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To the average person, Wisconsin is cold, jobs aren't the best paying, taxes are higher than average, and there are plenty of opportunities to be found elsewhere.
Culture is it's biggest selling point. Safe, clean, pride of ownership everywhere, nostalgic, traditional, family friendly....
Yup, that's about it. But I'd add "value" the house I bought here, I couldn't double the price and find it in the big, 'modern' city I moved from. I also don't have to worry about all the thefts of/from vehicles, nor does my wife have to carry a gun because bands of urban youths are jacking them. Latest trend in urban areas seems to be beating people for their smart phones.
so I think it's a win/win for us. the 'downtown culture/redevelopment thread is more'.
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Standing up to greedy corporations is one thing, but public sector unions should keep in mind who they are directly affecting the most. If anything, they should be standing with their fellow citizens for responsible government instead of gouging them.
I think unions are non profit corporations and they break off into other business classifications. For example, their 'insurance company' is a trust. So these entities can also be looked at as 'greedy corporations'. the only difference between them is one elects their bosses and has a better pr machine.
depends upon how you look at it.
the teachers union has them eligible for retirement at age 50/57 from their part time job.
the formula for their retirement checks are based upon the highest 12 months of earnings in the last 3 years of working. (one game they do is give each other pay raises right before retiring as that year will be used).
this is the real one percenter parts, but thanks to gov. walker, has been addressed to be more realistic:
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Health care for current employees. Under the current collective- bargaining agreements, the school district pays the entire premium for medical and vision benefits, and over half the cost of dental coverage. These plans are extremely expensive. This is partly because of Wisconsin's unique arrangement under which the teachers union is the sponsor of the group health-insurance plans. Not surprisingly, benefits are generous. The district's contributions for health insurance of active employees total 38.8% of wages. For private-sector workers nationwide, the average is 10.7%.
for retirees...the creme de la "protected" (yes, there is that group of people in the contracts)
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Health insurance for retirees. This benefit is rarely offered any more in private companies, and it can be quite costly. This is especially the case for teachers in many states, because the eligibility rules of their pension plans often induce them to retire in their 50s, and Medicare does not kick in until age 65.
when you monetize the benefit package during their working years at the part time job, it's a pretty rich package, but when retirement hits, it becomes rather opulent compared to the non CEO private sector.
Using tom barrett's milwaukee:
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Overall, the school district's contributions to health insurance for employees and retirees total about 50.9 cents on top of every dollar paid in wages. Together with pension and Social Security contributions, plus a few small items, one can see how the total cost of fringe benefits reaches 74.2%.
That's what's called a golden parachute that working class, middle class, and upper middle class do not get.
OP: I happened to be browsing and saw your thread. I grew up in Wis. and most of my family still lives there. You will not regret the move to Texas. Yes, the property taxes are high, but the no state income tax is huge. Not only that, but the growing economy is also a big plus. Home values are generally lower also, and the schools in many of the DFW burbs are excellent. You even save on that dreaded heat bill over the winter. More sunny days also. My wife and I love Wis., IN the Summer, but no more winters for us. We, like lots of other folks I know that have moved south would never move back. Oh, one last thing. Very few mosquitoes.
I doubt most Wisconsinites have any interest in moving to Texas. I know I would feel very uncomfortable with the horrid sun angle and heat/humidity that far south in latitude. Wisconsin as a mild climate most of the year with a colder winter than a number of places. I prefer the slow and steady growth model instead of a growth at any/all costs model.
The tax advantages are noted, but I can think of better alternatives that do not have income taxes on wages.
Texas will also face huge water shortages in the future and droughts will become the norm as a warmer climate means greater evapotranspiration of moisture from soils. You can also google and research the massive waste and boondoggle that pertains to farmers water mining in the Panhandle to grow cotton and corn (further north) using center pivot irrigation. The water level has dropped so now you can see the remnants of many center pivot irrigation circles on google maps going away as the area becomes dryland agriculture and open rangeland.
