A Variety of Useful Links and Info about Madison WI! (York: for sale by owner, apartments)

[tchemgrrl]

It seems like a lot of people come here looking for info about Madison, so I thought I'd throw a bunch of links together--just things I've found useful in the time I've been here. Feel free to add in your own!

News-related things: The two big newspapers in town (the somewhat more conservative Wisconsin State Journal which comes out in the morning, and the more liberal Capitol Times, which is an afternoon paper, have information at madison.com. There's weather, local news, and classifieds there.

The local alternative weekly is the The Isthmus. Any restaurant reviews and local happenings you're curious about? Try there.

Transportation: Madison is very friendly for non-car options. The Madison Metro is the bus service, and the site has schedules, a city-wide map, and a trip planner, if you're trying to figure out how convenient a particular location is. The metro is reasonably clean and timely, and more useful than you'd expect for a city of this size, mostly due to the city's barbell-shaped geography. If you're working somewhere downtown, it's fast and inexpensive, and if you're working on campus it's WAY easier and cheaper than trying to get a campus parking pass.

It's also a very bike-friendly town. These bike maps can show you which streets to avoid, and where the trails are hiding.

Living here: If you're starting out renting and are wondering about local regulations (paying for carpet cleaning? Your apartment being shown for next year three months after you sign a 1-year lease?) check out the Tenant Resource Center.

Besides the usual places to look for houses and apartments, you might also want to check out Madison Craigslist and the For Sale By Owner listings--there's a particularly high number of people who do fsbo here, so much so that the New York Times did an article about it a month or so back.

People: The Madison Livejournal Community is a lively place. There's regularly people asking the types of questions that someone coming to town might be interested in--vet recommendations, passing along useful news like weather reports, good restaurants, tips about various apartment management companies. So is Craigslist, though the non-advertising areas aren't necessarily for those of delicate constitutions.

If you're wondering about crime in a particular area, the Madison Police puts all their press releases in one handy spot. Note that this isn't a blotter that lists every single call, just things that merit a press release. And sometimes things that don't.

Hope that's useful. Like I said, if you have any general handy links, post them here! They might be of use to someone that's searching for info.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Excellent post, tchemgrrl! I can tell that you've used your time in Madison well, besides getting the advanced degree, of course. That's how my sister got the whole family relocated to Madison, by the way: she came here in the 90's for her Ph.D. in Organic Chem at the UW, and by the end of the decade, the whole family had followed her here. Hope your job hunt proves to be easy and quick!

I would add a strong endorsement of the Tenant Resource Center for anyone considering moving to Madison and renting. Madison is an extremely tenant-friendly community, and there are all sorts of ordinances on the books that protect tenants from abusive landlords. By all means, contact them before you sign a lease in this city!

A few more links that newcomers might find useful would certainly include some from the City of Madison's website. You can learn about different neighborhoods and their characteristics here: City of Madison Neighborhood Sectors. That link will also connect you to the many neighborhood associations in Madison, and you can get an idea of what the people in the area are like.

Another extremely informative page on the city's website can be found at City of Madison: Assessor's Property Information. Once you find an area that interests you, you can look up assessed property values of homes and condos in the neighborhood, searching by specific address or by an address range. Madison assesses property at fair market value, so the information on the assessor's page gives you a very good idea of how much to expect to spend for a home or condo.

Another link that can be very informative, particularly for someone relocating to Madison from a part of the country where cold weather is not a major factor, is the link to Madison Gas & Electric's "Average Energy Use" page, which you'll find at Average Energy Use and Cost for Residential Addresses. You can enter the address of any residence in the city and get the highest, the lowest and the average energy use and bill cost for the past year. Believe me, there can be an ENORMOUS difference in energy costs between two seemingly similar buildings, depending on how tight the windows are and how well insulated the attic is, and whether you're planning to rent or buy, you should do a bit of research on what to expect on your January MG&E bill before you sign a lease or mortgage.

There are other links for some of the arts venues in Madison, but since they're all for-profit businesses, I won't include them here. If anyone would be interested, though, send me a private message and I'll be glad to pass on more details. My family and I place a high priority on an active and vibrant arts scene in a community, and we've been really impressed with what we've seen since moving here.

[WisconsinWannabe]

These are great links! I can't wait to check all of them out. Although I don't live there (yet), I found another site to be very helpful in my research of Madison.

Greater Madison Convention & Visitor Bureau

and also, The Green Guide, a magazine for "green" visitors.

http://www.visitmadison.com/uploads/..._Guide_Web.pdf

[115db]

Though I dont live there either, WI sure hasnt been eliminated from my small list of places where I SO want to live. Thanks for the links.

[buddy4]

You folks rock!! Thanks for taking the time to introduce newbies to your fine city.

[Megan1967]

For people looking to buy a home, a limited version of the state MLS system is available to the public at http://wisconsinhomes.com

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Thanks, Moderators, for stickying this thread to the front of the list! I think a lot of folks considering a move to Madison will appreciate it.

It occurs to me that families with school-age kids might find this link useful: Madison Metropolitan School District When I was researching Madison a decade ago, before our move here from Texas, I spent a lot of time looking at the different schools' websites, and got some good insights from them.

[Indi9]

Thanks tchemgrrl, for starting this thread. Very useful links. Thanks also to everyone adding to the thread.

Life is so interesting. I first came to Madison back in the eighties to visit my boyfriend, who had just started grad school at UW as an organic chemist. I fell in love with the city from day one and wound up completing my bachelor's at UW and then living in Madison for six years. My first home in Madison was the women's house of the Alpha Chi Sigma co-ed chemistry fraternity on Lake Street, very near beautiful Lake Mendota. Memories...

[BstYet2Be]

Originally Posted by MidwesternBookWorm

Thanks, Moderators, for stickying this thread to the front of the list! I think a lot of folks considering a move to Madison will appreciate it.

Ahhh, you're more than welcome...glad you brought it to our attention... 'tis a very informative thread that will be utilized by many I'm sure... that can only be made better by folks like you that live there and know it so well... so keep those helpful hints, suggestions and links coming about your fine city of Madison!

A big THANK YOU right back at ya and to all of you that contribute!

[rek]

For those interested in the Madison music scene here are a few links: (sorry for the bad format, I can't find the hyperlink button)

Madison Blues Society

Madison Jazz

Overture Center for the Arts | Madison, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Union Theater

Wisconsin Union: Experiences for a Lifetime