I'm moving to Wisconsin--eventually! (Milwaukee, Minocqua: high school, college, subdivision)

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by Drover

Here's my heads-up tips:

1) It's f'ng cold up there in winter. Yeah, I know, common knowledge. But you don't know what that kind of cold is like until you've experienced it for weeks on end. Unless you've lived in cold climes before, be prepared for the shock of your life your first winter.

2) Speaking of winter, it's long and dark. By "long" I mean lakes stay frozen over as late as early April, and by "dark" I mean in January it is PITCH-BLACK out before 5pm.

Drover, I think you are being too easy on old man winter.

When he says it's f'ing cold, what he really means is that it's really, really, really, really f'ing cold here. We're talking not just weeks on end of coldness, but weeks on end of daily highs of 10 with -10F windchills. Then it dumps a butt load of snow on you and you get to shovel it after work when the sun goes down - and it's 0F with -20 windchill. It will do this all of January and February. December and March are only a little better because the temp is "only" down to the 20's...

It's a loooong season (5 months) and to top it off it didn't start getting nice and hot here regularily until... last week. So be prepared to be cold. And be prepared for cabin fever 'cause you'll get it by the end of January.

But there is alot of good qualities about WI (I haven't heard of police checking your car doors anymore, but I don't live in a small town either). Appleton is great in the summer, make sure you check out the farmer's market on College Ave saturday mornings.

[EnjoyEP]

To piggyback on Drover and vanilla's winter thoughts...

I think what makes winter so hard in WI isn't so much how cold or snowy it is or can be (at least in my opinion).

To me, the very hard part of winter in WI is the length...with relatively few, if any, true *breaks*.

Winter generally will start in early November and will not subside until April. And having said that, April - and even much of May - often (if not generally) will still feel frigging "winterish" to folks from more southern climes.

It is the same as folks from, say, Phoenix AZ and their summers in many regards. Often times, unless one is a complete heat wimp, you can vacation in Phoenix in June through a stretch of 100+ degree heat for a week, and when getting back home, say to yourself, "wow, that wasn't THAT bad...I totally was fine dealing with that heat." And the truth is, sure, for a week, heat like that is totally manageable. It is dealing with it for 4, 5 months that makes it so batty to many in southern AZ.

The same is true in reverse for winter here. I think most - unless they are complete drama queens or severe true cold wimps - could deal with a week or two of winter weather in WI. Heck, things like the first snowfalls, the cozy feelings of being hudled indoors (especially around the holidays), being able to x-country ski, etc., can be extremely pleasurable. The problem is that December gives way to January (getting old) gives way to February (getting really old) gives way to March (God help me I am going to go nuts!!! ).

It is hard to see bare lifeless trees and dormant lawns from late October until mid-May.

Having said all of that, summers are wonderful here, and that'll be a big improvement over the South. Summers are very nice temps-wise and sunny-wise, and you'll wonder where all of that sunshine was for the previous 6 months or so.

I don't quite get the notion of Wisconsin (or any upper Midwest areas) as being "hot and humid" in the summer. They aren't. They surely are often humid. But outside of maybe a few scattered weeks, "heat" isn't in this area; folks up here consider 84 and humid to be "hot and humid"...to me, that is "pleasant [temps-wise] and humid"...sticky, yes, not hot. Folks in most Southeastern areas would kill for temps like WI has in the summertime. Even the humidity, while very thick many times, also isn't as consistently bad as the summers down southeast. Finally, while sure, you might get a stretch once in a blue moon of a few days of 90s in a row, then you'll get the typical cool stretches after a front rolls through of the 70s.

The annoying thing about summer here is the mosquitoes. They are BAD in WI, MN, etc., due largely to the huge quantity of beautiful lakes and rivers and the relatively flatter land - perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Some years they are better than others; (this is a particularly bad year). So you've survived 6 or 7 months of winter / crummy-cold-spring, and then when the weather is really nice out (and it IS really nice out), it is hard to go outside when you want to - especially in the evenings - due to those d*** mosquitoes! DEET works quite well, but sometimes you don't want to go out sprayed in the stuff and then feel like you have to take a shower before turning in for the evening.

