Thinking of moving to Madison (Sun Prairie, Kiel: apartments, rentals, crime)

[Lady-Wallace]

Hello, My husband and I are thinking of moving to Madison from Charleston SC on a job offer from UM. We have 3 teenagers. One that will be going into the military in the spring. One that will be a senior next yr and one going into high school in the spring.

My Husband is from the far north of Scotland and I have lived up north in Phila Pa for 18 yr and have only been down south for 6 yrs now and am quite frankly sick to death of heat and humidity and $400-$500 elec, bills for 4 mth, so the winters up there may take some adjustment after being down south but I'm willing and ready for a change.

Both my husband and I have been reading through the post and looking into to Madison. I am looking for is information on good school districts, affordable housing most likely rentals at first in friendly, safe neighborhoods with close by shopping as it will take me awhile to get used to driving in snow again. We also have a dog and cats. Maybe even a realtor info that specializes in relocation.

Also job links information would be great.

I think one of my major concerns after reading though a lot of these post is the attitude of the locals towards new comers. I worry about my daughter adjusting and making friends as a senior in high school.

We are a family that for the most part are laid back and easy going and get along with most people. we love to entertain, BBQ, and love German food and beer as both my husband and I both lived in Germany for a time.

We are looking for a place to call home and want to make sure that we are making the right decisions for our family. I realize is this day in age you have to go where the jobs are but I still want to make sure of what I am up agaisnt and what I need to plan for.

Thanks!

[Chelito23]

Madison is the state capitol and home to the flagship university in the state, so there is no shortage of newcommers or people that just relocated. This is not a small town where a newbie sticks out like a sore thumb. On the contrary, people will be interested in your story, where you come from, why yo moved to Madison...etc. It will probably go the other way where you feel like people are more interested in where you are from than who you really are. There is culture shock, people are very friendly, but beneath that informal hospitality, it can be somewhat difficult for people not accostumed to the personality of the people in the Upper Midwest to adjust. It isn't that people will shun you, you will have to adapt to the locals. But that is the recipe for success no matter where you move.

Your daughter, transferring Senior year...would be hard ANYWHERE. I don't see why doing so here would be any more or less difficult. I wish her the best, I would even try to wait one year to move just for her benefit.

Nonetheless, most school districts around Madison are good to exellent. If you want a racially and eonomicaly diverse school district, that would be Madison which is a "majority minority" district. The surrounding communities and suburbs feel like satellite towns, are much more upper class and white...and this is reflected in their schools. But all local district have their pros and cons, personally I would recommend Madison. But all this depends on housing. Which depends on your budget and job.

Just looking for cheap housing in the Madison area? Well, in general, the farther you are from Madison, the cheaper it gets. Sun Prairie is relatively close and somewhat more affordable than other suburban areas. In Madison itself, cheap is hard to find and if you do encounter it, the neighborhood schools might not be the best and you will have more of a crime element.

For jobs I would check "indeed" unless you have something specific in mind, like a hospital or government, and then go to their pages directly.

Good luck!

[7G9C4J2]

Hi, and welcome! I saw the thread your spouse started and made some commentary there, and I'll see if I can address some of your questions as well.

To start with, I deeply sympathize with anyone relocating with a high-school-age child. It can be done, and done successfully, but it isn't easy for anyone involved. We uprooted our two teenagers 12 years ago for a cross-country move (from Texas to Madison) when our daughter was between 10th and 11th grades and our son was between 8th and 9th, and it took some doing.

Our son assimilated pretty easily and successfully, and actually took the opportunity to sort of remake his personality. He had gotten into fights a lot in his former school, mainly because all his friends expected it and he felt like he had to live up to their expectations, but in a totally new school where nobody knew him, he didn't feel the need to continue in that path.

Our daughter, on the other hand, really, really struggled with the change. It didn't help that she has both ADD and social anxiety disorders, of course, but it really took her several years to get into the groove of our new city and decide that it was an ok place to live. She's 28 now, loves living here, and completely agrees that the move was the very best thing to happen - but it has taken her a while to reach that point.

The things that I think are key in a move like that certainly include communication. Get your daughter involved in the planning and decision making, as much as is practicable, of course. Go on line to check out the new school district, and when you go for an interviewing or house-hunting trip, schedule a tour of the school or schools she will attend. About three months before we made our big move, we were up here interviewing, and our kids and I spent a good half-day at the high school, talking with counselors, principal, teachers, students, taking a tour, and getting used to the place, and that made a huge, huge difference.

