Which city most influences Madison? (Waukesha, Oconomowoc: live, best, jobs)

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by Drover

I honestly don't know how one can say that Madison is "insular" considering the nature of its two cottage industries -- government and higher education -- draws in a constantly churning population from all over the state, the region, and in case of UW, even the world. IMO Milwaukee is the primary influence simply because a predominant number of people who come to Madison to partake of its two cottage industries are from Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.

Agreed, I think however minus those two groups of people which is a large segment of the population it seems like the people who aren't in government and higher education are madison lifers that don't get outside madison much, just based on my experience.

[craptacular]

I spent the first half of my life in the Milwaukee area, and the second half here, so I am likely biased to say Milwaukee. I don't really see Chicago or MSP as having anything more than a negligible influence on Madison. For the general populace of this area, I would think the daily happenings in Chicago or MSP are totally insignificant. Milwaukee's influence may not be much, but it's more than nothing. In this day of internet retail, most people in the Madison area can get everything they need or want without leaving Dane County. Fine, if you want cheap Swedish home furnishings and don't want to pay for shipping, go to the IKEA at Woodfield Mall or MoA. Doesn't mean Chicago or MSP really have any influence on Madison. Just my $0.02.

[Lookout Kid]

I was born in Madison, and felt little influence from other cities until I went to the UW, where it seemed like everyone was either from Minneapolis suburbs or Milwaukee suburbs. So for some 40,000 transient Madisonians, MKE and MSP seem to exert quite a bit of influence. For the other 190,000 residents, not so much.

[MassVt]

I felt a certain Chicago presence when I lived there, but perhaps not now...

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I felt a certain Chicago presence when I lived there, but perhaps not now...

What does this mean? did madison feel like chicago? were all the people you met from chicago? did the beltine resemble the IKE? where their nonstop planes landing at madison? maybe people were driving 5 over and that threw you off a little bit.

[Hans Licks]

One should not discount the Twin Cities influence on Madison. Very similar liberal-left leaning POV, both college towns, etc. Plus, there are there's quite a job-related pipline from Madison to Minny. I moved up here for a job and there are tons of 'sconni and Madison ex-pats in these parts. If you want to advance your career and want to stay in the region, you can either choose the Twin Cities or Chicago.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

What does this mean? did madison feel like chicago? were all the people you met from chicago? did the beltine resemble the IKE? where their nonstop planes landing at madison? maybe people were driving 5 over and that threw you off a little bit.

The Van Galder busses going back and forth from O'Hare/downtown Chicago were usually pretty full when I used them; you could buy copies of the Chicago Tribune in downtown Madison, a number of Madison restuarants/eateries use the word "Chicago" in their titles, references to "Chicago-style" pizza, the number of UW grads who move to Chicago after graduation..

Amazing what you can find if you venture beyond Waukesha, isn't it?

[Chelito23]

There is also a lot of awareness of Chicago Expressways since many people in Madison, even if not traveling to Chicago, must go through it to travel south or east in the country. So people know the Kennedy, the Stepehns, the Edens, etc. So that explains why people are more familair with Chicago, just because you have to go through the city a lot of the time and MKE is easily bypassed.

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

There is also a lot of awareness of Chicago Expressways since many people in Madison, even if not traveling to Chicago, must go through it to travel south or east in the country. So people know the Kennedy, the Stepehns, the Edens, etc. So that explains why people are more familair with Chicago, just because you have to go through the city a lot of the time and MKE is easily bypassed.

Um, a lot of awarness you say of these chicago freeways? just wondering where the stepehns is? yup Madisonians really know their chicago freeways. I also wonder how many people in MSN would know what LSD is in Chicago.

Stevenson Expressway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Chelito23]

Sorry for the typo...but the fact remains the same. Most people in Madison couldn't mention the names to the MKE expressways at the same time if they had never lived there.