The reasons why people move to Wausau
What our reader chat revealed and what we can learn from it
Greater Wausau Chamber President Dave Eckmann last month delivered some startling news to the city’s Economic Development Committee last month, and again to the county’s Extension, Education and Economic Development Committee last week: Our area is shedding people and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.
That’s a problem now and it’s only getting worse.
That combined with some conversations around why people move to the area, got me thinking: Why do people actually move to Wausau? And why do they move anywhere, for that matter?
In the late 2010s, a common mantra was that Millennials chose their place of living so much differently than other generations. They choose cool places to live first, then think about looking for a job. Advocates used that as a reason to build more cool stuff.
But is that really true? And to what degree
A common refrain heard from people living in the rest of the state goes something like “Oh yeah, I drive through there on the way to Minneapolis/Chicago/Madison/Milwaukee.” For a number of people in the state, Wausau amounts to a few road signs.
So when I’m curious about things, I do two things: Look for data and start talking to people.
Moving data
Area business leaders are most interested in attracting young professionals to the area, from the ranks of the Millennial and Gen-Z generations. Eckmann in speaking to the EEE Committee last week said in a survey of their business leaders, finding workers is the No. 1 challenge they’re facing.
I tried to find some real data around generational differences in reasons why people choose to live somewhere but came up a bit short. Here is what I did find, which can at least seem contradictory:
A study by Commercial Cafe, a real estate listing service, seems to indicate that Millennials are flocking to mid-tier cities like Austin or Nashville. Those are mid-size cities with lower costs of living than expensive coastal cities but big enough for plenty of city life.
When Millennials choose houses, a lot of those placemaking things Millennials were supposed to have flocked to show up in their preferences. According to Cognition Smart Data, Millennials value a healthy home and location above almost all else. Cost of living and proximity to open space was also very important.
What about Gen-Z? This isn’t exactly apples to apples, but according to data from Statista, Gen Z overwhelmingly live and desire to live in the suburbs, moreso than urban or rural areas.
One of the trends in recent times ought to be working in Wausau’s favor: For the first time since the 70s more people moved to towns and cities with fewer than 250,000 in population than larger cities, according to data in Bloomberg’s City Lab.
Comments from our chat
So what about Wausau? Why do people move here? A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to our readers via chat to ask how they came to live in Wausau.
Three trends emerged: people moved here for jobs (or school), family and/or some kind of existing connection to the area either by the person answering or their spouse. All but two gave one or a combination of those responses.
For example, here is a response from Geoffrey:
I came to Wausau in 2007 for a job. I was hired to lead public relations and communications for Ministry Health Care and relocated from the Chicago suburbs. At first it was challenging having moved from a much larger and urban environment but as I made friends and got to know the community I found it very welcoming and friendly. When I moved away 10 years later to go to Milwaukee it was not an easy decision.
And one from Betty:
We moved to Wausau long ago because I was offered a job here--and we have never had a reason to leave because we love it here!!!!
And an example of a move from family from Mads:
My family lives here and I needed more support while going through some health challenges. I never thought I'd come back to my hometown, but it's a much nicer place to live now than I remember from the '90s.
Responses around family could further be divided into three categories — returning to take care of family, the desire to be around family, or to raise their own family. Wausau tends to have a boomerang effect in which people who grew up in Wausau move away to go to school, find their way to a big city and settled there for awhile, until their children reach the age where they would start going to school. Suddenly a return to Wausau starts to look like a good idea with low crime, affordable cost of living and good schools.
AM gave one of the non-standard answers. He wrote:
Lack of traffic, less expensive than most places, amazing amount of culture for a small city, yet close enough to bigger cities when I need a big city fix
Bringing people to Wausau is different than keeping them here. Placemaking - ie, making your city a cool place to live — seemed to matter much more in connecting people to the community once they’re here than attracting them in the first place.
Liz Brodek, former city community development director hinted at some of those placemaking aspects:
I first moved to Wausau in 2013, left in 2018, and moved back in 2021. My move to central WI from Milwaukee was for love, but once in central WI, our move to Wausau was cemented when I drive down Third Street. The beauty, quaintness, and vibrancy of the downtown felt like home. There were times, watching people ice skate or play catch on the 400 Block, that felt like living in a Norman Rockwell painting. My job soon connected me with amazing, inspiring people: small business owners, community leaders, and folks who generally wanted to see the community do well. The people are what made me love it here, but there are tons of other perks as well, some included in other responses. I always say Wausau has big city amenities with a small town feel. We've got everything Milwaukee and Madison do (a baseball team, farmers market, concert series, theater, museums, great food options, etc.) but everything is less expensive and more accessible. AND we get the benefit of having all those within minutes of a state park as well as plenty of other options to be in the woods or near water.
I moved cities twice in the time I was gone and while it came close, I never felt quite the camaraderie and commitment of the people I met and became friends with here. A new job opportunity brought me back to what I'd termed my "adopted hometown" in August 2021. I'm about to start a remote position and so grateful I get to stay here.
Making friends here made a difference. One thing a lot of Wausau groups could focus on more is building community and hosting more social-oriented events. Athletic races are fine, but social-themed athletic events can help people actually make friends and build connections with the community. The Central Wisconsin Outdoor Adventure Club, a free group on Facebook, does this by hosting mostly non-competitive outdoor-themed meetups including hiking, kayaking and biking.
I met someone through that group who was from Kentucky. I asked him why he moved to Wausau, and interestingly, he had zero prior connection to the area. He researched where he wanted to live, and his research based on his preferences brought him here.
With Wausau’s population, understanding why people come here in the first place and what makes them stay will be crucial for its leaders to understand.
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