Where in WI do we fit best? (Milwaukee, Madison: schools, property taxes)

[lookb4youcross]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Yeah, me neither, although anti-lock brakes and traction control on a front-wheel drive car do help a lot, as do a newer set of all-season tires. I haven't bothered with snow tires, but I keep my commute short and within city limits where streets are usually plowed well.

I keep saying my next vehicle will be AWD, but it hasn't happened yet.

WI is A LOT colder than Eugene, OR, so make sure you bundle up for five months of the year! Today in Madison the high is ~8.

Anti-lock brakes are dangerous. It's like having no brakes at all. ABS only keeps the vehicle in a straight line, unlike a non abs vehicle.

[MaseMan]

I disagree about the anti-lock brakes being dangerous, but I don't want to turn this into a car thread. My next car will definitely have AWD though. Having a FWD with traction control does help in the snow...I say that from personal experience.

re: Janesville. It's a decent community that's been slowly recovering since the GM plant closed. That's a pretty decent commute to Madison, though. There's a lot of shopping, but mostly chain restaurants for dining, etc. Not a ton of diversity, if that is something you care about.

I wonder if the OP could temper their home expectations and "settle" for a three bedroom house? Might make the search for a home a lot easier.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MaseMan

I disagree about the anti-lock brakes being dangerous, but I don't want to turn this into a car thread. My next car will definitely have AWD though. Having a FWD with traction control does help in the snow...I say that from personal experience.

re: Janesville. It's a decent community that's been slowly recovering since the GM plant closed. That's a pretty decent commute to Madison, though. There's a lot of shopping, but mostly chain restaurants for dining, etc. Not a ton of diversity, if that is something you care about.

I wonder if the OP could temper their home expectations and "settle" for a three bedroom house? Might make the search for a home a lot easier.

Best MPG AWD vehicle for snow driving is Subaru Impreza. 36-37mpg highway.

[ScarletG]

Originally Posted by klara.odinsdottir

We are 27 and 29, Viking metal fans and hopeless history nerds, of Scandinavian and Germanic heritage. We are both heathens, Odinists, Asatruar, Forn Sed, whatever your preferred term is - in other words, we live by the same moral code as our ancestors did before christianity came to northern Europe. We would very much like to be around other heathens.

So...exactly what group would you celebrate blóts with?

While diversity is not Wisconsin's strongest suit...you aren't going to find much use, especially in Madison, for those with an extreme Folkish mindset.

[klara.odinsdottir]

Originally Posted by ScarletG

So...exactly what group would you celebrate blóts with?

While diversity is not Wisconsin's strongest suit...you aren't going to find much use, especially in Madison, for those with an extreme Folkish mindset.

I don't consider that I have an extreme folkish mindset. I just want to be in a place where, if we were ever able to open a themed bar or tavern, enough people would be interested to keep us afloat. I do not want to start the business of my dreams and put my heart and soul into it, only to have it fail because no one is interested.

I have never been there before, so I don't know what group I would blot with, if any at all. Many of the groups I've met here (Portalnd) are very uptight and caught up in the "right" way to do things, as if it's a church or something. I am not the kind of person that gets so entrenched in dogma and ritual that it reminds me of christianity. So if we cannot find a group of casual, self-confident people who can have an enjoyable, merry blot we would rather just be by ourselves. I am not so much looking for a hearth or kindred as just good, honorable and like-minded people. It would just be nice to have a few other couples to go to gigs with, take road trips with, have dinner and game nights with, relax in each others' homes with. Basically other like-minded people to be antisocial with, which I realize sounds odd.

[klara.odinsdottir]

Originally Posted by MaseMan

I wonder if the OP could temper their home expectations and "settle" for a three bedroom house? Might make the search for a home a lot easier.

Three bedrooms would be more than sufficient, since we don't plan to have children and would just like a couple of extra bedrooms for when our family members come to stay for holidays or birthdays or whatever.

My preference is 3-4 bedrooms, don't care how many bathrooms as long as there's one in the master bedroom, a tiny bit of land or at least a large yard, prefer 2 story with master bedroom upstairs, a kitchen big enough for two people to cook together in, and we both prefer older houses with quirky little details like an L-turn staircase or crown moldings or pocket doors or something. Modern houses are very bland and featureless to us, just a series of boring beige boxes that lead to each other.

We are willing and probably prefer to look just outside of Madison. From everything I've heard Mt. Horeb sounds ideal. It's about 30 minutes from Madison, as I understand it, but considering that I currently spent roughly an hour each way sitting in rush hour traffic at a dead stop or creeping along at 2 mph, a thirty minute commute with the car actually moving sounds brilliant. I think it might require a FWD high clearance vehicle though if we are not in the city proper.

[ScarletG]

Originally Posted by klara.odinsdottir

I have never been there before, so I don't know what group I would blot with, if any at all.

