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I am considering relocating to Madison, WI for a new position opening. The address is 4801 Tradewinds Pkwy. What are the best locations to live on the east side of Madison? I will be moving from out of state, but am familiar with Madison and the surrounding area as I have visited several times in the past. I have a moderate budget of $700-950 a month and I'm quite fiscally conservative. I will look to rent first obviously. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated
Welcome to Madison,
I'd honestly recommend Barrington Place over on American Parkway on Madison's east side. If I would have chosen the east side I would have honestly wound up there. I chose Middleton for a few reasons... I know you can find a nice apartment at Barrington for right around $900. It's safe, a more corporate environment as it's literally in a business park. Some good sights are Madisonapartmentliving dot com. I'm sure some others can chime in to help too.
Wow, how cool is that! Congrats, and I hope things come out the way you hope they do.
I mapped the address, and it is indeed on the far east side of Madison. Josh's suggestion would certainly be a reasonable one for that region. I would also strongly encourage you to check out Sun Prairie, which is just to the east of Madison, so very close indeed to your possible workplace. Rents in Sun Prairie can be a little easier on the pocketbook than rents in Madison, and the city has a strong sense of community, unlike some of the other suburbs nearby. Other nearby possibilities to check out include McFarland or Cottage Grove.
I guess one thing I'd be curious about is to learn more about your preferences in terms of lifestyle. Do you prefer newer construction to old? Do you like larger apartment complexes as opposed to duplexes or smaller places? Do you have stringent standards for features and amenities (i.e., wireless internet, central air conditioning, laundry in the unit, hardwood floors, high-end appliances, onsite fitness center and so on), or are you comfortable in a more basic setting? Are you comfortable driving moderate distances (10-15 miles) or do you want to have everything you need within a mile of your home? How about school districts? Do you have school-age youngsters? Do you like a small-town or semi-rural setting or are you happier in a bigger and more bustling community?
As you likely surmise, the Madison area has a fairly wide variety in terms of rental housing stock, and depending on your preferences, you might find some areas far more interesting than others.
I also note your comment about renting "at first," which suggests that you might be looking for a place to buy at some point. You are to be commended for renting before you dive into a home purchase - you're a whole lot likelier to wind up with a home you love if you take the time to learn the community before making a commitment like that.
I'm so tickled you might wind up in Madison, GraniteStater! (Though if you do, you might have to change your forum handle... "CheeseStater" maybe?) Let us know if you come up with more specific questions, and we'll do our best to help. Good luck!
Welcome to Madison,
I'd honestly recommend Barrington Place over on American Parkway on Madison's east side. If I would have chosen the east side I would have honestly wound up there. I chose Middleton for a few reasons... I know you can find a nice apartment at Barrington for right around $900. It's safe, a more corporate environment as it's literally in a business park. Some good sights are Madisonapartmentliving dot com. I'm sure some others can chime in to help too.
Good luck in your move!
Thanks for the recommendation! Any other suggestions of good outlying towns? I know those might not have as many options for rentals but I could be wrong?
Wow, how cool is that! Congrats, and I hope things come out the way you hope they do.
I mapped the address, and it is indeed on the far east side of Madison. Josh's suggestion would certainly be a reasonable one for that region. I would also strongly encourage you to check out Sun Prairie, which is just to the east of Madison, so very close indeed to your possible workplace. Rents in Sun Prairie can be a little easier on the pocketbook than rents in Madison, and the city has a strong sense of community, unlike some of the other suburbs nearby. Other nearby possibilities to check out include McFarland or Cottage Grove.
I guess one thing I'd be curious about is to learn more about your preferences in terms of lifestyle. Do you prefer newer construction to old? Do you like larger apartment complexes as opposed to duplexes or smaller places? Do you have stringent standards for features and amenities (i.e., wireless internet, central air conditioning, laundry in the unit, hardwood floors, high-end appliances, onsite fitness center and so on), or are you comfortable in a more basic setting? Are you comfortable driving moderate distances (10-15 miles) or do you want to have everything you need within a mile of your home? How about school districts? Do you have school-age youngsters? Do you like a small-town or semi-rural setting or are you happier in a bigger and more bustling community?
As you likely surmise, the Madison area has a fairly wide variety in terms of rental housing stock, and depending on your preferences, you might find some areas far more interesting than others.
I also note your comment about renting "at first," which suggests that you might be looking for a place to buy at some point. You are to be commended for renting before you dive into a home purchase - you're a whole lot likelier to wind up with a home you love if you take the time to learn the community before making a commitment like that.
I'm so tickled you might wind up in Madison, GraniteStater! (Though if you do, you might have to change your forum handle... "CheeseStater" maybe?) Let us know if you come up with more specific questions, and we'll do our best to help. Good luck!
