Why the strong hatred towards Illinois? (Milwaukee, Madison: transplants, how much, wedding)

[azloafer]

"Yes~~they are driving our property values higher. I'm happy my property is gaining value as that sure is better than losing value."

The horrible truth is that if you sell and go to buy another property, you won't be able to afford it!

[cmb53208]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

CMB, thats EXACLY where I was busted, about 3 miles inside the border of WI. And guess what? Thats where ALL my friends/family get pulled over too. If I remember, Ill bust out the ticket when I get home and tell you what mile marker we were near.

People, dont believe the hype that WI troopers dont single out IL plates.

And some more info to support the above hypothesis: The very charter and Wisconsin statutes state that the Wisconsin State Patrol is supposed to do just traffic enforcement and nothing else; except apparently in Milwaukee County. When the sherriff of Milwaukee County wanted the WSP to come into Milwaukee and take over traffic enforcement on the freeways (freeing up his cops to do actual police work in crime ridden neighborhoods) the WSP balked, saying something along the lines "Milwaukee is scary and there's Negroes there!" (Though the latter wasn't their official statement.)

The WSP does in fact exist primarily to collect revenue. And I wish they would get some revenue from those minivan driving boneheads that clog up the left lane.

[illinoishomeman]

Hello. I am an Illinois native, have lived in Illinois all my life, and have no plan on ever leaving. When I came to the this thread I couldn't help but laugh a little at what people really think about us. I have been to Wisconsin several times in my life. One time was to stay in Madison(which I will admit is a very well kept city, but nothing really that amazing) and another time to the Dells(which I thought was rather dirty). My stop in Millwaukee was very scary and I think that the streets of St. Louis or Detroit may hold more promise then the large hidden poor of that city. In Chicago we have poor, but at least we admit the failure instead of driving them into submission. Wisconsin is a beautiful state, but not so much that the people there, deserve to look down their noses at us. Come on! It is no seceret that Illinois is nothing more then one major city, a few smaller cities, and a whole lot of corn and soybeans. Illinois has the richest farm land in the world!! We really don't have that much room to fit in rolling green hills set across from a lake. The people of Wisonsin should be thanking us for feeding them and giving rise to their southern areas, and vacation spots. I have come to the conclusion that people of these winter cabins and summer lodges, hate Illinois, untill the people from Illinois' cities hand them there high rent. On the subject of driving, which I never knew was so much of an issue, if someone is going to hate because I am a more aggressive driver then them, then I guess I can sleep well at night. Do people from Wisconsin think that people that commute to a world class city everyday for work, will be the most polite drivers just because they crossed the state line. And if they hate our tolls, then don't come. Illinois could survive if Wisconsin was gone. But I doubt the cities in the south part of the state could say the same. I have met several people that moved from Wisconsin to Illinois, and they will take any quick "jab" at telling us how bad of a state we live in, is compared to their "homeland of holiness." But once you get passed the nice areas that are good for a vaction once in awhile, there is nothing really special about it. Unless you have a weird thing for cows. Maybe that is why Money Magazine has more Illinois cities listed as their Top 100, then our "cheese-head" neighbors to the north. Not to mention we have the #2 place and probably the #1 place next year. In fact, Milwaukee is one of the dirtiest cities I have ever seen. It is so overated, and maybe if people would actually do some research, they would see that it has alot of poverty for it's size of city. Plus, Wisconsin is most drunken state I have ever seen. I thought that maybe it was just the cities that I have been to, but it isn't. Everyone...AND I MEAN EVERYONE...that I know from Wisonsin, would be considered drunks by modern standards. At a Bear vs Packer game, everyone wearing a dorky cheese hat was so drunk I feared that I was going to die once I got back on the road. Maybe my driving is more agrressive, but I have to in order to keep my family alive from the effects of the twenty cups of beer that some loser, with a license plate from you-know-where, will have on my family. Maybe that is why they have to make Illinois look bad, they are going through withdrawls all the time and need something to take their drunken rage out on. I guess our people are just a little bit more educated then people from Wisconsin. The schools in Illinois always out preform the schools from Wisonsin. Plus, we offer way more secondary and graduate schools that actually will hold up on a resume then the Wisonsin grads. I guess that in the end the people from Wisconsin are just angry about our standard of living. Maybe it just comes back to the fact, that just like dogs, the people form Wisconsin will bite the hands that feed them.

