Being Black in Wisconsin (Appleton)......... (Milwaukee, Green Bay: living in, move to, suburbs)

[ComputerBlue]

Originally Posted by geekduo

I spent my teenage and young adult years going there for shopping and recreation, etc. I would compare it to Appleton for jobs and shopping, their industry has more tech and less paper though. Big employers are HTI, SGI(in Chippewa Falls), 3M and others I can't remember right now. The tech industry has been volatile though, that's why I left. The downtown is not as good as Appleton, it's heavily influenced by the university in town, UW-EC. Which, by the way, is a really good school. There are not as many entertainment options as Appleton, but the area has some great outdoor music festivals every summer. 2 country and 1 rock. Check out rock-fest.com if you like. It's not far from all the bluffs lining the western side of the state, very beautiful country. The city of Chippewa Falls is just a few minutes north and has a really cool northwoods feel to it. There you have Irvine Park, Leinenkugels brewery and the Northern Wisconsin State Fair. It's also the original home of Cray Research and has a computer museum, which you might find interesting to visit since you are in that field.
Personally, I prefer it to Appleton, but then I'm a bit biased!
As far as diversity, it's probably similar to Appleton.

Thanks for the info Geekduo. I will haft to go visit sometime. The Technical jobs is a big plus. There are a couple of other states and towns I wanted to checkout but when you hear jobs are scarce there in the feld your in it's no point going to these places and struggling. Its good to hear that appelton was pretty good in the tech side of the job market. Eau claire looks like it could be some fun going to the rock and country festivals. I'd be drunk the whole time though and will need to carry a cab driver with me everywhere I go lol. Computer Museum interesting, I will have a look. Chippewa Falls Im going to look at that place as soon as im done writing this lol Wisconsin I'm hooked on now. Thank you much!!!

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by ComputerBlue

Lake mendota Vanilla is calling my name!! The capital building I see in the photos of Madison is pretty neat. Very few capital cities have such big capital buildings. I should have checked out Wisconsin long time ago. I never thought lol there was anything beyond Milwaukee..............I was wondering whats your opinion on eau claire? Have you been out that way?

Actually I've only been to Eau Claire once, and I just passed through. Can't comment on it at all. I've stuck more to the central and south parts of the state. Been to the north a bunch of times, but there's nothing up there except forest.

[geekduo]

Originally Posted by ComputerBlue

Eau claire looks like it could be some fun going to the rock and country festivals. I'd be drunk the whole time though and will need to carry a cab driver with me everywhere I go lol. Computer Museum interesting, I will have a look. Chippewa Falls Im going to look at that place as soon as im done writing this lol Wisconsin I'm hooked on now. Thank you much!!!

Actually, the big thing to do at the festivals is to camp for the whole 3-4 days. That's a huge part of the fun. Everyone party's at the campground bigtime. There are even contests to see who can decorate their campsites the best. There are some pretty crazy and original entries. Even if you don't move to the area, I would encourage anyone to go to either Rockfest or Countryfest at least once. It really is an experience. One caveat, leave the kids at home. This is definitely not a family friendly event. A lot of drunk people walking around, but hey, they're not driving.
Since it's 4 straight days of music, you get to see A LOT of bands in one festival. The best year was when Tom Petty played Saturday night and ZZ-Top played on Sunday to close it out.

[ComputerBlue]

Originally Posted by geekduo

Actually, the big thing to do at the festivals is to camp for the whole 3-4 days. That's a huge part of the fun. Everyone party's at the campground bigtime. There are even contests to see who can decorate their campsites the best. There are some pretty crazy and original entries. Even if you don't move to the area, I would encourage anyone to go to either Rockfest or Countryfest at least once. It really is an experience. One caveat, leave the kids at home. This is definitely not a family friendly event. A lot of drunk people walking around, but hey, they're not driving.
Since it's 4 straight days of music, you get to see A LOT of bands in one festival. The best year was when Tom Petty played Saturday night and ZZ-Top played on Sunday to close it out.

