Why the Midwest?

[Sittingduck]

Sometimes I wonder why I am living in fly-over country.

From windchill factors & shoveling snow to swatting swarms of hungry mosquitos - seemingly in a blink of the eye. Turn off the heat so you can crank up the air conditioner.

Boring topography and monoculture agriculture.

Roads like a pot-hole laboratory which gives new meaning to "freeze-thaw cycle".

And then there are the Cubs.... wait till next year. Again?

Then there is a night like tonight - extra sweet sweetcorn and heirloom tomatoes straight from the garden - so fresh they are still growing when you eat them. Nirvana. Unmatched anywhere.

Almost makes it worth it.

 

[steelyman]

"All the sounds of the earth are like music
All the sounds of the earth are like music
The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree
And a ole weeping willer is laughing at me"

- "Oklahoma"

 

[ERhoosier]

As a fellow Midwesterner, I've always thought Midwesterners were generally the nicest folks anywhere. But so many have migrated South & Southwest that now you can find 'em almost anywhere these days.
Seriously- It's all about what makes YOU happiest. No offense but used to live in IL. Could not wait to leave. Wanted to move south, but instead took a j#b in IN 'for a while'. Many years later I'm still here- and in no rush to leave. Except for spending a few weeks in AZ during the winters. Just like the AZ relatives like to spend a few weeks in July/August back up the Midwest. No place is perfect.
BTW- Don't forget to count your blessings for being a long-time Cubs fan. When your time comes you should be directly admitted to Heaven.....'cause you've already been through hell on earth

 

[pullmyfinger]

I was born, raised and have lived most of my life in the Seattle area, but I have to admit that I totally romanticize the midwest. Both of my parents' families are from there and some of my happiest childhood memories are trips back to the Dakotas in the fall. The relatives have since died so I haven't been there as an adult and I have no idea what it is really like to live there. I am hoping to do a midwest road trip in the next few years. Do you have suggestions for nice cities and towns to visit?

 

[steelyman]

Chicago (my birthplace) is the obvious choice to visit in IL, but it doesn't feel to me like "The Midwest". I'd say look downstate or for something different go northwest (e.g. Galena, which was unglaciated).

 

[Sittingduck]

BTW- Don't forget to count your blessings for being a long-time Cubs fan. When your time comes you should be directly admitted to Heaven.....'cause you've already been through hell on earth

I am just a piker - I'm "only" 58. My dad is the long suffering one, he is 83.
He said he would hang on till they won one, but now he is doubting his commitment sadly.

 

[haha]

Unmatched anywhere.

Almost makes it worth it.

I am glad you like it.

 

[dallas27]

Corn and tomatoes grow just about everywhere. Peaches and strawberrys dont.


Just sayin.


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[Sittingduck]

I am hoping to do a midwest road trip in the next few years. Do you have suggestions for nice cities and towns to visit?

Everyone should do the Chicago lakefront at least once in the summer. The museum campus, Grant Park, all the usual things. It really is a unique city on the lake. Just try to do it in May-June, or Sept-Oct if possible. No crowds, good weather, and lower humidity.

As for small towns, Mrs Duck and I love to jump on the motorcycle and take off without much of a plan and roam through the country. Can't get enough of local diners and festivals. The people on the whole are as friendly and unassuming as you might expect. It's just Americana.

 

[brewer12345]

Heh, this time of year through the end of February I voluntarily take trips on a roughly weekly basis from my edge of the Rockies home to something that most people would recognize as the Midwest (eastern Colorado). I did so today. The people I met were really friendly, very direct, and as I had the magic decoder ring (pickup and shotgun) they were all very willing to share information it might have taken me some effort to gather. Nice people, nice place.

 

[Sittingduck]

Corn and tomatoes grow just about everywhere. Peaches and strawberrys dont.


Just sayin.


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Thats my point really. They may grow everywhere, but in my travels I haven't found a comparison. Theres tomatoes, and then theres tomatoes.

I have a peach tree and a plot of strawberrys also. They pretty much grow everywhere also. Would you like an Illinois peach? Didn't think so.