I doubt most Wisconsinites have any interest in moving to Texas. I know I would feel very uncomfortable with the horrid sun angle and heat/humidity that far south in latitude. Wisconsin as a mild climate most of the year with a colder winter than a number of places. I prefer the slow and steady growth model instead of a growth at any/all costs model.
The tax advantages are noted, but I can think of better alternatives that do not have income taxes on wages.
Texas will also face huge water shortages in the future and droughts will become the norm as a warmer climate means greater evapotranspiration of moisture from soils. You can also google and research the massive waste and boondoggle that pertains to farmers water mining in the Panhandle to grow cotton and corn (further north) using center pivot irrigation. The water level has dropped so now you can see the remnants of many center pivot irrigation circles on google maps going away as the area becomes dryland agriculture and open rangeland.
Plus their are no real lakes in Texas.. Mostly all fake man made or altered low quality bodies of water...
Sorry Texas, any blue blooded Wisconsin lake connoisseur would turn their nose up at Texas right quick..
I doubt most Wisconsinites have any interest in moving to Texas. I know I
you went from speaking for most cheeseheads to validating it with yourself, your personal desires.
might want to take that into consideration when speaking for the rest of us in the future.
I lived in texas, but didn't like it. there were too many illegals and a lot of the water 'down south' isn't clear, which I like. But that's a geography thing as in the mountain areas of the south and mid south, water is clear. The ozarks are nice, as is the smokies/blue ridge/appalachains.
If you don't like living where there's not a lot of water, you'd not like colorado, california, new mexico, utah, nevada, wyoming, west texas, or eastern or/wa. I like WI's water, but a lot of it from the central part of the state down south is green and polluted, so the lower 1/2 of the state is a write off. Madison's lakes and rivers are a disgusting mix of algae bile, dead fish, litter and god know what else. SW WI may have some small rivers that are clear, but not too familiar with that area.
I like the cold due to it kills a lot of the bugs, so not as many bug problems up north. The trade off is our electrical rates are 10% higher than average. Commerical elect prices in texas are 20% below national ave, so that means it's yet another way businesses can save money by moving to texas. And where there are jobs, people will move.
Weather happens, so there will be dry periods and wet periods, as it normal throughout the history of man.
Plus their are no real lakes in Texas.. Mostly all fake man made or altered low quality bodies of water...
Most of the bodies of water in the south are reservoirs, the same as most places in the mountains, they damn up a river to make things like, well, lake wisconsin, castle rock flowage, lake petenwell, etc. Madison also has the tenny park locks, mcfarland locks.
One of the many things I loved about texas though was the gulf of mexico. Good fresh seafood, diving, fishing, etc. Also the bars down there. Bars in wi are more neighborhood type taverns.
Other than taxes and cultural marxists in wi, the biggest problem I have with it is the use of salt on the roads. Why buy a new car? I've got neighbors that are retired school teachers that have it down though as each winter, they go to their other house down south for the winter. I also think that while wintering in their second home, the income they get from their government pension isn't taxed at wisconsin's high tax rates. I think there's a 6 month rule.
You know what... I think I am going to change my answer to the OP's question.. "Do Wisconsin taxes affect your quality of life?"
I am going to change the answer to YES! Yes they do effect the quality of the experience of living in Wisconsin... It is better!, better roads, better lakes, better environment, better schools, stable/safer communities, less violence, less crime, less drugs, more public land, more recreational opportunities on and on and on...
That is all thanks to Wisconsin having just a couple % higher taxes than places like Texas. So yes taxes in Wisconsin do effect the quality of life... FOR THE BETTER!
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Sorry Milt, I suppose I am one of those "cultural Marxists"
Many of fine folks I have known in Texas... Especially SW Texas and Austin. I feel bad that they are in the minority.. As the majority seems so focused on greed, and the hell with the environment or your fellow mankind that may not be as fortunate as you.
