Madison or Austin

[Samof94]

Which of these two capital cities would you pick?

[Progressive Pessimist]

Madison has a more agreeable climate to me.

[Alben Barkley]

At one time I would have said Austin, now probably Madison. Tbh I’m growing increasingly disillusioned with the South in general. Hate to say it but it’s true. Wisconsin may not be a paradise on Earth but at least they legalized abortion again and are not all that religious for the most part. (Plus hey, they love and produce a lot of booze!) Really just sick of the religious nutjobs in general, tired of living any place they have too much power. Plus it’s hot as f—k. Not a fan of cold dreary upper Midwestern winters either but I guess you gotta pick your poison. Kentucky does have a pretty great climate for me (except for allergies) but honestly, if it wasn’t for family ties and such, I might move. Especially now that I can work pretty much anywhere. My wife and I have actually discussed potentially moving eventually. It’s sad, and feels like giving up, but at the end of the day you gotta prioritize yourself and your family and pick your battles. I hope some day Kentucky and the South as a whole will thrive and live up to its potential, I hope it even happens in my lifetime. But for now it doesn’t look great. Once Beshear is gone this state might go hard right at all levels for generations.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Madison is kind of a weird city, and not in the way that residents would proudly identify it as. It really does not have anywhere near the sort of countercultural "feel" that you'd expect such a hyper-progressive bastion to have aside from the isthmus and areas near it. Rural Dane County has areas that look like this that still vote Democratic (albeit not overwhelmingly so), and the suburbs and even outer fringes of Madison are exactly the sort of strip mall and chain store/fast food joint-laden places commonly associated with areas that at least voted for Romney. Frankly if you dropped me into a random Madison suburb and then random area in Fargo without telling me which and I had never been to either city and was completely blind to license plates or any signs telling me where I was I would no doubt conclude that Fargo is the more liberal city. Hell downtown Bismarck has a bit more of a liberal feel than the suburban areas of Madison, even if it feels more like an area that was only something like Biden 60-Trump 38 (as opposed to having voted for Trump by 2 points.)

Never been to Austin, but still Madison, due to location and Wisconsin > Texas, even if I don't really like either. Wisconsin is sort of a combination of an inferior version of Minnesota and an inferior version of Illinois.

[holtridge]

Madison most definitely. I've been to both when I was younger.

[Reaganfan Democrat]

BRTD's analysis of Madison is spot on. While not a bad city, much of it is just generic America.

[TDAS04]

Both are great culturally. I'll go with the one that also has a decent climate (i.e., Madison).

Madison actually sounds like a great fit for me, more so than big city Minneapolis or Chicago.

[Ancestral Republican]

Ew, Texas.

Madison, but I would pick quite a few northern cities over it.

[pikachu]

Austin seems to have a better cultural scene and is way more diverse so going with that.

[Sol]

BRTD's analysis of Madison is spot on. While not a bad city, much of it is just generic America.

I love America! A version of it that's somehow D+30 or whatever sounds great.

[Catholics vs. Convicts]

I think Madison is overrated, but I still probably choose it.