 

[samclem]

We got a chance to live in many places during my w*rking years, we chose to settle down in Ohio. We like it a lot, for all the reasons already mentioned.
When I hear someone making disparaging comments about the place, it's usually someone who grew up here and can't wait to leave. I tell 'em to go see some things, then they may find they like it here a whole lot more.

 

[wrigley]

I was born and raised in Chicago and lived there until I left for the military when I turned 18. My entire family still lives in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. I, too, am huge Cubs fan!

When I retired from the military I was sure I was going back to Chicago and my family was all for it. It just didn't pan out and we stayed in Florida. Chicago has all my childhood memories and my ENTIRE family. I visit periodically but don't you know it.......deaths in the family always seem to occur in the winter time!

My wife is a northerner also (CT.), we met in the military. Now that we are a little older and just about empty nesters, we have no desire to go anywhere cold let alone live there. As my Chicago family grows older they seem to vacation down south a lot more, but all of them have told me they will live out their lives up north. I guess there is something to be said for a true "Yankee"

Mike

 

[athena53]

DH and I moved to "one of those square states in the middle" (that was how one of his coworkers put it) when I changed jobs in 2003. We haven't looked back. Each of us had been born and raised in the Midwest but I'd lived in NNJ for the previous 25 years and DH longer than that. My salary didn't change but the cost of housing sure did. It made a huge difference in our ability to save for retirement although we already had a good base.

We love it here. We get snow, of course, but nothing like we had in NJ. DS finished school in Des Moines, stayed there, owns a house and has a wonderful wife who stays home with their baby daughter, which would be impossible in a HCOL area. (One friend from the old city has both adult sons living with them because $400K for a starter house is more than they can manage.) The people are nice and a world-class music hall is 45 minutes away from us. The medical/dental care is as good as it was in NJ. I've started a Geology course at a community college just a few miles down the road and really like the professor.

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone on the coasts about us. They'll all crowd in here and jam up the roads.

 

[steelyman]

Sometimes my ignorance of US geography shows.

I was visiting Denver a few years back and this huge blizzard hit. Just too much snow for me to go out while it was still falling. So it was TV time.

They kept broadcasting conditions and one point they announced the interstate (70?) was closed all the way to Kansas. I had no idea the two states bordered!

I guess I'm just an "east of the Mississippi" guy.

 

[Midpack]

Living near Chicago and Lake Michigan is wonderful 9 months of the year for us. Low COL (distant suburbs) and truly world class amenities within easy driving distance (Chicago). And wonderful places to visit in WI and MI. Nice Spring, relatively moderate Summer, gorgeous Fall...some Winters better than others.

Getting away from cold winters means hotter summers unless you go to the left coast, pick your poison. Many warm regions are expected to face chronic water shortages with no relief in sight, could get pretty serious.

San Francisco and Santa Barbara look close to perfect to me, but both are far too expensive IMO.

As a wise old Aunt told us, 'no place is perfect, and if there was it would be so expensive and so crowded you wouldn't want to live there.'

 

[Andre1969]

I live in Maryland, just east of DC, and there are times I fantasize about moving. But, one thing I like about it here is that, we have four seasons, and for the most part, they're really not all that extreme. The summers can get hot, but there are a lot of places that get hotter! And while the winters can get pretty bad, again, there are places where it's a lot worse.

I think the biggest problem with the winters though, is that we just don't have the infrastructure to deal with them when we have a really bad one. We just don't have them often enough to have all the equipment in place to keep the roads and such clear, so we'll shut down completely for a storm that most New Yorkers or Chicagoans would laugh at.

I'd also imagine they build the homes to be more weather-tight in those areas that are more prone to harsher winters? Or, who knows...I guess there's going to be crap construction no matter where you go.

 

[HFWR]

Originally from southern Indiana. Visit there occasionally, and the only thing I miss is the scenery. I find small towns and rural locations too provincial...

Not that the suburbs are so exciting, but I can hide in an urban/suburban area, and pretty much live as I want, and associate with whomever I want.

