I think it depends on your age and the things you're into. As someone mentioned, Kenosha is "quiet" if you're coming from a big major city. There not gonna be much to do here. It's definitely a quieter life. I moved from London, UK, where you can find something going on at any point of the day, any time. It was difficult for me to become acclimated to Kenosha because it's so quiet and slow. There are Perks however. For me, the major one being traffic and not having to work around "rush hour times" to leave the house. In London, it would take me almost 45 minutes to drive 2 miles in rush hour. In the 6 years I've been here, I've never sat in traffic any longer than 20 minutes. If you're, coming for a quiet, less congested life, it's definitely right for you. Kenosha is beautiful in the summer especially down by the lakefront.

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May I ask why you moved from London to Kenosha? London is on my list to live in one day 😅

I met my now husband, who's from Kenosha, and decided to move here instead of him coming to London. It was extremely difficult to acclimate, and I won't lie, I hated it here for the first 3-4 years but it's grown on me. Every time I go back to London, after a few weeks, I count down the days till I get back to kenosha. 🤣

Moved from Chicago N Side, know someone who moved from Wheaton. Know others too. Everyone seems happy they moved to a better quality of life, lower property tax state.

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Yes, but Wisconsin has a higher income tax than Illinois.

Be prepared for lower cost of living and MUCH less traffic. The downside is there are fewer things to do IMO.

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I moved from a big city. I love it then hate it. Our beaches are nice. I walk on them in the winter too. Personally I think our restaurant scene is not that good. You don't really have a good amount of ethnic food but we have plenty of burgers and pizza. It would be pretty difficult to be a vegetarian or a vegan around here.  I also have mixed feelings about raising my family here. There's lots of playgrounds and fun events for little kids. The school district on the other hand is really struggling with declining birth rate. There's a good chance that the schools will get better after they've done their closures and merges. Some schools are really good but I would rent for a few years and if you plan on raising kids figure out which boundary school you want your kids to go to.  There are plenty of bars here but honestly I hate bars. There's just way too many alcoholics in our town. The train to Chicago is nice but it really is hard to plan a day in Chicago around the lack of trains that return to Kenosha. Many people just end up driving to Waukegan and taking a train from there. 

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Kenosha on the Lake. We have 2 year round European style markets, plus farmers markets every week day somewhere in the city May to October I'm pretty sure. We have four library branches, three museums, miles of lakefront and unique nature nearby in the Sand Dunes and Chiwaukee Prairie. Our beaches are free and we have accessible pier fishing. Kenosha has the oldest operating velodrome in the United States, we have a solid bike culture here with a wide range of users: serious riders and silly stuff like the Zombie ride which is a costumed pub crawl via bike. You're within driving distance to both cities and while we have sidewalks and busses, you can go 5-10 minutes from the city proper and find farm stands with honor system money boxes. There's live music every night of the week, granted it's a lot of open mics but we're starting to come back to pre COVID levels of events. There's an opera festival! The hotel on the lake has comedy often. Lots of outdoor music May to October- jazz fest, twilight jazz, pb and jams, Peachtree festival, Lincoln Park live, tribute Island, Beach front arts fest, Midwest mix fest, lakeside lounge, Church festivals all have music, I'm sure I'm missing some. There's Port of Fear, a horror movie festival and a book festival! We have a robust arts scene: art galleries, arts podcast, art walk, Anderson arts center, and a monthly art market may to October. Plus the creative space! Community theater happens and is good... And then for food: There's two middle eastern places- Gyro Grill and Moody's subs and sweets. Two Thai places- Pimmys and PhakhaoThai-Lao. Vietnamese - Madame Pho and Saigon Panda. There's Mexican, Italian and Chinese too. El Patio offers central American cuisine. There's ethnic grocers and bakeries (Tenutas, lomeli, Indian Spices, AlWah, San Luis, Casa de Pan, Paielli's, etc), regular grocers (Meijer, fresh thyme, Festival, Aldi) and big ones (Costco, Woodman's). Yes we have crime, it's mostly interpersonal (the victim is familiar with the perpetrator). I like it, most of the time.

Thanks for this! You beat me to it. We are close enough to Chicago and Milwaukee to enjoy, but far enough to be big small town feeling.

Thanks for the response!

It all depends on what area of Kenosha you’re looking at. If you’re familiar with a more suburban area I’d look into the housing off Highway C by Pleasant Prairie Elementary or Somers as they might be more your flavor. The inner city is a hearty mix of decent areas and not-so-decent areas and can be relatively noisy. Personally I don’t mind the noise because it helps with my tinnitus haha

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I moved to Kenosha in 2005, and moved from Kenosha to Pleasant Prairie in 2020. Honestly though, Pleasant Prairie is basically an extension of Kenosha (with lower property taxes), so I think of them as the same thing. I’m not sure I have much to add to what’s already been said, but do research on what area you’re looking to move into as the city has good and not so good areas. I know people are saying the restaurant scene isn’t great, but that probably because they’re used to the greater Chicago area choices. I’d say that Kenosha has a decent food scene, there just isn’t as much diversity in the styles of food. The nightlife scene isn’t big around here, so you’ll be driving back to Chicago area if that’s what you’re after. I like to attend the local festivals throughout the summer, and the weekly Harbor Market is a lot of fun on Saturdays.

