FAMILY FRIENDLY LIVING IN THE CITY OF LA CROSSE
Updated: May 20, 2020
The Lokken-Schwaller Family has called Downtown La Crosse home since 2015, and find the city to be a welcoming, vibrant place.
The following feature was written by Courtney Lokken.
It was the birth of our daughter and a desire to live near one of our families that prompted our move to La Crosse in 2015. We were sad to give up the life we had built in Chicago, but we knew living in Downtown La Crosse could still provide us with a sense of the urban lifestyle we had grown to love, particularly a walking lifestyle with access to activities and events, restaurants, shops, and more.
When we found our home in Downtown - a 1920 colonial that we restored - we were excited to be in a neighborhood with historic charm and character. But the points of interest surrounding our home stood out to us most of all. We’re a block from the library and its wonderful children’s room, three blocks from the Dahl YMCA (basically our second home), and four blocks from the People’s Food Co-Op, the Children’s Museum, and the Cameron Park playground & farmer’s market. All of downtown is just a short walk or bike ride from our front door, and that has been a perfect fit for our family.
Downtown La Crosse is vibrant and offers pretty much everything our family needs. There are quaint shops, upscale restaurants with cool atmospheres, low key bars and cafes, increasing public art (keep it coming!), a great hardware store, recreational opportunities, the farmer’s market, Moon Tunes, a variety of festivals and parades, and so much more.
"Most importantly, there are friendly, thoughtful people who know our names and our kids’ names. Everywhere we go, there’s a smiling and familiar face. It’s lovely to shop and eat at stores and restaurants that are run by our neighbors, friends, and other community members."
It’s not one memory or experience that make La Crosse home, but rather a collection -- walking around Downtown with sleeping babies in the stroller and popping into the Root Note or Jule’s for a coffee or Pearl Street Books to scoop up a new read; walking to Great River Popcorn for ice cream on warm summer nights; biking as a family to Riverside for fireworks on the 4th of July; soaking in music and family friendly activities during Midwest Music Fest; people-watching while walking home after the Oktoberfest parade; hopping on a bike and, within a few minutes, connecting to the area’s many trails; doing most of our Christmas shopping Downtown and popping into Santa’s Workshop for a visit.
As a family, we love getting outside to hike, snowboard and ski, bike, and more. We love going on adventures around the Driftless region, exploring new towns and checking out new hiking trails. Lucas enjoys creative writing, reading, trout fishing, and playing ice hockey. He also coaches Margot in hockey. Courtney takes a lot of bike rides, works out at the Y, enjoys playing and listening to music, and stays active in the Downtown Neighborhood Association and other civic volunteer engagements.
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