 

[Andre1969]

Originally from southern Indiana. Visit there occasionally, and the only thing I miss is the scenery. I find small towns and rural locations too provincial...

Not that the suburbs are so exciting, but I can hide in an urban/suburban area, and pretty much live as I want, and associate with whomever I want.

I always find those little rural towns to be quaint...a nice place to visit. But I dunno if I'd want to live there. You could go there expecting to find Mayberry or Hooterville, but end up in the Village of the Damned!

 

[steelyman]

Another place to visit in IL is Quincy, which has a historic feel and is right across the river from Hannibal, MO.

 

[steelyman]

Originally from southern Indiana. Visit there occasionally, and the only thing I miss is the scenery. I find small towns and rural locations too provincial...

Not that the suburbs are so exciting, but I can hide in an urban/suburban area, and pretty much live as I want, and associate with whomever I want.

Brown County in Indiana is really pretty.

 

[HFWR]

Brown County in Indiana is really pretty.

Yep. And on some occasions, when it's cheaper to fly in/out of Indianapolis than Louisville, I often take SH 135 from US 50 up to SH 46, just east of Brown County State Park. Great drive...

 

[steelyman]

Yep. And on some occasions, when it's cheaper to fly in/out of Indianapolis than Louisville, I often take SH 135 from US 50 up to SH 46, just east of Brown County State Park. Great drive...

The semi-new Indy airport is nice. A lot of people I know (myself included) prefer to drive to Indy to fly rather than endure commuter flights and the O'Hare nightmare.

 

[Mulligan]

Sometimes my ignorance of US geography shows.

I was visiting Denver a few years back and this huge blizzard hit. Just too much snow for me to go out while it was still falling. So it was TV time.

They kept broadcasting conditions and one point they announced the interstate (70?) was closed all the way to Kansas. I had no idea the two states bordered!

I guess I'm just an "east of the Mississippi" guy.

Don't feel too bad. When my then wife and I were driving to Colorado for a ski trip, we crossed the border from Kansas into Colorado and her immediate response was..."where are the mountains at we are in Colorado now". One thing about living in Midwest is I can't ever figure out what climate I want. When it's the summer heat time, I can't wait for winter. When it's winter I swear I want to live in Arizona year around. Fall and spring come and go too quickly for me.


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[Andre1969]

Don't feel too bad. When my then wife and I were driving to Colorado for a ski trip, we crossed the border from Kansas into Colorado and her immediate response was..."where are the mountains at we are in Colorado now". One thing about living in Midwest is I can't ever figure out what climate I want. When it's the summer heat time, I can't wait for winter. When it's winter I swear I want to live in Arizona year around. Fall and spring come and go too quickly for me.

One D'oh moment I had was when the ex wife and I drove out to Washington State to see some of her relatives. I remember as we were just about to leave South Dakota, I looked at the little sliver of Wyoming that I-90 cut through on its way to Montana. I figured, oh, that won't take more than an hour. I knew Wyoming was a big state, but still, the part we were cutting through looked so small. Well, imagine my shock when we crossed the state line, and the first mile marker was something like 210!

IIRC, there was one stretch of that highway where it was 60-some miles between exits!

it's a bit of a shock, when you're used to these relatively tiny east coast states. Still, I noticed my sense of scale did seem to get thrown off. For instance, I knew Montana was a big state, and was going to take a long time to drive through. But South Dakota really threw me for a loop. I knew it was a fairly big state. However, we entered it through Sioux City, Iowa, and were on one interstate for what seemed like about 90 miles, and then when we hit I-90, we came in around the 395 mile mark. So that really made it seem to drag out. Plus, the terrain changed so much. Where we hit I-90 was only a few miles from Minnesota, so it was mostly farms, fields, and fairly gentle, rolling terrain. But then as we went west it seemed to get flatter, and more arid. And then more mountainous, and more arid, still. And then there were the Badlands and Black hills area, so it had a lot of variety to it.

Still, the amount of miles we spent in South Dakota alone, would have gotten us more than half-way from DC to Florida! The perspective really changes out west, I guess.