[katt]

I've owned my place for 18 years and have no intention of selling out. The truth is, right now I could sell out~~make mega $$~~buy up another piece of lake front property on a small little known lake~~build it up and sell out and make lots more $$. The buyers, of course, would be Illinois people. No one locally has enough $$ to buy me out. There are LOTS of lakes in my area and Illinois people seem to prefer already developed properties. Undeveloped properties are cheap in my area. You have to put the work into it but it pays off in the end.

[azloafer]

Originally Posted by illinoishomeman

Hello. I am an Illinois native, have lived in Illinois all my life, and have no plan on ever leaving. When I came to the this thread I couldn't help but laugh a little at what people really think about us. I have been to Wisconsin several times in my life. One time was to stay in Madison(which I will admit is a very well kept city, but nothing really that amazing) and another time to the Dells(which I thought was rather dirty). My stop in Millwaukee was very scary and I think that the streets of St. Louis or Detroit may hold more promise then the large hidden poor of that city. In Chicago we have poor, but at least we admit the failure instead of driving them into submission. Wisconsin is a beautiful state, but not so much that the people there, deserve to look down their noses at us. Come on! It is no seceret that Illinois is nothing more then one major city, a few smaller cities, and a whole lot of corn and soybeans. Illinois has the richest farm land in the world!! We really don't have that much room to fit in rolling green hills set across from a lake. The people of Wisonsin should be thanking us for feeding them and giving rise to their southern areas, and vacation spots. I have come to the conclusion that people of these winter cabins and summer lodges, hate Illinois, untill the people from Illinois' cities hand them there high rent. On the subject of driving, which I never knew was so much of an issue, if someone is going to hate because I am a more aggressive driver then them, then I guess I can sleep well at night. Do people from Wisconsin think that people that commute to a world class city everyday for work, will be the most polite drivers just because they crossed the state line. And if they hate our tolls, then don't come. Illinois could survive if Wisconsin was gone. But I doubt the cities in the south part of the state could say the same. I have met several people that moved from Wisconsin to Illinois, and they will take any quick "jab" at telling us how bad of a state we live in, is compared to their "homeland of holiness." But once you get passed the nice areas that are good for a vaction once in awhile, there is nothing really special about it. Unless you have a weird thing for cows. Maybe that is why Money Magazine has more Illinois cities listed as their Top 100, then our "cheese-head" neighbors to the north. Not to mention we have the #2 place and probably the #1 place next year. In fact, Milwaukee is one of the dirtiest cities I have ever seen. It is so overated, and maybe if people would actually do some research, they would see that it has alot of poverty for it's size of city. Plus, Wisconsin is most drunken state I have ever seen. I thought that maybe it was just the cities that I have been to, but it isn't. Everyone...AND I MEAN EVERYONE...that I know from Wisonsin, would be considered drunks by modern standards. At a Bear vs Packer game, everyone wearing a dorky cheese hat was so drunk I feared that I was going to die once I got back on the road. Maybe my driving is more agrressive, but I have to in order to keep my family alive from the effects of the twenty cups of beer that some loser, with a license plate from you-know-where, will have on my family. Maybe that is why they have to make Illinois look bad, they are going through withdrawls all the time and need something to take their drunken rage out on. I guess our people are just a little bit more educated then people from Wisconsin. The schools in Illinois always out preform the schools from Wisonsin. Plus, we offer way more secondary and graduate schools that actually will hold up on a resume then the Wisonsin grads. I guess that in the end the people from Wisconsin are just angry about our standard of living. Maybe it just comes back to the fact, that just like dogs, the people form Wisconsin will bite the hands that feed them.

Don't you think that you went a little overboard in your critique of Wisconsin residents? I lived there for 45 years and I don't think that I was that bad! Also, I am not a drunk and never was!

[brigid2]

I'm from Illinois...I hold no animosity one way or the other toward Wisconsin or my home state...frankly, i look at myself, and all of us, as citizens of the world--even if not all of us share that view ("ehm")...thus, I have commended both states, and respective residents, for various reasons, and conversely, added my share of "four-lettered", "bleeped-out" commentaries to people from Illinois and Wisconsin...

NOW--if I were from Canada, how would I be feeling in general about people from the States visiting "north of the border", and what's the reception of people toward Canadians when they come into the States??? Namely into Wisconsin???

Depending on if you've encountered either situation in the second paragraph, and judging from your reaction to said situation, think of that in the ways we seem to treat each other--whether from Illinois or Wisconsin...or Canada...

