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There are a few Michigan transplants in Minneapolis from what Im told, so clearly those people like it. Minnesota is thought of as a similar state to Michigan by many here. We have woodlands, lakes and cold weather in common, so those who like living here in an upper midwest state like Michigan also have a favorable view of Mn. Like I said in an earlier post, the only border state that Michigan generally has issues with is Ohio. We are easy to get along with.
That's pretty much the same view we have of Michigan. We think of WI and MI as family.
Illinois doesn't have a relationship with Wisconsin. Chicagoland has a relationship with Wisconsin.
To Chicago, Wisonsinites are cheese heads. To Wisconsities, Chicagoans are flatlanders or FIPs (The "IP" in FIPs stands for Illinois People; if I tell you what the "F" stands for, I get tossed on TOS)
In truth, Wisconsin is Chicago's playground. Chicago and Chicagoland may well be the most misplaced location in the nation. If you draw a ring around Chicagoland (encompassing parts of IL, IN, WI), and ask the people which state they most associate with, it would no doubt be Wisconsin.
We know Wisconsin. Well. For all the hoopla of the Cub-Cardinal rivalry (which is really biggest among downstate IL fans), the Cub-Brewer rivalry is more like a local brawl...Milwaukee is in the neighborhood. And down through the years, Northwestern has had more of a football rivalry with Wisconsin than Illinois has.
And all of Wisconsin from the Dells to Door County to Eagle River and all in-between is where we play.
Downstate IL? We just don't relate to it. Springfield is the capital, but we have no love for the place (now Madison is what a capital city is supposed to be like). Champaign-Urbana is the U of I and loved (but suburban Chicago shares that love with UW, IU, and UIowa, places so many of our students attend or graduated from). And quaint Galena in IL's nw corner is highly tied to Chicagoland. The rest of the state...well...not so much.
How best to describe that Chicago-Wisconsin relationship? It wouldn't be usual to drive that 160 or so miles between Chicago and Madison some morning and even twenty miles south of Madison notice that there are more IL cars than WI ones.
There are also many Chicagolanders who spend their weekends in western Michigan. Watch all the vehicles head east on I-94 on Friday afternoon and the same vehicles heading back west on Sunday afternoon.
maybe out in country michigan but to me michigan is a blue collar working class state (detroit). I don't associate that with minnesota and for all the hate towards ohio, i think it's the closest thing to michigan
The Detroit area has more engineers per square mile than probably anywhere else in the US. The Detroit area is just as much white collar as blue collar.
There are also many Chicagolanders who spend their weekends in western Michigan. Watch all the vehicles head east on I-94 on Friday afternoon and the same vehicles heading back west on Sunday afternoon.
it depends where you are in Chicagoland. Those to the north tend to go to Wisconsin.
then again, Harbor Country from New Buffalo/Union Pier all the way on up to Sagatuck is a Chicago area vacation zone.
Illinois doesn't have a relationship with Wisconsin. Chicagoland has a relationship with Wisconsin.
To Chicago, Wisonsinites are cheese heads. To Wisconsities, Chicagoans are flatlanders or FIPs (The "IP" in FIPs stands for Illinois People; if I tell you what the "F" stands for, I get tossed on TOS)
In truth, Wisconsin is Chicago's playground. Chicago and Chicagoland may well be the most misplaced location in the nation. If you draw a ring around Chicagoland (encompassing parts of IL, IN, WI), and ask the people which state they most associate with, it would no doubt be Wisconsin.
We know Wisconsin. Well. For all the hoopla of the Cub-Cardinal rivalry (which is really biggest among downstate IL fans), the Cub-Brewer rivalry is more like a local brawl...Milwaukee is in the neighborhood. And down through the years, Northwestern has had more of a football rivalry with Wisconsin than Illinois has.
And all of Wisconsin from the Dells to Door County to Eagle River and all in-between is where we play.
Downstate IL? We just don't relate to it. Springfield is the capital, but we have no love for the place (now Madison is what a capital city is supposed to be like). Champaign-Urbana is the U of I and loved (but suburban Chicago shares that love with UW, IU, and UIowa, places so many of our students attend or graduated from). And quaint Galena in IL's nw corner is highly tied to Chicagoland. The rest of the state...well...not so much.
How best to describe that Chicago-Wisconsin relationship? It wouldn't be usual to drive that 160 or so miles between Chicago and Madison some morning and even twenty miles south of Madison notice that there are more IL cars than WI ones.
Actually for that derogatory Wisconsin term you're referring to, it's FIB. I've never really heard anyone say that term as FIP, but I suppose it's possible a very tiny minority of WI residents say it this way. I won't mention what the F and B stand for, since we all know that'd violate the C-D ToS.
Pretty much all what you said is correct, but I guess I'll expand on edsg's post, of the usual perspective of someone from the Chicago area:
Iowa: pretty positively, and often feels like an extension of northwest Illinois. Iowa City is especially viewed positively(with the Quad Cities right behind it), and the rest of the state isn't thought of much(though I enjoyed visiting Dubuque and Burlington, when I went to both cities on separate vacations years ago).
Missouri: no opinion or neutral, though most people generally like Saint Louis.
Indiana: usually think of it as hickish/backwards, though people usually don't mind northwest Indiana, the area around South Bend, and Bloomington(how did I almost forget to say this?!?). sometimes Indianapolis too(and I personally like Indy), but it seems like many don't have much of an opinion of that city.
Michigan: generally positive feelings, like Iowa. usually think of it as having great beaches, interesting cities(and overlook Detroit's deterioration), microbreweries, and enjoy the upper part of the 'mitten'(i.e. Traverse City), Mackinac(sp?) Island, and the Upper Peninsula(lol, I always feel like I'm one of the only people to have ever visited the latter 2, though).
