Madison: East Side or West Side? (Milwaukee, Shorewood: lease, condos, crime)

[astrochick]

My husband and I have lived in Chicago for many years, but grew up in WI and went to the UW. We are hoping to move back to Madison next year. I'm wondering how the East Side and West Side differ from one another, as far as being attractive places to live. When we lived in Madison previously, the West Side was considered the somewhat "better" area, with the East Side considered less attractive.

It's been a long time and I'm sure the city has changed a lot. What are the general opinions now, as far as which part of town is "preferable"? We're in our 30s, no kids, and don't want to be near the university (been there, done that!).

Thanks!

[tchemgrrl]

The very short answer is: most everyone prefers the side of town they live on.

Here's my general impressions (from an east sider, so take it with that grain of salt):

I think of the west side as being a bit more "sterile" than the east side. There's still plenty to do--shops, movie theaters, handy grocery stores, etc. It's more uniform culturally; most of the profs I know live on the near west side, fairly close to campus, and I think of it as generally being where the whiter, more educated people in town live (note: generally. Maple Bluff is on the eastish side and it's super high-end).

I get the sense that there's less crime on the west side, but that may just be that I pay attention to what's going on in my neighborhood more. And it's set up in a way that's closer to the classical suburban setup--main streets running through, lined with stripmalls, clogged with traffic during rush hour, with winding residential sidestreets as soon as you get off the main drag that are hard to navigate. As such, I find it to be less pedestrian/bus friendly. It's easier to hop in a car and go down the main drag.

The east side is more variable. To me, there's more of a neighborhood feel (students around James Madison Park, older families around E. Dayton, younger families around Milwaukee Ave., free-thinkers around Williamson). There are areas that are more run-down or have smaller houses, but some parts (Willy/Atwood area) are coming up fast. The streets (except for E. Washington) are generally less highway-like, and things are set up on a system that's closer to an actual grid, so walking/biking/bussing is more enjoyable and straightforward. There are more areas with mixed residential and commercial spaces. Around the 1000-or-so block of E. Johnson, most of Williamson, parts of Atwood are like this.

Because it's increasing in popularity, the people in the neighborhood vary a bit more, I feel. There are young profs who like being near the Willy St. Co-op, trendy-intellectual grad students, regular working people who bought just before it got popular, older quirky people who went to the UW in the 60's and never left, etc. It's not quite as clean as the west side, but I think it's a lot more fun.

To be totally stereotypical and flame-inducing, I'd say if "fun Saturday afternoon" involves driving to the mall, hanging around there for a bit, and then seeing a popular movie at the theater, you're more of a west-side type. If it involves going for a bike ride to the thrift shop and then going to open-mike night at the local coffee shop, you're more of an east-side type.

[Chelito23]

That was a pretty good comparison by the previous poster. I agree with it for the most part, but would like to clarify, the far east side is basically the same as the far west side. They are both very suburban in nature on the edges. The east side is more established, slightly more affordable, older, has fewer chains and more local stores (although the west side does have its fair share as well).

I think that both areas have their pros and cons, but the deciding factor for most people is where their job is located. They are both nice areas, with some seedy pockets here and there, so let your job be the determining factor.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Both tchemgrrl and Chelito make excellent points, and give a good thumbnail sketch of what to expect. I am an East-sider by choice (very much the middle-aged, semi-reformed hippy type) and am very, very happy living a few miles East of the Capitol. At the same time, I have dear friends who live on the near-west side who love their neighborhood every bit as much as I love mine; neither of us is more or less correct than the other, we each just have different criteria and priorities.

There is one other thing that might be relevant to you in your decision process, and that is the financial side of things. I don't think there are any neighborhoods in Madison that could honestly be described as "budget" or "affordable", but there are probably more that come close on the East side than there are on the West side. You don't mention what your price range is, or even whether you're looking to rent or to buy, but unless you're looking to drop a cool quarter-mil on a small and not very spectacular place, you'll probably want to look on the East side first.