Anyway, in summation, winters are overall quite nasty mostly due to their length. Summers transversely are quite nice, mosquitoes withstanding. You'll be amazed just how different lifestyle changes in WI from warmer months and cooler months. You'll see neighbors in the warmer months you didn't even know existed for the months of winter!

[JoshB]

All of this is true. I would just say that winter is tough if you only look at the negatives. I know I know, What's great about winter. I never was a huge winter fan until last winter when I wasn't in school anymore and I had some time to do my own thing. I went to Devils Lake at the first snowfall. Quite beautiful btw. Rides down the windy country roads where there is snow etched on the boughs of the pine trees etc. Winter really isn't that bad. You just need to manage your time well and winter will stay for the most part enjoyable.

Realize this, I plow snow in the winter. If winter was that bad I think I'd be one of the first to admit it, right? Last winter I was plowing 12-16 hours a day sometimes. It was never ending. I stayed sane for the most part. Even though I did start some threads on here asking when spring will be here. lol

As Enjoyep said summer here isn't nothing. This week we're going to be seeing highs in the upper 70's. We do get a few 90's stretches as the enjoyep said. For the most part summer and fall are the best here.

[geekduo]

I live in the general area you are talking about. DM me if you would like some more info on the particular towns. I LOVE the town I'm in. The school is fantastic and has teachers that really care. The parks are also great and it's really nice to take the family to the kids ball games and let them all play and not have to worry about them. People are nice, but not overly friendly. It just takes a while to get to know them. Just be friendly yourself and be willing to chat and start conversations and you'll be fine. Having relatives in the area will definitely help.

[radraja]

I still agree with Drover about the whole fitting in thing.

People may be friendly towards you, but unless you're born and raised in WI, they'll never consider you to be "one of them". People don't mean to be exclusive...it's just the way much of Wisconsin is by nature.

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by radraja

I still agree with Drover about the whole fitting in thing.

People may be friendly towards you, but unless you're born and raised in WI, they'll never consider you to be "one of them". People don't mean to be exclusive...it's just the way much of Wisconsin is by nature.

I think that unless you live in an area high in transplants (like say, Las Vegas, LA, southern Florida) it's like that everywhere. For isntance my own sister moved to hicksville, Tennessee last year to take a teaching job. Talk about being outcasted. She pretty much got fired for declining to join the church group. But that's a long story.

[shannonM]

i think too many people are worried about trying to be in everyone's "inner circle" who cares. as long as people are polite to me it's irrelevant whether they invite to their dinner table.

[KateDaum]

We love winters in Wisconsin. I can't wait for the cold weather to be here again.
Don't get me wrong, summer is OK but we love winter and winter sports. I prefer winter to summer.
We haven't had a problem making friends in small town WI. It is almost 9 months since we became full time residents and we are expanding our circle of friends all the time.
We are enjoying the fairs, biking trails, canoeing, camping this summer. But I long for the cold crisp winter days where I can walk for an hour and the deer flies aren't buzzing my head or I have to check for ticks.

[wigirl920]

FrontPorchSwing - Take some of these "small towns don't like new people" comments with a grain of salt. You have that possibility no matter where you go, it isn't confined to Wisconsin. I have lived in small Wisconsin towns for 30+ years and I'm here to tell you that I have never witnessed people being treated badly unless they came in with their noses in the air and treated people like crap. I also greatly disagree with the person who said that having family in the area where you're moving doesn't help. It can! Not only can they introduce you around and provide you with a "connection" to people who are already there, they can also help you adjust to your surroundings more quickly so that in no time, you'll appear to have lived there all your life! IMHO, having family in the area will allow you to fit in much easier than not.

As for the winters...EnjoyEP said it very well, but I thought I'd add my two cents. Not all winters are the same, some years you may not have any snow by the time Christmas comes around, others you might have several inches. Sometimes you'll get snow in April, other times it will be pretty darn nice. Weather is goofy. This past February there was a tornado in SE Wisconsin, how's that for unpredictability? But 'tis true - once you hit January and February it gets really, really old.

Good luck with everything!

[radraja]

^We never said that people wouldnt be polite.

What we're saying is that, unless you're a WI native, you'll always be viewed as an outsider.