Kentucky: no opinion, except that they may think of it as not as blah scenery wise to drive through when traveling south, as Indiana and downstate IL can feel.
Last edited by SonySegaTendo617; 05-19-2012 at 06:13 PM..
Washington - i guess kind of like a sister state, but not exactly.
California - used to be quite a negative feeling, but now that so many Californians live here, I'd say it's more of a neutral or even positive feeling of kinship, especially to the Bay Area northwards. LA feels like a very distant place, which it is.
Idaho - don't really think much of it. it's so far away from Portland and the Willamette Valley. Though the small population of eastern Oregon probably views them as being similar.
Nevada - A lot of people probably aren't even aware Oregon and Nevada share a border!
California-Kind of like big brother. Definitely a sense of jealousy and being overshadowed. If California was America, Arizona would be Canada.
Nevada- A kindred soul. Kind of like if California is the parent, Arizona and Nevada are siblings.
New Mexico- Kind of a cool mysterious place. Not nearly as tied to the hip as people think. People in Phoenix don't hang out in ABQ and vice versa.
Utah- Our Mormon cousins. Sometimes I wish Utah would just annex N. AZ and Mesa and the eastern suburbs of Phx. Then we wouldn't be nearly as red of a state as we are.
Colorado- We barely touch. But Colorado seems like a cool state.
Actually for that derogatory Wisconsin term you're referring to, it's FIB. I've never really heard anyone say that term as FIP, but I suppose it's possible a very tiny minority of WI residents say it this way. I won't mention what the F and B stand for, since we all know that'd violate the C-D ToS.
Pretty much all what you said is correct, but I guess I'll expand on edsg's post, of the usual perspective of someone from the Chicago area:
Iowa: pretty positively, and often feels like an extension of northwest Illinois. Iowa City is especially viewed positively(with the Quad Cities right behind it), and the rest of the state isn't thought of much(though I enjoyed visiting Dubuque and Burlington, when I went to both cities on separate vacations years ago).
Missouri: no opinion or neutral, though most people generally like Saint Louis.
Indiana: usually think of it as hickish/backwards, though people usually don't mind northwest Indiana, the area around South Bend, and Bloomington(how did I almost forget to say this?!?). sometimes Indianapolis too(and I personally like Indy), but it seems like many don't have much of an opinion of that city.
Michigan: generally positive feelings, like Iowa. usually think of it as having great beaches, interesting cities(and overlook Detroit's deterioration), microbreweries, and enjoy the upper part of the 'mitten'(i.e. Traverse City), Mackinac(sp?) Island, and the Upper Peninsula(lol, I always feel like I'm one of the only people to have ever visited the latter 2, though).
Kentucky: no opinion, except that they may think of it as not as blah scenery wise to drive through when traveling south, as Indiana and downstate IL can feel.
good observations. I definitely agree about Iowa. UIowa is virtually a "local university", often referred to as "the University of Illinois at Iowa". You can't escape tiger hawks in suburban Chicago.
Yes, we are guilty of seeing Hoosiers as weird, although we do handle "the Region" (northwest indiana) better, as you, say; in fact, we handle it better than the folks in Indiana do.
I do agree with you we tend to like St. Louis which has such a nice historical feel to it. But I think we relate to Milwaukee better. In fact, IMHO, we relate to Milwaukee better than we do any midwestern city since it is literally in our back yard..we don't go there to vacation; Milwaukee is a day trip and we hardly are going out of town when we see a Cubs-Brewers game at Miller Park (along with all those other Chicagoans that make it into Wrigley North when these two teams meet).
As for Michigan, I might do some dividing that you didn't. Harbor Country from New Buffalo/Union Pier up through South Haven and Saugatauk is pretty much a Chicago playground. From Traverse City to Mackinac, the influence is partly Chicago, partly Detroit although I think the Detroit influence is a bit greater.
Our observations do run more towards Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana than they do to Missouri and Kentucky and that makes sense:
we're not really talking about Illinois's concept of adjoining states; we're talking about Chicago's concept. Chicagoland overwhelms the state in population and what folks in the metro area think has nothing to do with how people downstate think. That's why the Iowa City connection you speak of works with Chicago, but doesn't attach Iowa City/Coralville to the state of Illinois.
good observations. I definitely agree about Iowa. UIowa is virtually a "local university", often referred to as "the University of Illinois at Iowa". You can't escape tiger hawks in suburban Chicago.
Yes, we are guilty of seeing Hoosiers as weird, although we do handle "the Region" (northwest indiana) better, as you, say; in fact, we handle it better than the folks in Indiana do.
I do agree with you we tend to like St. Louis which has such a nice historical feel to it. But I think we relate to Milwaukee better. In fact, IMHO, we relate to Milwaukee better than we do any midwestern city since it is literally in our back yard..we don't go there to vacation; Milwaukee is a day trip and we hardly are going out of town when we see a Cubs-Brewers game at Miller Park (along with all those other Chicagoans that make it into Wrigley North when these two teams meet).
As for Michigan, I might do some dividing that you didn't. Harbor Country from New Buffalo/Union Pier up through South Haven and Saugatauk is pretty much a Chicago playground. From Traverse City to Mackinac, the influence is partly Chicago, partly Detroit although I think the Detroit influence is a bit greater.
Our observations do run more towards Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana than they do to Missouri and Kentucky and that makes sense:
we're not really talking about Illinois's concept of adjoining states; we're talking about Chicago's concept. Chicagoland overwhelms the state in population and what folks in the metro area think has nothing to do with how people downstate think. That's why the Iowa City connection you speak of works with Chicago, but doesn't attach Iowa City/Coralville to the state of Illinois.
There are just as many Detroiters in South Haven and Saugatuck on any given weekend as there are Chicagolanders.
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