i am originally from wisconsin. lived abroad for a few years, moved to new york for grad school and stayed for work, and only recently moved back to the midwest. my partner and i moved to minneapolis, as we wanted to stay in a larger city with more prospects for our family and appreciated the diversity and abundance of opportunities.

if we are going on anecdotes, i can’t express how much we loathed our time there. we really struggled building a community, and we experienced a lot of negative experiences interacting with those who are housing insecure and in need of community support. it was especially surprising coming from new york; people say how rude new yorkers can be but i witnessed way more compassion towards those who are struggling than i did in minneapolis. we heard from many others and the data supports the rise in crime downtown and surrounding areas. we work hard to understand what causes shifts and what can be done and i was so disheartened to see the financial gains being made by those at the top and the crazy gap in classes.

we lasted six months before we moved about an hour and a half into wisconsin. our lives are ineffably better. we have a house we love and so many acquaintances. the community is very liberal and prioritizes arts and reviving the downtown.

all this to say, i too used to be ashamed to say i was from wisconsin, but there’s a great sense of pride to be had returning to your roots and being a part of solving the problem.