What is it that makes Minneapolis/St. Paul so irresistable to Wisconsin

[eyepaddle]

transplants?

This kinda came up in a different thread, but it is something often mentioned here--I'm wondering if some outside thoughts/input could be useful. With the bigot's classic refrain I will attempt to justify myself by stating that many of my friends are cheesehead transplants and they are good people--but it seems like we let a few in, and BAM! Now they are underfoot

There goes the nighborhood, indeed.

[jpgray]

1. Not the liquor store hours

[eyepaddle]

2. Or days, for that matter.

And yet, even against this handicap we are overwhelmed by the dairy fueled horde.

[jpgray]

3. I like 'em! But it is strange. Next we'll have to explain our Somali population

[eyepaddle]

4. That one actually makes a bit of sense, we have

a very strong refugee assisstance center and infrastrucutre here--that brings in the first few, and then they tell their friends and so on and so forth.

Winter reallllllly has to bum them out though!

[jpgray]

5. The winter driving especially

:( I can't imagine how much snow emergency money the metropolitan area harvests from those refugee pops each year.

[eyepaddle]

7. Y'know, I hadn't thought of that,

When I lived in Louisiana I remember telling a story and it involved "alternate side parking" which really drew some blank stares....

[mark414]

10. ours ain't much better...

the shops close up at 9 pm

we have a pretty influential tavern association....x(

[Zookeeper]

13. The thing that most impressed me....

about Milwaukee, was the abundance of neighborhood taverns. It seemed like there were at least two at every intersection and they were packed with very friendly folks. Just the sheer number of tavern owners would have to make a powerful lobby.

Wisconsin...taverns and churches. (And natural beauty.)

[mark414]

19. well...

it was beer (Schlitz) that made Milwaukee famous

It will come as no surprise that the residents of a city known as "The Nation's Watering Hole" like to have a beer or two.

But Milwaukee isn't just your average brewing town. It's the hardest-drinking city in America, according to Forbes.com's ranking of America's Drunkest Cities.

*snip*

Milwaukee ranks high for its drinking habits across the board. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey 2004, more than 70% of adult Milwaukeeans reported that they had had at least one alcoholic drink within the past 30 days--the highest percentage on our list. Twenty-two percent of Milwaukee respondents confessed to binge drinking, or having five or more drinks on one occasion--also the highest on our list. And 7.5% of the population were reported as heavy drinkers--adult men that have more than two drinks per day, or adult women who have more than one drink per day.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/22/nightlife-cities-drunk_cx_de_nightlife06_0822intro.html

"It has also been called "the nation's watering hole," having more bars per capita than any other large city in the country."

as if that weren't enough: "La Crosse, with over 360 bars, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most bars per capita and also for the most bars on one street."

9 pm sure don't stop us :toast: :beer:


:rofl:

[Zookeeper]

21. On the other hand...

The Twin Cities, especially Mpls., have the fewest bars of anywhere else I've lived. I'm not sure if it's a Lutheran-thing or just your basic Minnesotan reluctance to rub elbows with (gasp!) STRANGERS. :scared:

I'm happy to have folks from Wisconsin here. They're friendlier than native Minnesotans, which is a relief for a non-native like me.

:hi: :toast:

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Nah, Wisconsinites go all over the place -

The two churches I was involved with in NYC were both chock full of Wisconsin natives. It was bizarre. In fact, one church was almost entirely midwesterners, with just a few east coasters, and only two or three native New Yorkers in it.

When I lived in Hawaii, too, I was constantly meeting native Wisconsinites who were living there.

There's something about the progressive politics, the excellent schools and good educations, and lack of opportunities for the educated that drives the college grads out of the state and into other places where they fit in better and can get better jobs.

[eyepaddle]

8. This brings up a related topic,

when a few friends and I were cruising around out west one of them (from WI incidentally) remarked that if you became involved in conversation with a stranger they would be from either MN or WI. This pretty much proved to be the case.

This raises a few possibilities:
1) We really are the only friendly people in the whole wide world
2) We are the biggest balbber mouths and never let anybody else get in a word edgewise
3) We simply have to leave, and have overwelmed the rest of the earth's indigineous population
4) We have a supernatural ability to locate our "fellow travelers" and pool resources in strangelands--think of it as having "Midwest-dar."
5) It was February and the weather sucked back home, so everybody was on vacation at the same time.

My money's on #4. ;)

[mark414]

9. we get around

i spent most of last year roaming around nearly all of the lower 48 and ran into many of my com-state-riats everywhere...

or are you just being snarky because of our disdain for illinois? :P

[eyepaddle]

11. The lounge was getting stuffy--it needed silliness

I've long maintained WI's one and only useful function was providing a buffer zone between the Shangri-La paradise-on-earth known as "Minnesota" and, well, you know, "Chicago." ;)

(Pssstt--just funnin' ya Chi-towners!)

[Wapsie B]

12. The same thing can be said from those south of the border,

that is south of Albert Lea. ;-) Iowans head there in droves and with good reason. Great atmosphere, lots to do, and good jobs there. Not to diss my native land but there just seems to be a mentality here where many employers want you to feel grateful for even having a chance at a decent job in Iowa.

[eyepaddle]

14. Hmmmm, I've been given much to ponder--especially when

you consider that my very own mother is technically speaking, a transplanted Iowegian! :)

[Wapsie B]

15. Cool.

Not suprising though. Iowa exports almost as many people as pigs somedays. :) As for me I've got relatives all over the upper midwest, but especially Minnesota and even more in Wisconsin.

[hfojvt]

16. I found that there just were not jobs in Mason City

or Charles City. Or maybe it's just me. The only reason I end up with a job is because nobody else wants it. But I wouldn't live in Twin-town for anything except enough money to move away very, very quickly. I went to school there for five years.

[Wapsie B]

20. Yeah I know.

Charles City had a Winnebago division move in there otherwise that area had the dubious distinction of having one of the higher unemployment rates in the state. Mason City has just kinda stagnated for a long time. It's an old town, very old. The one area in this region with real growth would be Rochester.

[Jimbo S]

17. The Twin Cities is a nice place to live

Several corporate headquarters attracts the recent college grads.

[jpgray]

18. They really are nice cities

Even if downtown St. Paul resembles a cemetary... :D

[Left Is Write]

22. I'm wondering what it is about Boise that makes it so attractive to Minnesota transplants?

My own husband and I are Minnesota transplants to Boise, and one of our three children was even born here, making him technically an Idaho native. We have met dozens of people who made the trek here from Minnesota.

Of course we found them at the ELCA Lutheran Church, so what does that tell you?