Comment by rsanheim

I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life as well, minus 5 years in NC for a job.

The parent specifically mentioned _northwoods_ wisconsin, which is a different beast than Madison, Milwaukee, or some of the other cities.

So not sure how much of this hyperbolic reply to even take issue with, but it sounds like you've had a really rough go of it in WI. Sorry.

The rural / urban divide is real, though I think that is an America problem more than a WI problem.

Winter can suck, this is true. Though its changing a lot with climate change...and turns out the midwest may be one of the best places to be over the next 50 years w/ water shortages, fires, and hurricanes becoming more and more common everywhere else.

- Madison, Milwaukee, and surrounding areas both have fantastic restaurant and foodie scenes

- We have some of the best farmer's markets and local produce of anywhere, so if you like to cook you are in luck. There are great restaurants that will surprise you, even in smaller towns.

- I get gigabit fiber in Madison - I'm sure the situation is harder up north. I wouldn't expect getting fiber four hours north of SF would be easy, either. - The people here are generally friendly, hard-working, and solid...even if they vote or support politicians I find abhorrent. I don't think that is unique to rural WI.

- WI definitely has the drinking culture, but I find with most of my younger friends that habit is *much* less common. The drinking culture for kids now compared to the 1990s is massively improved and healthier.

- the music scene is alive and well, for both techno/house and underground punk/indie/whatever, which are the two scenes I've been in over the past 25+ years.

so yeah, wisconsin is a mixed bag (hell, so is cali and new york), but I think it still has a lot going for it.

I can tell you whenever I head home from yet another bay area trip, I may be dreading the WI winter but I'm definitely _not_ dreading the endless tech-babble you can't escape in any coffeeshop or restaurant around SF or LA. I'll take small talk around sports, fishing, or even the weather over crypto/VC/AI babble anyday.