I grew up in Wisconsin, went to UW-Madison and lived in Madison for about 15 years. I loved it, and up until last year, the snow and the cold weren’t even that bad. It has a small-town feel, but the university and the capital/government functions make sure that there’s a decent amount of cultural richness, without too much crime or other big-city badness. One thing I miss most about not living there anymore are the many fabulous restaurants.
I also used to work for the Madison papers. I lived in an apartment in the Vilas/Greenbush area and that neighborhood was super close to the office. It’s on the border of the student ghetto, but the neighborhood was very nice. If you look in that area, keep in mind that it gets kind of crazy/noisy/congested on football weekends. I don’t have a family, so I didn’t need a house, but rent was pretty reasonable in the area - we paid ~$1000 for a decent 2 bedroom in a 4-plex. I also lived in a place similar to what SmellMyWort describes, and because it was near the beltline, the commute was very reasonable - 15-20 minutes max during rush hour and usually more like 10.
The suburb directly south of Madison is Fitchburg. I couldn’t tell you about quality of schools there, but that probably would be another good commute option. There are a few other suburbs in the south/southeast area that would probably be suitable too: Oregon, McFarland, Stoughton, Monona… The whole isthmus traffic scene is a good reason to avoid looking in the east/isthmus/northside area if you’re working south of downtown. Driving is pretty annoying through there.
Lakeside neighborhood was mentioned, but I don’t know how much rental property is in that area. I can also confirm that the Allied Drive area is a neighborhood to stay away from.
I think you’ll be happy you’ve gotten the opportunity to move there. You can PM me for more info if you like.
If you are working on Fish Hatchery, I’d recommend Oregon or Fitchburg as a starting place to look for housing. It’s a straight shot up County D (Fish Hatchery) to your office. Oregon has great schools and tremendous community spirit. There’s a Comfort Inn and Suites right off Fish Hatchery (2969 Cahill Main , Madison, WI, US, 53711 Phone: (608) 274-7200). You might consider staying there when you come to town. You’ll be close to your new office, close to Fitchburg and Oregon, just across the street from the actual **fish hatchery **(which you can tour) and close enough to sample downtown delights such as State Street, the Capitol and the Vilas Park Zoo. Middleton will be quite a commute for you as will anywhere north of Madison.
and and…
Well he’s back
August West
Harmonius Discord
Scarlett67
Sitnam
indecisive1
Picker
Barrels
Miss Purl McKnittington
Duffer
Boscibo
Guppy
Joey P.
Musicat
Hamlet
Uncommon Sense
DJ Motorbike
pkbites
sp2263
Qadgop the Mercotan
jk1245
CaerieD
Rascal’s Mom
Yeah, this is the Bay Creek area, where I live. As long as you’re not on South Shore Drive (which is waterfront) there’s lot’s of good rental options. And you could walk to work in 10 minutes (when it’s not cold)
5 minutes to the heart of downtown by car, 10 max by bike.
So, will you change your user name to MadisonMan or WisconsinMan when you make the move?
As a long time doper, I find it disturbing that all the young doperlings are growing up, getting careers and families and stuff and well…get off mah lawn! Weren’t you in high school yesterday or something?
You missed me, but that’s ok because I never post, and my location isn’t updated anyway!
SanibelMan, I’ve lived in Madison and the Madison area for a while and cost of living can be surprisingly high. I would echo others’ recommendations regarding neighborhoods, but also suggest you look at some of the other 'burbs farther out around town. Verona is quiet and cheap, and has good schools. Sun Prairie is one of the cheapest places to live in the county and its schools are pretty decent, but it would be a longer commute for you. I don’t know what kind of commute you are used to, but you can live fairly far out and still get into and out of the part of town where you will work in 25-30 minutes or less.
Also, congratulations on your new job. I’m glad to hear you are working with one of your papers. When I read you were moving to Madison for a new job, I was afraid you were going to a large local employer that is well known for attracting out-of-state talent, sucking out their souls, and spitting them out.
Feel free to PM me or email me if you have questions.
My roommates brother, an all-time awesome guy and climbing partner at Devil’s Lake, was also a cyclist in town. He is the cover story in the UW Alumni magazine in the latest issue.
I managed an apartment complex wih many epic people as residents. It got to the point that when a new resident had epic as their employer I would give them an extra sheet that detailed the 3 ways to break their lease early.
She comes off as some kind of a saint in the press. What is it she does that’s crazy? I interviewed there once. Three hours. They gave me no clue ahead of time of what their interview process entailed.
It seems that she has built the company to serve her ego. The culture is very much like high school, she is the most popular girl. She is the reason the light posts in Verona are the weird blue color. She bought a firetruck for the town but wouldn’t let them use it until she got to ride on it in a parade. In general she is batty.
To get back to the OP, if you are coming up in a couple of weeks, you better have the pulse of any weather patterns approaching for that week. We just got dumped on last night again. On our local news this morning I saw camera shots of traffic, and it is moving, albeit very slowly, but out in the boonies where I live, it’s windy and very, very white. If you move here in January, you may just experience the worst of what we have to offer. This will be my last winter in suburbia. Next year I am moving to Madison myself.
Thanks for the advice so far, everybody. I’ll bookmark this thread and post or send PMs as other questions come up.
One more question at the moment: Can anyone recommend a good furniture store? We’ll need a new bedroom set, a bunk bed for the kids and maybe some other pieces.
A-1 Furniture, last I shopped for furniture, had okay stuff for decent prices. They are on Stoughton Road. Last time I stopped at Goodwill by East Towne, they had amazing furniture. Clean and unbroken. They had an entire matching living room set for something like $200.
I am downsizing in the spring. I have metric tons of furniture. If you can find something to get you by in the interim, I will have furniture to spare in the spring. PM me for more info.
Back to the Allied Drive thing for a sec. In college, some friends of mine lived a block from Allied Drive and it wasn’t so bad. I wouldn’t want to live on Allied Drive itself, but the neighborhoods get pretty nice within a pretty short stretch. It’s not like here in Des Moines where there are blocks and blocks of low-income housing; it’s pretty much just Allied Drive itself (at least circa 2000).
Woodman’s are great grocery stores, and yes, the farmer’s market is amazing. I miss Madison.
Anywhere on the west side will probably serve you OK. I agree that you want to avoid anything that will take you near campus or the capitol to commute - the lakes make traffic choke through a pretty small area, and it’s a pain. We never had much trouble getting around the west side, though.
There was an awesome bookstore - the name escapes me - right near West Towne Mall. On the north/west side of the mall, I believe.
Based on the two hours or so that I was in Madison back in March, I can tell you that they have a fancy capital building, at least one pretty decent restaurant and a Bulwer-Lytton champion (who is conspicuously absent from the list of Dopers above and very nice in person). Oh, and there’s the cheese. Mmmmm… cheese.
Okay, so my contributions are maybe not so helpful. So sue me.
