Hidden Costs in WI?

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Originally Posted by UniKidNow

Wow. I actually like this. People tend to take better care when they have to pay for it. Keeps the riff-raff at bay.

Well, like I alluded to in an earlier post, I've never known state parks that were free to enter have a problem with riff-raff. I also don't think Wisconsin's entrance fees and higher overall tax burden make them any better than the others in terms of maintenance and amenities. To charge a fee for such a thing is off putting.
Just my opinion.
It was quite shocking to see the how the parks were treated last year during that short period of free entry.

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Originally Posted by ram2

Your housing costs in LA will be much higher than 40% compared to Milwaukee. Try 3X-4X. My brother-in-law's 1200 square foot shack (with no basement) in the bay area has a market value of at least one million dollars. How much does a 1200 square foot house sell for in Milwaukee?

I lived there (in San Fernando Valley, its western part, of LA) for a while and was paying $2100 for a 3 bedroom house (as a rent, not as mortgage). It was pretty far from my work, so my commute was 40 minutes in good traffic and 1.5 hr in bad traffic (so, let's say it was an hour every day on average). Probably I got a super-great deal, but I was also living in a very nice apartment complex before then for $1800 for 3 bedrooms. So, if you're willing to look around there and not stuck on good schools, then you can have some flexibility there. Some friends of mine were paying indeed $3500, but others were paying rent which was closer to mine.