Some are pretty darn charming, some aren't.

GB/Appleton are pretty good areas for families. I don't know how Marinette is. Moving from any sort of city to anything smaller/north of GB would probably be a shock. GB or Appleton would probably be fine.

That little notch from Appleton to GB gets (generally) milder winter weather than the inland parts of the state that far north. It's a solid 10 degrees warmer there than Wausau through pretty much all of winter.