leaving wisconsin survey (Milwaukee, Hayward, Eagle: apartment complexes, renters, car insurance)

[ekg56]

Business Journal named Madison the healthiest city for men.
I know in Wausau if you don't clear your sidewalks within 24 hours (I think) after a snow storm you are fined around $100.

[JoshB]

Mens Health also ranked Madison for healthiest city for men as well.

[CouleeGuy]

In St. Paul, new solution for unshoveled walks
Posted: Jan 2, 2009 10:30 AM
Updated: Jan 2, 2009 10:30 AM
(AP) -- It's part of winter in Minnesota: hitting the sidewalk with a shovel as soon as there's enough snow to clear.

Or at least it's supposed to be. Now, people in St. Paul have a new way to confront neighbors who aren't shoveling their walks.

The city and a transportation advocacy group have made up doorhangers that spell out the city law giving 24 hours after a snowfall to clear the concrete.

Linda Mainquist is a citizen whose complaints helped lead to the education doorhanger. Mainquist says she was outraged one day to see a woman in a wheelchair going down University Avenue because the sidewalk was full of snow and ice.

Dam the snow Nazi's! wheres jtur88 when you need him

[UW Badgers]

Here in Cedar Rapids, hardly anyone shovels. Our neighbors probably think we are nuts because we are the first one's out shoveling/snowblowing after a snowfall. Heck, they can't even plow the streets here, let alone expect someone to shovel their drive or sidewalk. Good thing I pay taxes..

The plowing, they don't do it until AFTER it stops snowing and side streets are not a priority at all. It can be days after it snows before I see a truck down our street and we live on a well travelled road. This city bites!

[labmom1]

I'll jump in as to why we are looking to leave Wisconsin......we were both born and raised here and our families have been what has been keeping us here. For us it's the long winters....wouldn't it mind it so much if it would just snow and stay cold so we could play...but more recent weather patterns are of the snow buckets..spend lots of time clearing the snow so you can go out and play and then it rains and turns the snow to slush.....

And the ever popular high taxes combined with a less than desirable political scene.

We do like the people here and know that will be hard to find - tried North Carolina and that did not work for us....next we are trying Austin.

Wherever we end up we will be spending summers here - have a place in Door County and would not give that up for anything!

[FormerCaliforniaGirl]

Originally Posted by labmom1

I'll jump in as to why we are looking to leave Wisconsin......we were both born and raised here and our families have been what has been keeping us here. For us it's the long winters....wouldn't it mind it so much if it would just snow and stay cold so we could play...but more recent weather patterns are of the snow buckets..spend lots of time clearing the snow so you can go out and play and then it rains and turns the snow to slush.....

And the ever popular high taxes combined with a less than desirable political scene.

We do like the people here and know that will be hard to find - tried North Carolina and that did not work for us....next we are trying Austin.

Wherever we end up we will be spending summers here - have a place in Door County and would not give that up for anything!

Labmom1...when I was just starting to consider leaving San Diego, Austin was tops on my list. So I visited there for a week at the end of October one year.

The humidity was so oppressive that I couldn't breathe. Austin has a wonderful river that runs right through the heart of the city (sorry, can't remember the name of the river), but I couldn't walk the beautiful trails because I simply couldn't breathe. And the mosquitos....

I had a realtor in Austin show me around some neighborhoods, and I found out that the most affordable places to live were in the suburbs of Austin whereby the commute was like that of LA. In fact, Austin is rated to have the 3rd worst traffic in the country.

This is just a friendly warning....the humidity is oppressive almost all year long (they get somewhat of a break in the winter, but the spring, summer and fall are awful). The traffic is horrible, and....I found that there are a large number of non-English speakers in the city (Spanish speakers). In some parts of the city I felt like I was in Mexico.

[suecen]

labmom: I'm just curious as to what town/city you lived in North Carolina. It seems like such a popular place now to live I'm wondering what your take is on it. I have a friend from here that moved down to Pilot Mountain (near Mt. Airy) and although she's been there 7 years and I think likes it (all her children eventually followed her down) she says the people are different and she hasn't really made any friends like she had here. What did you dislike about it? Thanks

[labmom1]

suecen - my husband had a 6 month contract in Charlotte, so we spent most of our time there. What we did not like about the Charlotte area was the congestion. The city and surrounding areas have grow so fast without regard for the infrastructure to support it. The overall plan was not well thought out. I really wasn't crazy about Charlotte as a city either - I think Milwaukee actually has more going for it in terms of art, music, museums, et.
This may seem weird, but another thing that really bothered us about all of North Carolina was the trash.....garbage everywhere....especially noticable along the highways but an overall sense that people did not care about the environment. The schools were another issue - a lot of overcrowding and we had been told by just about everyone down there that private schools were the only way to go. We weren't there long enough to form any friendships, but the people seemd nice enough.

We toured all over and really liked Asheville and may infact go back for a longer stay to see if it fits the bill. I've also worked in Raliegh and had a good time, but the vibe for the city wasn't what we were looking for.

FormerCaliforniaGirl - I love heat and humidity :-) I went to school in Miami and worked in the caribbean - bring it on! Not to worried about the traffic because we are actually looking at some of the small towns within 45 minutes of Austin and would only be venturing to the city for the arts, et.

[NicePolishBoy]

I can't imagine why anyone would complain about the positive shoveling habit. In other northern, non-Wisconsin cities I have lived in people shovel. I might have to wait until after work, but it is done.

Too bad some of the Fox Cities don't plow regularly. I was in Oshkosh, Appleton and Milwaukee over three days, and Milwaukee was the only one that thoroughly plowed commercial areas. Wisconsin has such a range of characteristics, although it is not alone in that regard.

[NicePolishBoy]

Anybody here recently lived in Pittsburgh, Penn? Thoughts?