Along with the lack of real lakes.. (You know the crystal clear kind you can swim in or even drink if you filter out the beaver poop..) Here are a few other facts that help put Texas on the bottom of my list for desirable places:
* Oh your Gulf sea food...?! What is that between oil spills, and when the hypoxic dead zone of summer does not kill every living thing in that toxic cesspool? Life in the Dead Zone | The Texas Observer
* Y' all are doing a fine job of fracking your state into a toxic wasteland, destroying your health just so you can have slightly lower taxes, while making the likes of T Bone Pickens even richer..Tell me why is it you go after teachers, but think it is just fine those Wall Street shysters that rip us off every day are just fine? .
Sorry, you can have the place... Matter of fact east Texas, fits my definition of hell on earth. Hot, humid, retched stink hole, with oil smog that actually sticks to your skin...
Maybe you can write Scott Walker a letter, telling him what a great place it is... That way he can move there, and Wisconsin can go back to being the way we were... A nice cordial politically balanced place with "normal" Republicans like Tommy was.
"Do Wisconsin taxes affect your quality of life?"
I am going to change the answer to YES!
Being a government employee or working in the secondary markets that serve government employees, yes, wisconsin--and specifically madison--would benefit from high taxation, just like DC is a boomtown.
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better roads
I don't think there's a relationship between taxes and quality of roads.
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better lakes
silly. As stated, most of the lakes in the southern 1/2 of WI are polluted and certainly the green algae/fungus laden madison lakes should bear out no relationship between tax rates and water quality.
Geography has the most to do with water quality, followed by farming.
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better environment
so vague it's almost as meaningless as the first two.
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better schools
yet again, not true. if that were true, dc schools would be number one in the nation rather than the typical milwaukee/chicago/atlanta/detroit style cellar dwelling criminal training centers...
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stable/safer communities
silly yet again. if that is true, why has crime skyrocketed in madison since the 1990s?
go for a walk on the north side of milwaukee, south side of chicago, etc.
silly.
this is a function of democraphics.
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less violence, less crime, less drugs
are you smoking something? all have skyrocketed in, say madison.
function of demographics.
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more public land, more recreational opportunities
depends upon the recreational opportunities, but generally speaking, yes.
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Sorry Milt, I suppose I am one of those "cultural Marxists"
no need to apologize for it.
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Many of fine folks I have known in Texas... Especially SW Texas and Austin. I feel bad that they are in the minority.
you didn't need to tell me that any interaction you had with people in texas were in austin. that's the madison of texas. some segments of society don't interact with people not like themselves.
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As the majority seems so focused on greed, and the hell with the environment or your fellow mankind that may not be as fortunate as you.
silly, bumpersticker stuff again.
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Along with the lack of real lakes.. (You know the crystal clear kind you can swim in or even drink if you filter out the beaver poop..)
so you drink out of wingra? monona? the UP has more clearer lakes than WI and they don't tax as much as wi. this is about higher taxes lead to better lakes, right?
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What is that between oil spills, and when the hypoxic dead zone of summer
the majority of the gulf of mexico pollution comes from the nitrates from the states alongside the mississippi river and the rivers that dump into it. the wisconsin river has a LOT of algae in it....
remember, they are downriver from the northern and middle states.
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* Y' all are doing a fine job of fracking
yes, madison, austin.... your 'source' is an anti-fracking group. fracking has been going on for a few decades and it has nothing to do with pollution. you've fallen for propaganda.
The air quality problems mostly come from the maquiladora zone in mexico.
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Maybe you can write Scott Walker
madison, austin, san franciso, repeat.
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The violent crime in Texas compared to Wisconsin is a real shocker too..!
you're on quite the roll.
milwaukee has quite the high crime rate compared to appleton. What's the difference?
Chicago has quite the high crime rate compared to wausau. What's the difference? (they're high taxed).
madison has a very high violent crime rate compared to sheboygan. What's the difference?
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Mostly all fake man made or altered low quality bodies of water... 
.
I feel bad that they are in the minority.. As the majority seems so focused on greed, and the hell with the environment or your fellow mankind that may not be as fortunate as you. 
