Curious, what do people think of WI? (Rusk: living in, restaurants)

[KateDaum]

We moved here from NH in Dec 2007. We owned our home for a few years before we moved for good.
We still love it. I love going to different parts of the state. The scenery is awe inspiring. I love the rolling hills in the Coulee Valley. We love all the small town cafes and friendliness of the people who work there.
We are blessed with wonderful, caring neighbors. Never made us feel like outsiders.
Love the cheese factories around Monroe and New Glarus. Best cheese we have ever had. Even tried limburger once. And won't partake again but it was interesting.
State fair in Milwaukee. We went last week. We walked and walked and still didn't see everything.
We love it here!

[GraniteStater]

What do I think about WI? It is one of the TOP Midwest states. I love the diversity of landscapes from the northwoods, dairy belt, cornbelt, great lakes, urban centers, and driftless region. I think the people are very friendly, particularly in the rural areas. I think the small towns generally have a well kept and tidy appearance. When I think WI I think Packers, Cheese, Blatz, Breweries, lakes, supper clubs, snowmobiling, bars, and taverns.

[namvet66]

I agree with your last statement. We moved here approximately 2 and a half years ago. Although we are outgoing and speak to just about everyone we encounter while walking through our small town I feel our reception, in general, has been somewhat cold. If you're not from around here most people don't seem to want to socialize. Maybe it's our "southern accents", that put people on guard.

[kcmd4]

What do I think of Wisconsin? I hate it and can't wait to move on outta here.

[shannonM]

I think WI is absolutely beautiful!!!

[D_tuura]

I live 14 miles from lake superior and up here we have the only county that has no stop lights in wisconsin.

the nearest larg city would be duluth (45 mins) and it provides good shopping and enough nightlife..and the attractions are great around our area. we have about 7 river mouths leading to superior and we have thew apostal islands

[honey_badgerz]

I grew up in Wisconsin and have spent a few years doing business in the state and would be happy to give my opinions on a few topics.
Economy: Wisconsin’s economy can be highly variable depending on the location and your skill set. Specialized positions for highly-skilled workers in such fields as biotechnology are in abundance in Madison; however, the compensation reduction compared to the coasts when taking cost of living into account is, on average, stingy. Some counties such as Racine, Rock and Milwaukee are typical rust-belt economies with double-digit unemployment. Waukesha and Ozaukee counties are very suburban, prosperous and politically conservative. Rural economies are typically dependent upon Agriculture and perhaps tourism and offer a typically low cost of living.
Weather: Spring is typically short and agreeable, summers are warm to occassionally hot with frequent long stretches of humid weather. High pressure often dominates in late summer into autumn, which is the most comfortable weather to be had. The beginning of winter with the first snowfall can be a nice change of pace, but persistent arctic air masses and lack of sun throughout the winter can be nearly intolerable. It typically only snows 40-80 inches/yr; it is mostly just dreary. It is recommended that you spend multiple weeks in January and February, if not both months altogether, in a milder climate.
Community: Wisconsin is very culturally conservative and insular. This is almost universal throughout the entire state. It’s really a double-edged sword: If you play nice and don’t rock the boat, a typical Wisconsinite will take a bullet for you. If you ask questions and raise alternative viewpoints: a typical Wisconsinite will stubbornly disregard your opinion. Passive-aggressivity, stoicism, stubborness, pride, nosiness, pettiness and loyalty are very prevalent character traits. This is easily explained by the historical social development of the state. Many communities were formed by a few clans who came together from single European small communities and had to depend on each other for survival, which made cohesiveness critical. This can also be said of urban development, Milwaukee being the most socialist city in America with very insular societal structures (turner halls, for instance). This is vastly different from other flyover areas, such as the Mountain West, where individual hardiness is more valued than community cohesiveness, or the South, which was developed along structured class lines. People from outside the Upper Midwest who move here can be in for a strong culture shock; I cannot understate how important this is to understand to an outsider who wants to move here – It is not easy for people to truly adjust to life here if they didn’t grow up within the culture. Madison to some degree is an exception to this rule, but the transplant creative/academic class there is not very substantial.
Schools: Suburban districts in Wisconsin are typically high-performing; Nicolet, Middleton and Mequon are held in very high regard. Some individual schools in urban districts are highly-sought and have a diverse student body. Rural schools are typically small and do not offer much in the way of academic rigor. The public universities are quite good and affordable; UW-Madison is a top-tier public research university.
Overall, the state as a whole has rock-bottom auto and home insurance costs, high tax burden, affordable real estate and good schools. It really can be a good place to live and raise a family if you make a strong effort to adjust to the culture.