Good natured ribbing is one thing, but when people become plainly insulting and make blanket generalizations, it doesn't do anyone a service...no matter what town, county, state, city, or country you're from...

now, why don't we discuss the blue/red divide among the midwestern states...(facetiously stated)...(cracks against IN and OH aside)...

[katt]

From the posts I've read I think the hatred for Illinois people from Wisconsinites MAY BE jealousy?? Illinois people have the bucks to come up here to Wisconsin and buy up property, bring their big high power boats, jet skis, etc. and PARTY. In my area the locals can't afford to do that (unless it's the 1st of the month and they've gotten their "checks"). As a bartender I see "who" has the bucks to spend at "party time" and it isn't the locals. You will find the "locals" sitting in the bars at 8:00 in the morning and home by noon~~we have to be careful 24 hours a day and watch the "other driver" to try to protect our lives against somebody who may be driving drunk at 10:00 in the morning. They don't work and will never get "ahead" as they have no ambition to work or to get ahead. YET they will run down the people coming here from other areas (including Illinois) who are decent working people with ambition who like to invest their $$ in an area they like to have fun at~~they don't choose to do so in Illinois, Milwaukee, etc.. They choose to do it here. I see it as jealousy of others who have more than they do. They could have it too if they chose to do so.

[Drover]

While I've been pretty outspoken on this thread in explaining the "Illinois" (read: Chicago-area) side of this discussion, I just want to make clear that I don't necessarily share the same views as "illinoishomeman" on this issue. I've noted, perhaps not strongly enough, that I have mostly felt welcome in Wisconsin by its residents who patiently put up with us weekenders, since most Wisconsiners see and recognize our relationship as being one of mutual benefit. Most of us Chicago-area weekenders also understand that the benefits are mutual. The "rivalry" between the states is mostly nothing but good-natured ribbing and nothing would change if the border were re-drawn 50 miles south to put Chicago in Wisconsin. Pay no attention to folks like politikaly on the WI side and illinoishomeman on the IL side.

[cmb53208]

Originally Posted by illinoishomeman

Hello. I am an Illinois native, have lived in Illinois all my life, and have no plan on ever leaving. When I came to the this thread I couldn't help but laugh a little at what people really think about us. I have been to Wisconsin several times in my life. One time was to stay in Madison(which I will admit is a very well kept city, but nothing really that amazing) and another time to the Dells(which I thought was rather dirty). My stop in Millwaukee was very scary and I think that the streets of St. Louis or Detroit may hold more promise then the large hidden poor of that city. In Chicago we have poor, but at least we admit the failure instead of driving them into submission. Wisconsin is a beautiful state, but not so much that the people there, deserve to look down their noses at us. Come on! It is no seceret that Illinois is nothing more then one major city, a few smaller cities, and a whole lot of corn and soybeans. Illinois has the richest farm land in the world!! We really don't have that much room to fit in rolling green hills set across from a lake. The people of Wisonsin should be thanking us for feeding them and giving rise to their southern areas, and vacation spots. I have come to the conclusion that people of these winter cabins and summer lodges, hate Illinois, untill the people from Illinois' cities hand them there high rent. On the subject of driving, which I never knew was so much of an issue, if someone is going to hate because I am a more aggressive driver then them, then I guess I can sleep well at night. Do people from Wisconsin think that people that commute to a world class city everyday for work, will be the most polite drivers just because they crossed the state line. And if they hate our tolls, then don't come. Illinois could survive if Wisconsin was gone. But I doubt the cities in the south part of the state could say the same. I have met several people that moved from Wisconsin to Illinois, and they will take any quick "jab" at telling us how bad of a state we live in, is compared to their "homeland of holiness." But once you get passed the nice areas that are good for a vaction once in awhile, there is nothing really special about it. Unless you have a weird thing for cows. Maybe that is why Money Magazine has more Illinois cities listed as their Top 100, then our "cheese-head" neighbors to the north. Not to mention we have the #2 place and probably the #1 place next year. In fact, Milwaukee is one of the dirtiest cities I have ever seen. It is so overated, and maybe if people would actually do some research, they would see that it has alot of poverty for it's size of city. Plus, Wisconsin is most drunken state I have ever seen. I thought that maybe it was just the cities that I have been to, but it isn't. Everyone...AND I MEAN EVERYONE...that I know from Wisonsin, would be considered drunks by modern standards. At a Bear vs Packer game, everyone wearing a dorky cheese hat was so drunk I feared that I was going to die once I got back on the road. Maybe my driving is more agrressive, but I have to in order to keep my family alive from the effects of the twenty cups of beer that some loser, with a license plate from you-know-where, will have on my family. Maybe that is why they have to make Illinois look bad, they are going through withdrawls all the time and need something to take their drunken rage out on. I guess our people are just a little bit more educated then people from Wisconsin. The schools in Illinois always out preform the schools from Wisonsin. Plus, we offer way more secondary and graduate schools that actually will hold up on a resume then the Wisonsin grads. I guess that in the end the people from Wisconsin are just angry about our standard of living. Maybe it just comes back to the fact, that just like dogs, the people form Wisconsin will bite the hands that feed them.