Hmm campin...sounds like fun! I dont have any kids so I should be fine at certain events lol. Are there local bands that can play at those festivals? Lets say like a battle of the bands sort of thing?

[geekduo]

Originally Posted by ComputerBlue

Hmm campin...sounds like fun! I dont have any kids so I should be fine at certain events lol. Are there local bands that can play at those festivals? Lets say like a battle of the bands sort of thing?

You bet!
There are beer tents within the concert area that have stages. Whenever there is a break between bands on the main stage, the local bands play in the beer tents. Some of them are really awesome at covering old favorites like Pink Floyd, etc...
The concert area gates open around 11 am. We usually end up going back to camp in the middle of the afternoon for a nap just so we can make it through the end of the night. LOL

[slamont61]

I can speak for Milwaukee - It's as racist as it can get. The hoods are all separate from each other and very little mixing is going on.

Only in the Sherman Park area and along the western city boarders do you see it co-mingling in any way. Sherman Park is a nice suburb with a good mix. I just did not see it else where, but hey I'm one of the few white guys that is comfortable in the Black neighborhoods. I had many friends there and was a frequent visitor, to what would be considered dangerous neighborhoods. I could not get my friends from there to come out to my area as they did NOT feel comfortable, and rightfully so. The cops are prime suspects of racial profiling. A guy could be pulled over for nothing what so ever, and I do mean it.

Now, I can not speak for the racial content of Appleton but I know it is not without it's crime zones.

[tuckerfam]

Haven't been a victim of racial profiling, nor has my husband here in Appleton. As long as you aren't breaking the law - they aren't interested. Unless I'm one of the few. I agree about MKE though slamont61 - it is very segregated when it comes to the neighborhoods. Very sad.

[ComputerBlue]

Originally Posted by geekduo

You bet!
There are beer tents within the concert area that have stages. Whenever there is a break between bands on the main stage, the local bands play in the beer tents. Some of them are really awesome at covering old favorites like Pink Floyd, etc...
The concert area gates open around 11 am. We usually end up going back to camp in the middle of the afternoon for a nap just so we can make it through the end of the night. LOL

Well I know I will have a time!!! Can't wait!

[ComputerBlue]

Originally Posted by slamont61

I can speak for Milwaukee - It's as racist as it can get. The hoods are all separate from each other and very little mixing is going on.

Only in the Sherman Park area and along the western city boarders do you see it co-mingling in any way. Sherman Park is a nice suburb with a good mix. I just did not see it else where, but hey I'm one of the few white guys that is comfortable in the Black neighborhoods. I had many friends there and was a frequent visitor, to what would be considered dangerous neighborhoods. I could not get my friends from there to come out to my area as they did NOT feel comfortable, and rightfully so. The cops are prime suspects of racial profiling. A guy could be pulled over for nothing what so ever, and I do mean it.

Now, I can not speak for the racial content of Appleton but I know it is not without it's crime zones.

Wow I keep hearing so many negatives about Milwaukee in the racial stuff going on out there lol. Kind of crazy in this day in age. Well it's definitely like that in parts of the south. I would think Milwaukee being up north and all would be a little different. I will pass through it to visit but I would not live there. Mainly cause it's too big. I need somethin' small and safer. I could definitely relate to the racial profiling. It just about happens all over America and maybe sometimes the cops are right and maybe there are people really up to no good lol

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Only in the Sherman Park area and along the western city boarders do you see it co-mingling in any way. Sherman Park is a nice suburb with a good mix.

Sherman Park is a Milwaukee neighborhood actually, and is not a suburb. It is one of the few "integrated" neighborhoods in Milwaukee, mainly because there is not a large African-American middle class in Milwaukee. Middle- and upper-class African-American Milwaukeeans tend to live in "whiter" neighborhoods and suburbs after they achieve some economic success.