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by namvet66

I agree with your last statement. We moved here approximately 2 and a half years ago. Although we are outgoing and speak to just about everyone we encounter while walking through our small town I feel our reception, in general, has been somewhat cold. If you're not from around here most people don't seem to want to socialize. Maybe it's our "southern accents", that put people on guard.

Wisconsin has a more stable(fewer in-fewer out) population than most other states,In fact in the Census Bureau declared Sheboygan County the most stable in USA !
So, most people stll have all their friends from 2nd grade and 117 relatives within
20 miles.
They simply have no need of,or time for, new friends.

Unless you're young,beautiful and/or rich you need to a self-sufficient person to move to most WI communities.

[tully]

Originally Posted by honey_badgerz

Community: Wisconsin is very culturally conservative and insular. This is almost universal throughout the entire state. It’s really a double-edged sword: If you play nice and don’t rock the boat, a typical Wisconsinite will take a bullet for you. If you ask questions and raise alternative viewpoints: a typical Wisconsinite will stubbornly disregard your opinion. Passive-aggressivity, stoicism, stubborness, pride, nosiness, pettiness and loyalty are very prevalent character traits. This is easily explained by the historical social development of the state. Many communities were formed by a few clans who came together from single European small communities and had to depend on each other for survival, which made cohesiveness critical. This can also be said of urban development, Milwaukee being the most socialist city in America with very insular societal structures (turner halls, for instance). This is vastly different from other flyover areas, such as the Mountain West, where individual hardiness is more valued than community cohesiveness, or the South, which was developed along structured class lines. People from outside the Upper Midwest who move here can be in for a strong culture shock; I cannot understate how important this is to understand to an outsider who wants to move here – It is not easy for people to truly adjust to life here if they didn’t grow up within the culture. Madison to some degree is an exception to this rule, but the transplant creative/academic class there is not very substantial.

I completely agree.

This post should be required reading for anyone pondering a WI relo.

Not that your post needs one word of alteration, but..

I would paraphrase it this way: on Cali coast, NE, mountain west and other places, you will encounter 'outward' persons by the dozens..people who are up-front in ways good and bad.. confrontational, sociable, opinionated, jokey and comedic, short, probing, etc. The whole gamut of openness.

This can be very off-putting and disorienting for an upper-midwestern (esp. WI) transplant. What they interpret as hostility/nosiness/inappropriateness, is simply people being themselves, taking geniune interest in others, being a challenging conversationalist, and so forth. Far from the staid and 'neighborly-level' friendliness so common in WI (but seldom any deeper than that).

I'd say most of Milwaukee's east side is a happy exception. I'm hard-pressed to think of any other place that doesn't fall into that "insular impenetrability" mold you described. Parts of Door County? I suppose some campus areas around the state.

[susancruzs]

I've had people say to me, why would you move to Wisconsin? I love living in a small town, no traffic issues, friendly people, no one impatient or rude in the stores, everyone puts their shopping carts back, no used lottery tickets on the ground or litter everywhere, amazes me how clean parking lots are!

I've had people come to visit me and the first they say is wow, coming through town, it is so clean! Another friend and I went for a long walk (4 miles) and she was amazed that everyone (young and old) we passed smiled said, hello and some wanted to stop and chit chat!