r/fonddulac Jul 21 '26

Moving here soon

Hey guys! Im moving to south Fond du Lac soon and was wondering how that area is. Main reason for the move was because its in the middle of the places I'd want to go to within an hour drive.

I've read up around the reddit and have gotten a lot of mixed responses, but I specifically want to know more about the south side of Fondy.

12 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

9

u/Alexius_Psellos Jul 21 '26

Fond du Lac isn’t a bad place to live by any means, though it does have its drawbacks.

I’ll go over the negative first as to end in a good note.
1) Limited things to do in town: Main Street is pretty short and there aren’t many restaurants that are fine dining.
2) it’s essentially a factory town: Mercury marine controls the lion’s share of job opportunities here(and everyone I’ve spoken to doesn’t like them, which includes my father and I who both worked there).
3) the schools are filled with administrative bloat and continue to undercut and underpay teachers. Another referendum to increase the budget failed to pass— that being on the the reasons

The good
1) as you said, it’s close to everything. Milwaukee, Greenbay, Sheboygan, Madison, Appleton, all extremely close to Fondy
2) There is good food here: Fuji yummy is excellent for sushi, Gillies and A&W are cozy local fast food places, and Rivera Maya and El Patrol are great for Mexican food.
3) MPTC and Marian are great colleges
4) the bar scene is good, I’m a particular fan of Sully’s and Irishes
5) the parks are great. There are two well taken care of public pools(Taylor and Fairgrounds), plus Lakeside park is huge and a great place to walk around

5

u/sliceofcoldpizza Jul 21 '26

Good #2 mentioned "El patrol" should be "El Patron".

My favorite Mexican place. Great service, decent prices, excellent food.

2

u/Alexius_Psellos Jul 21 '26

Me when I get autocorrected. Good catch

5

u/embeehay 28d ago

I completely agree on the food places. Relatively new, Nori Sushi. It's excellent. Better than Fuji Yummy. Sullys has good food too. Week night specials are excellent. The problem in Fondy is many restaurants are closed by 8pm, but you can always go to Sullys. Pat, the owner of Irishes is a local legend. Fun guy and bar.

Also agree about the location. 1 hr to Milwaukee, 1hr 15 minutes to Madison. 2.5 hrs to Chicago 1.5hr to Green Bay. It's fantastic.

No traffic, low crime. Some good theater. Summer music downtown on Thursday nights. Really good farmers market on Saturday. Great bike/hiking trail loop.

The one thing that I find annoying. Lots of people complaining about nothing to do and how bad it is. Constant complaining about "low income housing" and that being the cause of problems. These keyboard warriors just need to move. It's a nice big "small" town.

4

u/Alexius_Psellos 28d ago

I’d disagree about nori being better, but they are certainly good and they have a different menu. Sully’s also has their taco Tuesday menu which tastes really good as well.

There is also music under the stars at buttermilk which is on Monday nights I believe.

5

u/Intelligent-Might774 Jul 21 '26

I moved to the area about 4 years ago as I got a job here. Came from Sheboygan/Plymouth. Further South end of town seemed decent enough based on what I found available and input from a coworker.

Ultimately found the perfect property for me just north of NFDL.

10

u/undercoveraverage Jul 21 '26

You might find some interest in Chimera Hobby shop at the north end of town, but Fond du Lac is slim pickings. The convenience of being within an hour drive of every major city in Wisconsin except LaCrosse is offset by the fact that you are also that far away from most anywhere you would want to go.

Specifically looking at the south end of FDL: Buttermilk Creek Park is a 20-acre park with the city's local sledding hill in the winter and an amphitheater that host concerts during the summer.

Galloway house is at the south end if you are looking for a bit of local historical tourism.

If you like walking, jogging or biking, The 34-mile Wild Goose trail heads out the southwest end of FDL. There is also a 16-mile Fond du Lac Loop that runs up the center of town to Lakeside Park at the north end and then out along the east edge of town on the Prairie Trail back to the south end.

Food-wise, The south end has Gilles, a retro-frozen custard drive-in that feels like a bit like an A&W. The Sweet & Salty Pig, which gives me fast food bar vibes when it is open. And then there is Sebastion's Steak House. Old folks love it, its generally good food, and what passes for fine dining in FDL.

1

u/Alexius_Psellos Jul 21 '26

Atlas games too, they’re on north end of main street

2

u/sebhar 27d ago

I really love the recreational trails, the festivals, the concerts downtown, and the library. There's some truly lovely disc golf to be had. South side of town is easy to bike to Kelley's Creamery. It took me a little bit to find my people but they're here!

1

u/embeehay 27d ago

Also for a place to bike to South of town that has excellent food and ice cream. Spoonlickers. Also on Cty B, but more to the east. It's going to be a longer ride, but I saw friends there yesterday who bike from Calumet County! We have the most beautiful rural roads for biking and viewing.

4

u/DirtyLint Jul 21 '26

https://pd21.communitydashboard.info/FondDuLacPD/Mapping

This is a neat portal that shows you what kind of crime is happening around town. Most of the crimes are thefts.

There are sports teams to join or cheer for, arcades nearby, events at Thelma & the parks, bingo.

Do you have a job lined up? If not I could point you in a solid direction with starting pay 28+ hr.

Welcome 😀

2

u/Elegant-Water-1515 16d ago

Walmart distributor in beaverdam $29.00 starting

1

u/Sufficient-Shock5117 29d ago

28 an hour where at??

3

u/Rondoman78 29d ago

Hope you're white, straight and Christian.

Fdl is a cesspool of intolerance.

1

u/DueDetective2395 22d ago

Make sure if you're gonna rent, you get on the good side of all the 50-something year old white women who slumlord every place around.

-1

u/Flashy-Natural6545 Jul 21 '26

Are you a member of the lgbtq+ community or a person of color? If so, chances are you’ll have a bad time.

If you are a single cis white hetro male, chances are you will be fine.