Tell me about Milwaukee.

[GESancMan]

@The_Weird_One

I-94 is an East-West interstate, except where it jogs North out of Chicago to connect with Milwaukee. So to head south, take I-94 East, and to go north, take I-94 West. The confused me to no end once, shortly after I had my drivers license.

I grew up in San Jose, where Northbound/Southbound I-280 runs west/east. I’m used to it.

[Hampshire]

@GESancMan

Isn’t that what it’s like in places that get snow every winter? They don’t let it get as bad as it was in Portland a year ago, do they?

Oh, you haven’t tried anything till you attempt parallel parking along an iced over snowbanked curb.
(Says the guy who parked on N Kramer 3 consecutive winters to get to Engelman Hall).

[Hampshire]

@The_Weird_One

• I grew up mainly in Greenfield and Hales Corners.

Whitnall class of 88’. Nice to meet you. I grew up in Hales Corners, worked at the now defunct Kohls Food by Sherpers as a teen and spent summers and winters all over Whitnall Park. And got all my bikes from Wheel-n-Sprocket.

[The_Weird_One]

@Hampshire

(Says the guy who parked on N Kramer 3 consecutive winters to get to Engelman Hall).

[nelson muntz]Haw, haw![/nm]

Seriously, though, all the salt for the entire state of Wisconsin comes in through the Port of Milwaukee and is stored in huge piles. If you drive south over the Hoan Bridge, you’ll see them. When it snows, the roads are plowed as it’s coming down and salted generously. There’s some slipping and sliding if it’s a heavy snowfall, but usually the plows stay on top of things.

[B.Serum]

@GESancMan

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about driving in the snow…

When we had our storm here in Portland a little more than a year ago, the snow was quickly compacted onto the roads, and as I wrote above, no attempt was made to do anything about it. So after the initial blast of snow, it was like trying to drive on a frozen lake - everything was covered in ice.

It could be that it was only like that in my immediate area, but when I left for California two days before Christmas, I-5 wasn’t any better. At that point, it hadn’t snowed much in several days, but it hadn’t rained either, and it was still cold enough that nothing was melting. I could not see the road. There were ruts in the ice, carved by traffic, that everyone followed. Traffic was moving along at about 10 mph.

I have a hard time believing conditions would be like that in places where it snows all the time every winter. Correct me if I’m wrong, but my impression is that in such places, the powers that be actively work to improve the roads after a heavy snowfall, using salt, plows, whatever. As an example of this, I wrote of having to stop for the night in Northern California last week because I-5 was closed due to snow. The next morning, I had no problems going over Siskiyou Pass - the highway had been plowed, and I was driving on bare pavement.

Isn’t that what it’s like in places that get snow every winter? They don’t let it get as bad as it was in Portland a year ago, do they?

That’s been my experience. I was actually pretty satisfied with the snow removal in the Twin Cities when I lived there. My impression is that it’s easier to justify snow removal expenses in city budgets when it’s more frequently an issue.

Snow is going to suck, no doubt about it, and you’re going to have to get your snow legs (wheels?), but its not insurmountable and everyone around you is in the same boat.

[The_Weird_One]

@Hampshire

Whitnall class of 88’. Nice to meet you. I grew up in Hales Corners, worked at the now defunct Kohls Food by Sherpers as a teen and spent summers and winters all over Whitnall Park. And got all my bikes from Wheel-n-Sprocket.

Greenfield, class of '00. Dad moved to Hales Corners after he and mom split, and we did all our food shopping at that Kohls. Can you believe that their grocery stores went under?

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Spent some time in the Waukesha/ Pewaukee area, myself.

Any St Joseph’s School or Our Lady of Catholic Memorial HS ex-students here?

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@The_Weird_One

'Round about April, you will start to notice a distinct stench near the lake. That’s the alewives - small silver fish that look like herring and die every spring after mating, washing up on the beaches to rot in huge numbers. Enjoy!

That really hasn’t been a significant issue since the summer of 1995. Oh, maybe about 4-5 years ago, we had a little die-off that was a problem for about a week, but it’s currently not an issue, especially when compared to the die-offs in the 1960’s. And it didn’t relate to mating, as grillions of immature alewives died off too.

Cladophora algae is a bigger nuisance, but that’s very spotty. We rarely have it in problem amounts on my stretch of beach.

Zebra mussels used to be an annoyance, but they’ve essentially been eliminated completely by the Quagga mussel, which is just like the Zebra mussel only larger and more voracious. But it sure has cleaned up the water, what with filtering out all the microparticles! The last 10 years have been noteworthy for amazingly clear water overall. Nice for swimming, not so hot for the ecology.

[FE3O4ENAIL]

Tire chains are legal if needed for safety during a storm YMMV.
I have used them on the front tires of a jeep and the rear of a Gran Torino.
Just put them on when the snow starts flying and off when the roads are plowed.

[Joey_P]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Zebra mussels used to be an annoyance, but they’ve essentially been eliminated completely by the Quagga mussel, which is just like the Zebra mussel only larger and more voracious. But it sure has cleaned up the water, what with filtering out all the microparticles! The last 10 years have been noteworthy for amazingly clear water overall. Nice for swimming, not so hot for the ecology.

The zebra mussels are doing a number on Lake Winnebago. They clear the water which is letting the seaweed grow really nice and thick. That means if you have a jetski or any kind of boat with an inboard motor you have to drive reaaaaalllllyyyy sllllooooollllllyyyyy until the water is a little deeper. Other wise you suck it all up and find yourself in the middle of the lake jumping off and to clean out the intakes.

[Serenata67]

I love Milwaukee… I was born there!

I don’t think you’re looking to have kids any time soon, but if you do, the Children’s Hospital there is great. Top notch.

The Summerfest grounds always have something fun going on. Irishfest, Mexican American fest, Summerfest… and a ton of other fests. Great food, music, and fun. It’s a great party place. There’s so much to Milwaukee. It’s a great city.

[flickster]

Haven’t lived there in many years, but the social center of each neighborhood used to be the neighborhood tap. Not talking a “get hammered” bar, but someplace people would walk to just to sit and visit with their neighbors for a while. Play some cribbage, some hearts, throw darts and tell stories.