Was set on moving to Milwaukee from STL, but now I'm unsure... (Cleveland: home, live)

[Ron Burgundy]

Snow removal on main thoroughfares in Milwaukee is both excellent and prompt.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Ron Burgundy

Snow removal on main thoroughfares in Milwaukee is both excellent and prompt.

I agree with this. Don't know how it is in StL, but I lived for 4+ years in Albuquerque, NM - a place that gets generally extremely little snow (but snow does happen), and while we'd get 10 inches of snow a winter there in comparison to MKE's 50, the snow that *would* fall would often panic drivers in a way not seen in MKE. Part of that is simply unfamiliarity, however, some of that is just that MKE does such a great job of clearing snow / roadways.

If you are coming for grad school to MU anyway, I wouldn't imagine you'll be doing *tons* of long commuting. Thus, I would guess that outside of maybe a handful of days in the winter, you'll be driving in quite good (or at least cleared) road conditions.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by kns52b

hey everyone! thanks so much for all of the good advice....sometimes it just makes you feel better to hear from other people. fishtacos, I've read quite a few of your posts since you seem to be most familiar with the STl-MKE comparison. Thanks!

I'm about 90% sure Ill be heading up that way in June....now i just have to worry about finding a place to live!

One more question: (fishtacos this may be easier for you to answer) I realize MKE has much more snow than St. Louis, but my friend (who recently moved there) says that they do a MUCH better job in terms of clearing the roads, etc. Can anyone echo that statement? Seems like it wouldn't be so bad- the ONLY thing I hate about snow is that I nearly crash whenever I have to drive in it!!

St. Louis imo is similar to Washington D.C. or so in terms of snow. A couple of inches or even the threat of a couple of inches and the entire metro shuts down. That isn't the case at all in Milwaukee. It'll snow a lot more at one time and more often than St. Louis, but streets get cleared quickly, at least the main streets.

People drive much better in snow in Milwaukee. Your Milwaukee driving frustrations will be ...oh....say...43 from the South turning into 41 North, and you'll ask yourself why are so many random people driving 45-50 mph in the fast lane, in little traffic, or even left two lanes. Milwaukee doesn't score well for hwy driving in any way shape or form. But they drive much better overall in bad weather than Stl.

June is a tremendous time to be moving to Milwaukee. You'll have months of nice weather, outdoor festivals, block parties, the lake, etc..

And yeah, you'll have plenty of time to catch the Cards taking down the Brewers as is the case most years. (Sorry Brewer fans, if only Milwaukee stayed in the American League, my fandom for the Brewers would have stayed too). But I'll "Ring out Ahoya," and I'll "Go Pack Go"...(although I'm a Rams fan too) Packer fans are similar to Cardinal baseball fans. In and near Stl you'll find little old ladies debating the previous evenings double switch and pitch counts, and you'll find Packer fans equally fanatical. Brewer fans have a long learning curve with baseball knowledge, though there is a very small long time loyal group.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

I agree with this. Don't know how it is in StL, but I lived for 4+ years in Albuquerque, NM - a place that gets generally extremely little snow (but snow does happen), and while we'd get 10 inches of snow a winter there in comparison to MKE's 50, the snow that *would* fall would often panic drivers in a way not seen in MKE. Part of that is simply unfamiliarity, however, some of that is just that MKE does such a great job of clearing snow / roadways.

If you are coming for grad school to MU anyway, I wouldn't imagine you'll be doing *tons* of long commuting. Thus, I would guess that outside of maybe a handful of days in the winter, you'll be driving in quite good (or at least cleared) road conditions.

If the poster has a vehicle, it will most likely be used for side street commutes to and from Marquette to the previous mentioned places that most 23 year olds would be spending their time, outside of studies at MU. One can also effectively take the bus to and from all of these places as well.

I would add that the pot-hole situation is off the charts bad in Milwaukee. The running joke is that it is winter season and construction season. St. Louis pales in comparison to the pot-hole problem of Milwaukee's freeways and side streets. It isn't like driving from Stl to a city South on nice smooth blacktop paved hwys.

[Ron Burgundy]

Originally Posted by Fishtacos

If the poster has a vehicle, it will most likely be used for side street commutes to and from Marquette to the previous mentioned places that most 23 year olds would be spending their time, outside of studies at MU. One can also effectively take the bus to and from all of these places as well.

But when you travel, even when your start and end destination are on the sidestreets, you take the main thoroughfares for as far and as long as possible. Those streets are stationed at most every 8 blocks grid-wise and in the Marquette area are even more concentrated. The city does a great job prioritizing and getting those streets done first.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by kns52b

One more question: (fishtacos this may be easier for you to answer) I realize MKE has much more snow than St. Louis, but my friend (who recently moved there) says that they do a MUCH better job in terms of clearing the roads, etc. Can anyone echo that statement? Seems like it wouldn't be so bad- the ONLY thing I hate about snow is that I nearly crash whenever I have to drive in it!!

Two things:

1) Most 25k communities in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin have better equipment than you'll find in the St. Louis area. I was in an average sized Chicagoland community and was amazed at the size and quantity of available equipment at the municipal garage.

2) People in Wisconsin GENERALLY know how to drive in snow. If you are crashing when driving in snow, you are either driving too fast for the road conditions OR you have lousy tires. Both are easily remedied.

You won't see as many of those super slow in snow drivers that you see in Missouri.

One more thing. You will soon learn that sometimes you change your plans when there is a bad storm and that at times, travel has to be limited to what is critical.

[suzywans]

Background: I've lived both places - grew up in WI and attending SLU for undergrad. Lived in NYC for 7 years and am currently in Vermont.

I would rather live in a Calcuttan brothel than live in St. Louis, but am considering moving back to Milwaukee.

Hope that helps

[PTPPRO]

Ah', 23, what a great age! Congrats on getting into graduate school. I wouldn't worry too much about your move. Yeah, you can attend any school, but if u like Marquette then go for it.
On the other hand. If u really like STL, it will be different in Wisconsin. You will definitely get sick of watching Packers football. Make sure you don't give your real opinion of Favre or the Packers, unless your a real good shot, or can run faster than a deer.
It seems that your total focus at this time in your life should be your continuing education. If I had the chance to go back to school full time I would jump at it. Good luck!

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Two things:

1) Most 25k communities in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin have better equipment than you'll find in the St. Louis area. I was in an average sized Chicagoland community and was amazed at the size and quantity of available equipment at the municipal garage.

2) People in Wisconsin GENERALLY know how to drive in snow. If you are crashing when driving in snow, you are either driving too fast for the road conditions OR you have lousy tires. Both are easily remedied.

You won't see as many of those super slow in snow drivers that you see in Missouri.

One more thing. You will soon learn that sometimes you change your plans when there is a bad storm and that at times, travel has to be limited to what is critical.

You won't see much snow period in MO. This year for example it has snowed approx one time for about 6 inches in the Stl area. That's very different from WI, hence the questions from the original poster. WI will get waaaaaaay more snow, but WI is waaaaay better equipped to handle snow.

Amazingly enough you still get the poor drivers in the snow in WI, usually from people who know better...but generally speaking people drive well in snow in WI and it's cleared off well and quickly.

[stlsmoore]

As a 22 year old from STL I loved my time in MKE but had to move back for personal reasons right before winter. It seemed a little harder for me to find a job in my field up there (IT) but that might have been from me not being a local. Also highway drivers are super SLOW up there and the streets had way more pot holes obviously. In STL it's not uncommon to drive 70-80 on highways but in MKE I rarely seen anyone drive over 65.