Escape From Wisconsin!!! (Madison, Green Bay, Two Rivers: high school, college, camping)

[openmike]

I appologize as I was trying to be bit funny changing the preposition (Escape FROM Wi.vs TO). We loved many aspects of Wisconsin and no state is perfect . The isothermo climate is 70 year round with highs 85 and low near freezing at times. even here in NC.. We are totally bumbed about Nelsons ACL and Cobbs shoulder ....really? If they make a run they HAVE to get a receiver on board that is like Driver ,Nelson and Cobb nothing short of podigy level!!!!

[ben242000]

I'm moving out of WI for a second time, back to Albuquerque. I've lived here for 28 of my 29 years and it's not for me. I hate winter, and the summer hits me with bugs, allergies, and humidity. No thanks. I love Spring and Fall here however. The landscape is too flat for me and I'm not a hunting/fishing guy, which dominates the culture here in central WI. If my wife dislikes ABQ, we may look elsewhere before coming back to WI even though most of my family lives there (if I did, it'd probably be to Madison or Milwaukee instead of a small town). I've got two more months here for the time being and plan to enjoy it.

[Angel Heart]

I've been browsing the city-data forums for a while and in every state's forum I've looked into, there's always someone saying something to the equivalent of, "It's hard to make friends and meet people here" or, "you're trying to enter a closed circle - you had to grow up here to make friends".

I guess people are just people and it's like that everywhere. But surely there are at least some decent people around in all areas.

There's also the occasional person talking about the humidity of Wisconsin, how there's nothing to see/nothing to do... Try living in the ghettos of Louisiana right next to a swamp with 90-100 degree weather and 90%-100% humidity as a pale redhead for a while. I'd rather take my chances in Wisconsin.

[augiedogie]

IMHO, a lot of folks who complain about their state/location are complaining for a few basic reasons.

They hate the weather, whether either too hot or too cold.
It isn't like home.
They know few people because their family isn't there.
The activities they like to do are not available there.

It usually isn't the problem of the location or the people there. Places are different. But you can't complain about Wisconsin being too cold. It is what it is. The problem is you don't like cold weather. So move. IHMO, Wisconsin is actually one of the nicest places to live in the USA, if you can take the winter. There is a ton of things to do, certainly more than most states, and the variety is amazing. The people in general are very friendly. IT is very safe. The taxes are kind of high, but its not a deal breaker for most people, unless you have some huge house in the wrong location, like the City of Milw. And every place I've been has bugs. People in Wis. have a lot to be thankful for, but if you can't take the winter, better start looking because its going to get cold again. Not only that, but some experts are actually predicting longer and colder winters ahead.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by augiedogie

IMHO, a lot of folks who complain about their state/location are complaining for a few basic reasons.

They hate the weather, whether either too hot or too cold.
It isn't like home.
They know few people because their family isn't there.
The activities they like to do are not available there.

It usually isn't the problem of the location or the people there. Places are different. But you can't complain about Wisconsin being too cold. It is what it is. The problem is you don't like cold weather. So move. IHMO, Wisconsin is actually one of the nicest places to live in the USA, if you can take the winter. There is a ton of things to do, certainly more than most states, and the variety is amazing. The people in general are very friendly. IT is very safe. The taxes are kind of high, but its not a deal breaker for most people, unless you have some huge house in the wrong location, like the City of Milw....

I was with you until that little tidbit. For many of us, the city of Milwaukee is actually one of the best things about the state. And many people own huge and not-so-huge houses in the city, and do better than fine. No need to denigrate a part of the state in order to lift up the parts that you do like.

[Tyryztoll]

Russell Wilson preferred Wisconsin.

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I still wouldn't say that moving to a state with 90-degree weather for 5 months is very attractive, no matter how cold WI can get..

