Chicago and Milwaukee: relationship

[BOBNCHI]

I live in between Chicago and Milwaukee and I can say that although I was born and raised in Chicago and know it like the back of my hand , I head into Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee (Madison too) as I love to explore and try different things. If I were to put a percentage spent in IL and WI , I would say 65 in IL and 35 in Wi. I love both places.

[43north87west]

When I was growing up I lived in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, and in the city later on. I lived in, and have an office in the North Shore suburbs. I know the area very well, including the city. Former resident and all of that.

Within that context, I don't see much of a connection other than convenience from proximity. There is a lot of daily truck and car traffic between the two areas. A lot of Chicago companies cover Southeastern WI, and vice versa. So the interstate commerce is a thing. Lots of tourism or leisure trips because the cities are so close.

The thing about anti-Illinois sentiment in Wisconsin is somewhat true, but I don't think it has age barriers, and it's absolutely not something unique to Wisconsin. Illinois people are the Midwest regional equivalent of Massachusetts (primarily Boston area) people, in that they seem to consider themselves a cut above everyone else. They don't have the best reputation out here in Arizona either, so the way I see it, the anti-Illinois sentiment is a product largely of Illinois making.

A little while ago I was reading an article about doing business in Milwaukee, in one of the major Chicago area business publications. It might as well have just referred to Milwaukeeans as inferior or subservient imbeciles. I couldn't believe it. But it was supposedly a legitimate article. The way I see it, when people who don't live in Chicago witness that type of thing repeatedly, an anti-Illinois sentiment results. The same thing takes place in New England with the "Mass holes", for the same reason.

I'm not knocking Chicago either, just saying I can't really blame WI people for manufacturing an anti-Illinois sentiment on their own, and I doubt it's going to diminish any time soon.