Why do Wisconsin folks dislike us? (Chicago, Joliet: work, house, college)

[nikkj123]

I grew up in central Wisconsin and my family still lives there ( Wausau) and have never really heard about the driving situation in Chicago. It was my sense that most of the people in central Wisconsin avoid both Milwaukee and Chicago for there big city problems.... and thats what it is !! As for the people of Illinois I felt they were typical midwesterners. Both states are very much the same....I currently live in Tucson Arizona and can say the drivers in Chicago are not much different than any other big city...even Tucson and Phoenix is bad for driving. Obviously Boston is the worst...I dont think anyone will argue with that.

[nikkj123]

O Ya I almost forgot............GO PACKERS

[jcp123]

Probably for the same reason I was harassed here in TX for having CA tags on my Bronco

[sonicreducer]

I remember the first time I heard the term "FIB." I was just starting to date my spouse, who is from central Wisconsin. Being from central IL, I'd never heard it before. He claimed that most WI people use it to refer to the rude & fast drivers with Illinois license plates--not every single resident who comes to the state with a tourist purpose. In my experiences, the state is very welcoming of tourists--probably even more than they should be in some instances. It's when people get abusive, or start treating the place like it's some kind of backwater playground to go nutso in, that people start to take issue and get kinda ticked off. And can you blame them?

During the summer it's always fun to go south on 39/90/94 and witness the logjam of SUVs with IL plates backing up for miles and miles. It's always made me wonder why more folks from the city don't look elsewhere for recreation and leisure. Central and northern WI are pretty long hauls from Chicago, and I'd think they could find comparable stuff in southern Michigan or something. And there are nice areas of downstate IL and IN that are great for camping, fishing, water parks, etc. Wisconsin has seemingly gotten this weird pedigree of being the default weekend getaway for Chicagoans.

A friend from Joliet half picked a fight with my spouse a couple years back, saying "if us Illinoians stopped going to Wisconsin and spending our money, you guys would go bankrupt!" My spouse replied that wouldn't be possible, because they would still have to "drink beer, eat cheese, and wipe their asses." I don't know if our breweries, dairy farms, and paper mills would keep us solvent forever, but it's a nice thought I guess.

The key to Wisconsinites not calling you a "FiB" I think, really does lie with just treating them and the place with proper respect. There always will be people who will give you hell for having an out of state plate for no good reason, but I'd say that's an exception to the rule.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by sonicreducer

During the summer it's always fun to go south on 39/90/94 and witness the logjam of SUVs with IL plates backing up for miles and miles. It's always made me wonder why more folks from the city don't look elsewhere for recreation and leisure. Central and northern WI are pretty long hauls from Chicago, and I'd think they could find comparable stuff in southern Michigan or something. And there are nice areas of downstate IL and IN that are great for camping, fishing, water parks, etc. Wisconsin has seemingly gotten this weird pedigree of being the default weekend getaway for Chicagoans.

First, Chicago-area folks do head to Michigan on weekends; where you go depends a lot on which side of town you're from. North side/north suburbs/west suburbs, you head to Wisconsin; south side & south suburbs, you head to Michigan. Just depends on which is easier to get to. And the reason we go to those two places in particular is because they are where most of the recreational opportunities are located. There are spots of similar opportunities here and there in downstate Illinois and Indiana, but most of those areas are mostly corn and they don't offer the sheer volume of lakes, woods, rivers, & what-not that Wisconsin and Michigan offer.

[2beamissourian]

I have been to Wi several times ... with my Illinois plates ..... and I felt very welcomes ..

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by nikkj123

O Ya I almost forgot............GO PACKERS

BLASPHEMY!

[quickdraw]

Wisconsin people know Chicago area people laugh at Wisconsin and they resent it.

Let's start at the border.

Discount cheese,fireworks,porn.
Cheese stores with mice on the roof.
University of Lawsonomy
Bubblitz's

Ernie Von Scledorn(who do ya know wants to buy a car?)
The House on the Rock
Ya hey d'ere!
Cripes!
Cripes sake almighty!
Couple-two-tree.
Fair-ta-middlin

Wisconsin is just surreal

[CityKidWithAgDegree]

When I saw this post, I had to laugh! all you FIBS. I was a Fib once too. I wont state what a FIB actually means, that would be against the rules of the website. I am looking at this post from the perspective of a "downstater" way down state, in the Saint Louis area. I was not exposed to Chicagoans till I got into college, and boy was that an education in rudeness! Chicagoans in spite of their city are very provincial! I dont know why you guys leave Cook Co., if it's so great?? You come out of your city and you seem lost and so you seem to get defensive and braggy. You do that not only to Wisconsin, but to anyone south of Joliet, or west of DeKalb! Oh, and BTW, there are other things to see in WI besides the Dells and Door County!

On another note, I now live 18 miles from Wisconsin, in the twin cities MN and we get a little of their snootiness too, but not nearly the wrath Illinoisans get! Let's face it, they have a beatiful state and wish to keep it that way!

[j33]

Originally Posted by CityKidWithAgDegree

Oh, and BTW, there are other things to see in WI besides the Dells and Door County!

You don't say. I'm shocked! I thought for sure if I exited the expressway before I got to Door County that I would instantly be jettisoned off the edge of the earth.

Oh, and may have been born, raised, and still currently residing in Cook County, but 'great' has never been a word I've used to describe it, I mean honestly, have you seen those nutbags who run it?

...and if I'm ever a bit lost and jumpy in Wisconsin it is because usually that means I'm driving a car, and since I only do that a few times a year, it makes me a bit lost and jumpy