So either I was too subtle or you are choosing to not understand the question on purpose. What I am saying, is do not move here, just because there is a strong Scandinavian heritage, if you want to be openly racist and think it will be celebrated. And if you are....don't move to Madison at the very least.

I have been part of the Pagan community for more years than you have been alive...I know the good and the bad of Ásatrú....and you are hitting quite a few 'hot button' code words for what I consider the lesser aspects. Look elsewhere if you want to find the Aryan homeland in the US.

[Mr. In-Between]

AWD (AWD, not 4WD) is better suited for Wisconsin winters. I spent 30 years driving the country roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and my Subaru Forester was the best winter vehicle I've ever driven, bar none. I would never own a FWD vehicle in Wisconsin.

[klara.odinsdottir]

Originally Posted by ScarletG

So either I was too subtle or you are choosing to not understand the question on purpose. What I am saying, is do not move here, just because there is a strong Scandinavian heritage, if you want to be openly racist and think it will be celebrated. And if you are....don't move to Madison at the very least.

I have been part of the Pagan community for more years than you have been alive...I know the good and the bad of Ásatrú....and you are hitting quite a few 'hot button' code words for what I consider the lesser aspects. Look elsewhere if you want to find the Aryan homeland in the US.

I guess you were being too subtle because I have very little experience in the "community." I have met with three other groups, but ran into the problems I mentioned before - they reminded me more of churches than of a group of merry, happy, honorable heathens having a good time and toasting the gods. I am not sure how it is racist to want to open a Viking-style tavern. I have not been anywhere in the US that caters exclusively to Viking metal and I thought it would be awesome. THAT would be my ultimate dream. But it's not realistic. I don't think enough Viking metal bands come to the US to keep the place alive as a music venue, and as I said I do not want to fail due to lack of business, so our idea was to make it more of a bar that also hosted bands but had other things like trivia nights or craft beer/home brew festivals or Scandinavian fairs like the ScanFair that is held here in Portland every year. So that we could have business every night, not just when bands play. But as I said, if there aren't enough customers we would fail no matter what kind of décor or theme nights we had or the bands that came.

To me, racism means being convinced that one ethnic group is superior to others. I don't think that. I think everyone should be proud of their own heritage, just as I'm proud of mine, and if I actually managed to do this, I would be proud to invite everyone I knew to my bar, not just the white people. I would never turn anyone away from a bar (assuming I ever get the opportunity to open one) based on race or skin color or even religion, even if they are a christian. Everybody's money is equally green, and besides, people don't have to have the same race, religion and musical tastes as me just to come to my bar. I have a lot more in common with people of color who are practicing a pagan religion than with white christians. I just think that the Saxons and Scandinavians' religion (and most everything else about them) was fascinating and I want to share a taste of their culture and decor and history with those who are interested. (I do not plan to make it exclusively a heathen bar, but heathens are welcome and would hopefully come to view it as a home away from home. I do not really discuss my beliefs with anyone unless they show interest. Either you feel a spiritual pull toward the gods or you don't.) I doubt that anyone who is not of that heritage would be interested in it, but if for some reason they were, anybody who wants to come would be welcome. But I am operating on the hypothesis that people probably wouldn't come if they had no interest in it, so in order to succeed, I would have to be located in a place where there were enough customers to keep the business alive. Same as how you wouldn't open a restaurant catering to Hindu dietary regulations in a place where there were no Hindus. It does not make financial sense to open a bar or tavern with a saxon/Scandinavian historical theme if there's nobody interested in Saxon/Scandinavian history.

I have no idea why you are so hostile, I would think a member of the Pagan community would be happy to have a bar or tavern to go and enjoy the company of other pagans and good music, including folk music since I know that not all Asatruar are into metal. I don't think anywhere in the US could ever be "an Aryan homeland." This is the Native Americans' homeland. I have been around enough to know that some people think Asatru is a racist political ideology instead of a religion, but I don't buy that. No one is a racist just for being interested in their own culture or following their own indigenous religion. No one is a racist until they start advocating the superiority of one race over another.

I do not understand your question about what group I would blot with. I only know one person in Wisconsin, and she is not a heathen and does not live anywhere near Madison (she lives in Rice Lake). I don't know anyone in Madison and we are rather quiet and introverted people, so it is not easy for us to meet heathen groups or make friends of any sort unless we are "on" for work, by which I mean we force ourselves to be unnaturally outgoing in order to keep our jobs, or we have had a little social lubricant at a metal show. I am usually quiet and a bit awkward in groups of 6 or more, at least until I know everyone, hence my limited involvement with groups.

[klara.odinsdottir]

Originally Posted by Albert_The_Crocodile

AWD (AWD, not 4WD) is better suited for Wisconsin winters. I spent 30 years driving the country roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and my Subaru Forester was the best winter vehicle I've ever driven, bar none. I would never own a FWD vehicle in Wisconsin.

Hehe, I didn't even know there was a difference! Guess I better start reading up