Anything scary in Wisconsin? (Milwaukee, Janesville: renting, buying a house, tornadoes)

[MagpiesMagpiesMagpies]

Originally Posted by WIer

Many people like urban areas and feel anything outside cities has "nothing."

Quite a brushstroke. I live in Milwaukee and enjoy the amenities, but the outdoors are wonderful as well. I'd challenge your statement that most urban people think there's nothing of value in rural areas.

Quite the contrary, I think it's rural people who are guilty of not seeing the value of urban areas. Remember they are the economic engines that make the roads, schools and lights in your small town possible.

Magpies

[jkostcd]

I agree with Magpies, the urban areas have much to offer, especially Milwaukee. It has a lot of "big city" amenities without being gigantic. I grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs, went to UW-Milwaukee and now reside in Madison.
Some observations I've made:

Madison is a nice town, but they do seem to have a superiority complex while Milwaukee is the opposite. Madison is more progressive in some ways, but urban sprawl abounds. The greater Milwaukee area seems to have the highest wages on average but stay away from manufacturing jobs. I miss the reasonable priced, good ethnic food. Winters are cold and long and I agree with others : ; if you live here try to get outside everyday to adjust to the quick-changing seasons. Temperatures vary from -20's to mid 90's. There is plenty of outdoors'y recreation available to all. I don't know about the rest of the country but there seems to be an obsession with the weather. Local news spends 15 minutes of the half hour talking about it. If it snows, rains, or there is an occasion tornado ANYWHERE in the entire state, you will get a TV reminder every 5 minutes, interrupting your favorite programs. Wages are low and cost of living is high when compared to the rest of the country. Urban areas have excellent healthcare (discovered this when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with brain cancer). There are colleges everywhere, even rural areas. Property taxes are a ******, but we do have good schools if you can afford to live in the better neighborhoods. School dollars are tied to local property taxes so more affluent neighborhoods have better public schools. "Better neighborhoods" seems to be away from areas with poor or African-American people. Like I said, I grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs but never met a black person until I was in college. Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in the nation and has a lot of the problems of older cities in the "rust belt". There are bad areas I would avoid at night, but some won't even drive in Milwaukee County. There definitely is no shortage of prejudice and down-right racism of the northern variety. If you talk to my parents, all problems of society are caused by "the blacks" and liberals. The Wisconsin accent bothers me on occasion, don't ya knoooooooooooow.

I could go on, but this post is long enough.

JAK

[bosoxfan]

i moved to iowa from nj last year---- i hate bugs! lived in fla.-- too many bugs and alligators
there were those horrid centipedes in nj too- saw 3 here-- hate them are they common to wi.? i'm thinking of going for a job in cudahy and would like to know that too

[dreamhunter65]

Centipedes are scary? mostly found in woods and rotting logs.

[Signora]

I could be wrong... but I think what is being referred to is a kind of centipede which I encountered for the first time in Iowa which lives in the home and is considerable bigger than the little ones you find in dying wood. Every once in a while one would dart out from under the furniture, scare the living daylights out of me, and drive the cats crazy.

[dreamhunter65]

Never seen no big ones here.Only thing I think some may think scary is the wood and bear ticks as the lymes disease threat but that is many places.

[nemaroller]

Originally Posted by Signora

I could be wrong... but I think what is being referred to is a kind of centipede which I encountered for the first time in Iowa which lives in the home and is considerable bigger than the little ones you find in dying wood. Every once in a while one would dart out from under the furniture, scare the living daylights out of me, and drive the cats crazy.

Signora is talking about what is commonly referred to as a 'house centipede'.
They actually are considered insectivores (they feed on insects). Fortunately, they do not cause a health problem to humans or human food - and actually rid your house of the insects that do (like roaches). They are also easily squashed, but of course, hard to catch sometimes.

Like millipedes, when you see one zip along your table, it could be quite startling. Plus they just look ugly.

As far as Wisconsin, they are not exclusive to this State, but you will find them in homes in the Midwest where the foundation or roof has water problems - so in that aspect, if you're buying a home, they're a good tip off.

[Signora]

YES!

That's them! Those things used to scare the life out of me! They always seemed to come out while we were peacefully watching a movie in the evening. It's nice to know that they don't bite or anything... but they sure do move FAST.

Gee, I have missed them soooooo much since my move from Iowa. It's nice to know that they will be waiting to greet me if we move to WI!

[dreamhunter65]

Never seen 1 like that but thanks for the pic.

[mrkool]

The north side of Milwaukee is a scary place, as well as embarassment.
Animals and insects would be an improvement.