo another post that radon is an issue in several regions throughout the country and not unique to this area.
As for the paper mills, my dog always knows when we're entering the Fox Valley, so maybe she can smell them, but I can't and no one I've ever brought to the area has been able to, either. The Fox River has been badly polluted by the mills, but again, in recent years there have been huge projects to clean up the river.
There is a good mix of blue collar and white collar people in town and they are friendly and down to earth, as are most midwesterners. The people have a lot of respect for the city. It is clean and neat - no trash on the sides of roads. It has a regular farmer's market in the summer that supports local growers. It also has the normal parades and other types of festivals.
In sum, I've lived a few places now, inside Wisconsin and out, and Appleton has been a pretty good one for its size. If you're looking for the big city atmosphere, yeah, Appleton is not it. If you're looking for really small town, it's not really that either. I like it because it has a flavor of both, in large part due to it's planned growth. I would recommend the city to anyone who is looking to live in a city of that size, and who doesn't mind the sometimes brutal Wisconsin winters, and I don't see the 6/18 post as being constructive or in any part accurate.