Appleton sits on the Fox River in the heart of northeast Wisconsin's Fox Cities, a cluster of communities that together make up one of the state's most livable metro areas. Lawrence University, a small liberal arts college with a well-regarded conservatory of music, gives the downtown an energy and cultural life you might not expect from a city this size. Appleton is also the birthplace of Harry Houdini, and the History Museum at the Castle keeps that connection very much alive with a substantial permanent exhibition.
The revitalized College Avenue downtown has a good mix of local restaurants, coffee shops, and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. The Fox River runs through the middle of everything, providing trails and parkland. Appleton also sits on a genuinely interesting piece of technological history: the Vulcan Street Plant here was the world's first hydroelectric central power station, and the Hearthstone Historic House it powered was the first home in the world lit by central hydroelectric electricity — both in 1882. The Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve on the city's northern edge offers nearly 800 acres of trails and wetlands.