I cant let this go. I live in Tennessee and we have the same weather as our neighbors to the east in NC so im gonna call bull on this statement. We do have long stretches of 90s but only during June July and August typically. We do NOT have 5 straight months of 90s. You may see a few 90 degree days here and there in May or September but that can happen even up north. We do have a very warm humid summer, I am not denying that but not 5 months straight of it. Actually April and May are near perfect weather here, as are September, October and November. Actually I think fall is nice nationwide.

[WINH]

The perfect place to live would 70-80 degrees and never go below 60 and it would rain once a week, no bugs, no animals, no storms. This would be in a bubble. I live in NH now and lived in WI for 35 years and am moving back there to be with family. Winter is merely an inconvenience as you can always add more clothes and there are activities like snow shoeing or cross country skiing that aren't expensive and actually warm you up or you can stay inside. Most places except the south can deal with winter effectively. I hate heat and humidity as the only option is to swim or stay inside in the air conditioning as you can only take off so many clothes to relieve yourself of the heat. Sweating like a pig all day is not fun. At least in winter there are no bugs to deal with for 4 months.

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by WINH

The perfect place to live would 70-80 degrees and never go below 60 and it would rain once a week, no bugs, no animals, no storms. This would be in a bubble. I live in NH now and lived in WI for 35 years and am moving back there to be with family. Winter is merely an inconvenience as you can always add more clothes and there are activities like snow shoeing or cross country skiing that aren't expensive and actually warm you up or you can stay inside. Most places except the south can deal with winter effectively. I hate heat and humidity as the only option is to swim or stay inside in the air conditioning as you can only take off so many clothes to relieve yourself of the heat. Sweating like a pig all day is not fun. At least in winter there are no bugs to deal with for 4 months.

Southern California and Hawaii seem to come closest to perfect weather. No major extremes, lots of sun and warm weather. They also have earthquakes and volcanoes which thankfully we do not in TN. We do have some extreme summer weather, but winter is mild. GIve and take, up in Wi there is a nice cooler summer but a brutal winter. I just was in Michigan in July, high temps in the 70s while here at home it was 97. It was refreshing to be in that cool air up there. In January it wont look so pretty when its 10 degrees for a high up there. No matter where u choose to live its a give and take. If your rich you can buy a 150k RV and chase good weather. Upper Midwest in July, midsouth in transition seasons and Florida, Texas or Arizona in January. Most of us cant do that lol.

[Tyryztoll]

My years have been split between living in the south and the Midwest, and it rings true that there is definitely no perfect place. Even a spot like San Diego would become so mundane to me that it would drive me nuts.

That said, I personally prefer Wisconsin for year 'round living, mainly because the summers are usually so pleasant and tolerable. To me, summertime was made to be enjoyed outdoors, not to be spent holed up inside with AC blasting, which is what the situation is here in TX. Most folks do the bulk of outside activities in the morning or evening here during June, July, August, and even well into September, but the problem I have with that is the kids are on summer break and that's when they should be enjoying themselves outside from sunup to sundown.........at least that's how I grew up in the Midwest. I know things are different now with the advent of the internet, video games, etc. Yes, winters are brutal, but the kids are in school for that whole stretch, and it gets dark so early during peak winter months there isn't much of a chance for them to go outside anyway.

The tradeoff for southern living has always been the milder winter weather, but after living in north Georgia and now North Texas, I can safely contest that this isn't always the case in either spot. Both places can get more than chilly, especially in January and February, and north Georgia especially has had some borderline "bad" winters - at least by their standards - the past few years. Remember the Atlanta ice storm a couple years ago where people were abandoning their cars and walking insane distances to get help or go home? My brother was stuck in his work van for 13 hours! Hey man, that time's supposed to be when they get their "reward" weather for making it through summer!

Me? I'll stomach a Wisconsin winter so that I can enjoy the rest of it. I think those summers were made for me. Plus, I like the winter weather around Christmastime. For me, January through March are the hard months to deal with up there. Like I said, no perfect place.