Retiring to Minnesota or Wisconsin???

[Marquette]

REWahoo's advice is very key... no matter what place your husband relocates to, you should rent for a year before deciding to put down roots; especially if you don't have family in the area or other ties!

Winter really starts in early- to mid-December. Thanksgiving is generally nice but there may be some flurries between late September and December... still, we've gone geo-caching every Thanksgiving with nothing more than long-sleeve shirts or jackets and have been fine.

MnDOT's mission is to kill as many Minnesotan's as possible. Merging here is a sport.

If you work a standard 8-5, then for a good part of the worst part of winter, you'll be going to work when it's dark and coming home when it's dark.

Late January to mid-February can be miserable at times. There's a lot to do indoors, but still, it gets old after a while.

Summer in August can be as miserable as anywhere... Martha already mentioned this. 80's-90's with 40-60% humidity is pretty common.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ahh!! The good old days. It brings a tear to my eye.

I decided to leave out the part where after stepping in the slush hole you fall over backwards, soaking your long wool coat, your pants, and everything else from about the middle of your back on down.

Then you get to drive home in it. Because you know you're gonna get stopped by the cops for some BS item and you know they'll never buy a story about falling down in the slush as a reason for why you're driving around in january, naked from the waist down.

 

[haha]

I decided to leave out the part where after stepping in the slush hole you fall over backwards, soaking your long wool coat, your pants, and everything else from about the middle of your back on down.

Then you get to drive home in it. Because you know you're gonna get stopped by the cops for some BS item and you know they'll never buy a story about falling down in the slush as a reason for why you're driving around in january, naked from the waist down.

This thread reminds me of how I felt when I moved from Boston to LA. My God, it was like I thought things had been copacetic in Boston, but suddenly I found a whole new definition of contentment.

Now I live farther north than any of these places we are talking about- but thanks to the Pacific Ocean it is a whole lot warmer than the rest of the North.

I was thinking the other morning, I've lived in a lot of places with a lot to recommend them. But the only US places I would even consider going back to are the LA beach cities, or Orange County (Huntington Beach). The rest of it I liked well enough while I was there, but the thought of returning is just depressing.

Ha

 

[FinanceDude]

Interesting. We're relocating from Louisiana to Janesville, WI at the end of August. I've accepted a job in Janesville, which is about 40 miles south of Madison, as a QA guy in a manufacturing facility that does business with the government. I'm a federal employee, and will be there looking out for the interests of the govt. Never been to this part of the world before, and I know it's gonna be slightly different from Louisiana, especially in the winter. Any of you Wisconsin-ites know much about Janesville? I could possibly live closer to Madison and drive to the southeastern side of Janesville to work, but if Janesville is a decent place I'd prefer not to commute. Not ruling it out, though. We'll be holding up in a hotel for up to 60 days, or whatever it takes to locate our home. We'll definitely take our time scoping out the surrounding areas. Also, I'm planning to continue my military service by joining up with the Air National Guard unit that flies F-16's out of Madison. Anybody know anything about Janesville?

Janesvilles a nice quiet quaint town in Wisconsin. Their biggest claim to fame was having a large GM plant cranking out Suburbans, Tahoes, and Chevy pickumup trucks. However, GM is closing them down by 2010. There's very little crime, and it's a good place to raise a family. Madison is undoubtedly the nicest larger town in Wisconsin (250,000 people or so). You'll like Janesville if you like a less hectic lifestyle. Feel free to PM me if you want any more info about Wisconsin. I have lived here almost all my life..........

 

[FinanceDude]

And the newspaper delivery guy that everyone thought just ran off somewhere.

Every bone I've broken except for one was the result of slipping on ice in a driveway or on a sidewalk in MA.