I'd also recommend that you consider renting, something that I've suggested to many others on this forum, as a matter of fact. I'm not a landlord, nor do I work for one any more - thank heavens!! - but I am a transplanted Madisonian who made a much better decision about where to buy after I had lived here for a few months than I would have working solely from internet postings. Face it: there's just no substitute for BEING there, and going out and looking around instead of just reading peoples' opinions on a discussion forum. And it's a lot lower cost and less commitment to sign a one-year lease than it is to sign a thirty-year mortgage.

Good luck, in any case; I'll freely admit to being prejudiced, but I don't think you can go wrong moving to Madison, East side or West. It's a great place to live, and I hope you'll find a good niche and be very happy!

[astrochick]

Thanks for the help, everyone! tchemgrrl, your categorization of personality types was especially helpful...gives me a bit more of an idea of which might be more "my" side of town. Looking forward to moving back, hopefully in a year!

[White Chocolate Thunder]

This is a challenging question because each side of town has such varied sub-areas, so I'll get even more specific and stereotypical.
Around the capitol - expensive condos surrounded by a diaspora of students/businessmen/downsizing retirees/homeless.
Going west:
Just south of Regent St. are older homes that have been broken up into student housing and as you go farther west it slowly changes over to democrats with money, living in cool older homes with character. Called Vilas, This area surrounds the northern edge of lake Wingra, and has a Trader Joe's on Monroe St.
Just west of Camp Randall is University Heights - the most expensive and amazing architecture in the state: Frank Lloyd Wrights, International Styles, Queen Annes, a carpenter's dream.
Farther west of that is the West High School neighborhood - smaller lots with homes built in the 40's, "impeach Bush" signs and young progressive families.
North of University Ave. is Shorewood - SWANK. I'd kill to live in one of these beautiful homes in walking distance to Whole Foods. (Caveat - I was just chatting with a Shorewood resident who "didn't want their daughter dating an Indian because they have drinking problems.")
West of Midvale Blvd. and you're in the 'burbs - bigger lots, tracts of ranch houses, mix of old and young people.
A bit farther and you're in the Memorial High School area - bigger houses on bigger lots, Democrats & Republicans and "keep up with the Jones" types.
West of High Point Road and you're in sprawlville - big generic suburbia.
Now let's go east of the capitol!
The first ten or twelve blocks east are all students.
Willy St. area is hippies and punks and other young people - good co-op, tattoo parlors, etc.
Spaight/ Jenifer St. area is the punks and hippies ten years later - big, pretty (expensive) Victorian homes, community fairs, Buddhist prayer flags, small kids running around half naked. Great area, but the high school (East High) is kinda ghetto.
Farther east around Atwood Ave is more of the same - Democratic, working class, live music lovers.
North of Milwaukee St., and south of Olin Ave. are the areas most often in the news for all the wrong reasons.
In my opinion, if you stay closer to the center of town, while avoiding the student areas, you'll be golden.
I went to Memorial High and hated all the cliques and transferred to West High and loved the ceramics and english depts.
I bartended at the Willy St. Pub and tired of the culture of alcohol.
I drove taxi (go Union Cab!) on the east side and enabled many a drug transaction.
Now I live near Farley Ave. and my neighbors are: a retired curmudgeon,
a single gay guy, and single mom with an enlisted son in Iraq.
I've lived in Madison for 30 years in 12 different neighborhoods, owned homes in three, and I will spend the rest of my days in the West High neighborhood. It has open minded educated people, diversely populated and well funded schools, reasonable home prices and easy access to Himul Chuli (the best Nepalese restaurant on the continent.)
However, if I weren't breeding, and didn't care about schools, I'd be in the Spaight/Jenny neighborhood where the educated folks with flavor live.
Madison has grown A LOT since you were here, and the farther out you live, the more you will contend with traffic.
As you get more serious, ask about specific streets and you'll get better answers.