OK, let me parse out this post here with brutal honesty:

1) You maybe right about Milwaukee: the libs that run the city love the poor as long as they stay away from the East Side and Thrid Ward. That's why outside of the condo areas, people are leaving Milwaukee in droves. And yeah, we do drink too much up here, gotta admit it. With that being said though, Illinois south of Chicago is a new kind of hell-I have never seen a landscape so boring and small cities that were more depressing. Aside from Cook or DuPage County, I would choose "Wisonsin" over hellholes like Springfield and Bloomington any day.

[politikally]

Originally Posted by Drover

So let me try to understand this. Is your complaint that we have an attitude like "we have the money and we own the place," or is it that we actually do have the money and we actually do own the place (or are buying it one piece at a time), which drives up property values and drives up property taxes and drives people out? Or is it both? I can't quite keep it all straight. And what does this make the people who are selling out to us? Greedy? Traitors? Yap about our attitudes and our money all you want. Your neighbors keep taking our money off our hands, most of them gladly. It's the damndest thing -- they actually enjoy the net capital inflow that keeps an economy growing.

You know, most people actually consider climbing property values to be a good thing. Most people like the fact that their largest asset is increasing in value. It sure as flippin' hell beats the alternative. And if it's the property taxes that are driving people out, a more constructive approach than cranking about FIBbers buying up property would be to advocate for tax reform. Or you could always move to the western UP, a resplendent, unspoilt FIB-free zone where land is cheap because everyone is leaving after giving up trying to find a job. Good times!

My family makes no apology for the property we own. We bought it with honest money and we don't owe anyone a justification

I'm not attacking people from Illinois personally in this thread. Frankly I don't really give a hoot either way. The point of this thread was to answer a question which I attempted to do in the best way I could.

In my opinion it's the attitude the people from Chicago bring up north that people from Wisconsin dislike. That's my opinion. You can stand the your high horse all day and attempt to proclaim that the money from Chicagoland is proping up the northern wisconsin economy - which is far from the truth. Trying to use that as an excuse to justify the conduct of many (not all) chicago people in the northwoods is the cause of much of the dislike. I don't expect you to see through your own attitude to realize where I and others are coming from.

If you want to think of my opinion in a different way consider it in this regard: one of the first things you learn when you grow up, is that you should leave something like you found it. When you go into a room you don't trash it, you clean it, after you mess it up. I find that the attitude many wisconsites harbor towards people from chicago is basically in line with that. Meaning the people from chicago don't leave wisconsin they way they found it. The philosphy when they arrive in wisconsin is to use, abuse, pave, and develop. That's where the dislike comes from.

I don't blame all visitors. In fact many like leaving things as they are. However it's those who don't which cause the reputation. I can only hope that you and yours are those types of visitors - those who leave things as they find it.

Originally Posted by Drover

While I've been pretty outspoken on this thread in explaining the "Illinois" (read: Chicago-area) side of this discussion, I just want to make clear that I don't necessarily share the same views as "illinoishomeman" on this issue. I've noted, perhaps not strongly enough, that I have mostly felt welcome in Wisconsin by its residents who patiently put up with us weekenders, since most Wisconsiners see and recognize our relationship as being one of mutual benefit. Most of us Chicago-area weekenders also understand that the benefits are mutual. The "rivalry" between the states is mostly nothing but good-natured ribbing and nothing would change if the border were re-drawn 50 miles south to put Chicago in Wisconsin. Pay no attention to folks like politikaly on the WI side and illinoishomeman on the IL side.

I'm far from the extremist you would proclaim me to be, and you're far from the saint you proclaim yourself as.

It's pretty pointless to continue the pi$$ing match this thread has become. And I will say that I hope the original poster of the question has an idea now, of why there is discontent between the residents of the states in question.