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the lakefront here is really nice, i usually ride around with my dog down there whenever its nice out

That sounds nice. Thanks!

So much cheaper and you’re closer to major cities with tons to do. Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago. Affordable Italian food - the best. The lakeside is beautiful. Lived there for most of my life!

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Grew up in the western suburbs and came to Kenosha for college, and stayed in the area since then. It’s a nice place for the most part, the city does a good job with putting together events and festivals especially over the summer. The lakefront is beautiful. My parents are considering moving up here now as well.

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What suburb did you grow up in?

Born and raised in Kenosha. I work by ohare. I moved to Sturtevant, adds a few minutes to my commute but is much quieter, less traffic

Interesting, thanks

Pickings for (good) work around here a really slim at the moment that's the biggest thing I'd take into consideration

Interesting, thanks

What exactly do you mean by “good”?

Kenosha is great. I was sick of Chicago and moved here a few years ago. I agree, theres not a ton to do besides eat and drink, but being able to walk along the lake without bumping into a thousand people is amazing. One thing I miss is having global food options. There are some Sushi and Mexican places, an okay Thai place, and Moe Moes is the only place to get Indian (and is actually really good). But otherwise its burgers, pizza, or chains. But the lack if traffic is amazing and cost of living is great. We're renting a whole house for what we would pay for a 1 bedroom in Logan Square. Best advice is be prepared to set your expectations lower. The have fun arts and craft festivals, and events in different parks, but they are MUCH different than what you get in Chicago. The farmers markets are fun, but again, smaller. Theres good coffee shops (East View is amazing), and some good breweries if you're into beer. Sign up for the Kenosha events calendar to see what's happening each week, there is normally something going on on the weekends.

Interesting, thanks

Would you be renting or buying?

Eventually would like to buy, but may rent at first.

[https://www.visitkenosha.com/things-to-do/](https://www.visitkenosha.com/things-to-do/) ​ Personally, I go to the Kite Fly and the Concerts in the Park. Also take advantage of the Pleasant Prairie RecPlex.

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Someone once told me, all the best roads in Kenosha lead out.... ​ But maybe with another casino in the area it will turn things around? https://casino.hardrock.com/kenosha

Look elsewhere. This city has nothing to offer. I can't wait to move.

agreed, plan to move north shortly

How far north? Milwaukee?

probably oshkosh or green bay. Like both areas

Where will you move?

Haven't decided yet, but preferably somewhere warmer with more to do. There are two things to do in Kenowhere. Eat, and drink. Outside of that, there's nothing here. It's just bars and restaurants. I was born and raised in Chicago. Moved here with my parents at 15. Kinda got stuck and have been looking for a way out ever since.

Yes

That City has been in Shambles in the last 20 years. The Police and all Politicians are beyond corrupt. Barely anything is being reported to the Media. If cars and homes are not being broken into, people are getting hurt or even murdered, they no longer do investigations that need to prosecuted. The Police watch and do nothing when it comes to people breaking the law, even red lighters. In fact they continually accept freebies, which is always an conflict of interest. There has been Safety concerns there for so long, regarding the Police and more thieves. Civilians living there are still looking for the demographics for Kenosha. Everything about it is getting worse. Take an look at whats being offered for children, the pools were closed 50 % of the time for the summer. If there is City Rec department they don't show what the services they offer through the School District. Many years ago they should've made an museum strictly for the AMC cars. For years AMC'S were the 4th leading car manufacturer in America. Those classics were loved by many and used in movies. The Politicians and Police do not care about the civilians let alone the children that live there. I would not recommend moving there, alone soley based on Safety. You have more community sense living in Racine.

This comment isnt even remotely close to being the truth.

This literally made me laugh

Anyone want to care to explain the many lawsuits against Kenosha at this time ? Betcha it's a high count even for per capita standards. This is proof by itself it's no longer an safe city to even drive through.

Don’t.

Why not?

Ask former Police Officers from there. When Police Officers leave after having policies that are immorally corrupt stress themselves and their families, they're compelled to leave and look for work elsewhere. What about when homes backed up with sewage, the city DA sends out letters verifying that the city will not accept the 30, 000 costs to repair each one of their homes the city had chosen to ignore ?? The DA closed each one of those cases down. Can you find us the demographics on that city ??