Three places to start looking
Short, plain guides to the places our buyers ask about most: what the houses are like, how you get around, and what we check before you write an offer.
North SideLa Crosse, Wisconsin
Older houses on narrow lots, big street trees and the river on two sides. If you want a porch, an alley garage and a short drive to downtown, start here.
Most of the North Side was built before 1950: two-story houses and bungalows on lots that are often forty feet wide, with garages off the alley. Buyers come for the porches and the price per square foot; they stay for the neighbors who still shovel each other out.
- The houses
- Mostly 1890 to 1950. Expect older wiring and plumbing in the ones nobody has updated, and ask for the furnace and roof years. We always do.
- Getting around
- Downtown La Crosse is a few minutes across the La Crosse River. The Amtrak station is on the North Side.
- Summer evenings
- La Crosse Loggers baseball at Copeland Park, on the Black River.
- Worth checking
- Some blocks near the rivers are in mapped flood zones. We look up the flood map for every house we show you, before you fall for it.
OnalaskaWisconsin, north of La Crosse
Onalaska sits just north of La Crosse on Lake Onalaska. It is where much of the area’s newer housing has gone up: subdivisions, condos near Highway 16 and older houses close to the water.
If you want a newer house with a bigger lot, or a condo with someone else handling the snow, most of our searches end up here. It is close enough to La Crosse that plenty of people work in one and live in the other.
- The houses
- Everything from 1950s ranches near the lake to houses finished last year. Many subdivisions have covenants; we get them before you write an offer.
- Outdoors
- Lake Onalaska is a wide pool of the Mississippi with boat launches and good fishing. The Great River State Trail starts in Onalaska and heads north along the river.
- Getting around
- Highway 16 and I-90 are close. Downtown La Crosse is usually fifteen minutes or less.
- Worth checking
- School district lines do not follow city limits everywhere around here, so we confirm the district for every address.
La CrescentMinnesota, across the river
Across the Mississippi in Minnesota, La Crescent is a small town under the bluffs with apple orchards on the ridge roads. It has its own schools and a short drive over the bridges to La Crosse.
Buyers find it when they want a smaller town and some elbow room without a long commute. The town calls itself the Apple Capital of Minnesota, and Applefest every September makes the case.
- The houses
- Split-levels and ranches from the 1960s and 70s, older houses near downtown, and newer homes up on the ridges.
- Taxes
- This is Minnesota: different income tax and property tax rules than Wisconsin. If you work across the river, ask a tax professional how it works for you.
- Getting around
- The bridges put downtown La Crosse about ten minutes away. Highway 61 runs north and south along the river.
- Worth knowing
- Ingrid and June are licensed in Minnesota too, so we can list and show homes here.
These guides are general notes from our own experience, not school-boundary, tax or flood advice. We look up the specifics for every address before you make an offer.