When you enroll your daughter in school, find out if there is a school psychiatrist on staff, and spend some time talking with him or her. Check into all the extracurricular activities that are available, and as much as you can, help your daughter make connections there.

And most of all, even though she's in high school and would probably like you to just disappear, play an active and visible role as a parent. Go to "Meet the Teacher" night, go to parent-teacher conferences, volunteer for PTA or the band boosters group, work the concession stand at football games. Get to know the kids your daughter is hanging out with, and be visible to the teachers and administrators.

I will also say that when we moved here, we did a lot of compare-and-contrast between Madison schools and the districts in the bedroom communities nearby, and also between the different schools in Madison. We concluded that Madison schools would be a better choice for us, and specifically that East High was our first choice for high schools in Madison. You'll find a lot of folks who disagree with that assessment, but the thing is, we wanted our kids to attend the school that had the greatest level of social, economic and cultural diversity. And that meant East High. It was a good choice for our family, though I recognize that not every family has the same preferences/priorities.

Now, as far as jobs are concerned, Madison is generally at least a little better insulated from the tough economy than many parts of the country, but it has definitely still been affected. Three or four years ago, anyone living in Madison who wasn't working was doing so because they didn't want to work. Nowadays, that is not the case, and it takes folks longer to find a job than it used to. That said, there are still about 25,000 or so government and university jobs here, and that's a benefit that a lot of communities don't have, so it's still easier here than elsewhere.

If you are willing to try working for the state, they have a very good job-hunt website right here: State of Wisconsin Government Jobs - Job Search. Search on jobs just in Dane County, and you'll see what I mean. For other possibilities, I'd suggest using monster dot com. Also, if you're a member of LinkedIn, I have been told that there's a lot of networking that goes on there, and you might connect with something that way.

As far as the attitude of locals to newcomers is concerned, I think the best description I've heard of it is "Midwest nice." Folks will be friendly but not effusive; they'll wave when they see you in the neighborhood, but they probably won't invite you over for a barbecue. Have you ever listened to A Prairie Home Companion on NPR? Garrison Kiellor does a great depiction of the kind of low-key and reserved interaction you might encounter. It's more like a polite cat than a bouncy and enthusiastic dog.

For rentals, you might check the Humane Society's list of pet-friendly apartments, here: Find Pet-Friendly Apartments - Dane County Humane Society. It is by no means inclusive, but it could give you a start. Be aware that many or most places charge extra for animals, and it is especially hard to find places that take large (over 50 lbs) dogs, but there are a few. If budget is a real constraint for you, you may wind up needing to look farther afield from Madison, because as much as I love this city, I wouldn't describe it as affordable.

I hear your concern with looking for a place to feel at home. Is there any way that you can swing a trip up here to prospect around a bit? I've moved across country twice, once without an advance trip and once with, and I have to say that all the online research in the world won't substitute for experiencing the place in person.

I do wish you and your family the best of luck! Please post more questions if they occur to you, and we'll do our best to help.

[MassVt]

If you love German food and beer, then you're moving to the right state; German culture abounds in Wisconsin, and you'll probably notice that many of your new neighbors and friends will have German last names, too..

[L.K.]

Originally Posted by MassVt

If you love German food and beer, then you're moving to the right state; German culture abounds in Wisconsin, and you'll probably notice that many of your new neighbors and friends will have German last names, too..

I was going to add also that if you have lived in Germany, you are no stranger to people being somewhat reserved in their personalities as that is common in Madison as well.

[amysherman]

If you are considering renting and have pets you will need to plan in advance. I am a realtor and do a great deal of relocation. I often work with clients who need to rent for awhile because they can't sell their home in another state or they just aren't comfortable buying before they live here and figure out which neighborhood or town works best for them.
Our rental market is very tight! It's very hard to find decent apartments that aren't expensive unless you plan ahead.
I'd be happy to provide any help I can with finding a rental. I have an extensive list of good rental properties and as a Madison native can help you find a neighborhood where you would all be comfortable.
I know I'm biased, but I love the Madison area and while I know we have our issues, I wouldn't live anywhere else!
Welcome!