Wow, lots of things to think over. Good points.
What is the housing stock variety in Sun Prairie? Is it mostly SFHs, duplexes, condexes, apartments, etc? How much more affordable would you say it is overall compared to Madison??
"Do you have stringent standards for features and amenities (i.e., wireless internet, central air conditioning, laundry in the unit, hardwood floors, high-end appliances, onsite fitness center and so on), or are you comfortable in a more basic setting?"
Well AC is a must. Cable internet is preferable. I don't care about onside fitness centers, upgrades, etc. I just want a nice complex in a safe area that is fairly close to work. I prefer smaller cities and towns if possible.
"Are you comfortable driving moderate distances (10-15 miles) or do you want to have everything you need within a mile of your home? How about school districts? Do you have school-age youngsters? Do you like a small-town or semi-rural setting or are you happier in a bigger and more bustling community?"
I'm single and prefer a smaller town/city setting. How is the trail network in the area? Having access to trails is a must.
Sun Prairie has a good mix of housing. There are lots of SFH neighborhoods, some bigger apartment complexes, plenty of duplexes and four-plexes, at vintages ranging from the early part of the last century to the early part of this one. Largely middle-class, a few very well-to-do neighborhoods, a few low-income areas, so pretty much all ends of the spectrum covered. One of the reasons I mentioned Sun Prairie is that it DOES have such variety.
As far as affordability is concerned, Sun Prairie is certainly less expensive than Madison though not as economical as you'd find in smaller and more outlying communities. The bigger, newer apartment complexes are likely to be within 10% of what a similar unit would go for in Madison. Where you'll find a bigger savings is with the small, independent landlord who has half a dozen or so duplex buildings; those can be as much as 30% less expensive than a similar unit in Madison. Of course the downside is that the small mom-n-pop outfits generally do all their own maintenance, tend to be a little less well organized and efficient, and sometimes push limits that they shouldn't, but with care, that can be dealt with. My elder kid is living in such a place right now, in fact, on Sun Prairie's east side. She and her partner have a 3-bedroom/2-bathroom duplex with a lower-level 2-car garage and I believe they're paying a bit under $1K/month for it. I'd say the building is 30-40 years old, not palatial, of course, but solid and comfortable.
I am not as familiar with McFarland or Cottage Grove, but both have a reputation for being fairly solid middle-class communities. Oh, Monona would be another good choice - right at the southeast corner of Madison, very close to your workplace, and it, too, is generally more affordable than Madison itself. We have dear friends who live in a complex just off Monona Drive and who seem to like it very much, although that complex does not have laundry in the unit. If you wanted to go farther out, Marshall (quite a small town, fairly rural, about 15 miles east of Madison) has even more affordable rentals; our elder kid lived out there a couple of years in a very large 3-bedroom apartment for around $700/month.
You'll find air conditioning in just about any place built in the past half-century hereabouts. Some older places have the through-the-wall units that don't do a really great job of cooling the farthest reaches of the apartment, but unless you opt for one of the historic buildings that has been chopped up into apartments, you're pretty much guaranteed to find AC. One thing you'll want to check out whenever you find a place that interests you is the utility costs, particularly during the heating season. If you wind up living in Madison itself, I can give you a link to Madison Gas & Electric's website where you can look up the utility costs for literally any address in the city. I'm not sure if a similar service is available from other utility companies outside MG&E's service area, but I can certainly do a bit of research and let you know.
You can get high-speed internet through Charter anywhere in Dane County. I believe AT&T offers DSL, and I know TDS does in some areas. I think the satellite TV places offer it, too (Dish and Direct TV). Most places won't provide it gratis (and even if they do, you're still paying for it as part of the rent) but most buildings built within the past four decades have wiring in place to accommodate internet. Again, if you went for one of those historic buildings, it would be less likely you'd have wiring for internet - but then, the farther out from the city center you go, the less likely it is that you'd wind up in a century-old building.
Trails... Biking? Hiking/running? Cross-country skiing? Doesn't matter, we've got 'em all. Here are some links to peruse:
Within the city of Madison, you'll find bike paths criss-crossing the entire city. Some go through neighborhoods where you probably wouldn't want to bike alone late at night, but if you are a strong cyclist (lots of hills here!), you can get from one side of the city to the other entirely on your bike. There are trails in most of the small communities, too, as bicycling is a pretty popular sport here.
Does that give you a bit more to chew on? Keep the questions coming, and we'll do our best for you!
Sun Prairie has a good mix of housing. There are lots of SFH neighborhoods, some bigger apartment complexes, plenty of duplexes and four-plexes, at vintages ranging from the early part of the last century to the early part of this one. Largely middle-class, a few very well-to-do neighborhoods, a few low-income areas, so pretty much all ends of the spectrum covered. One of the reasons I mentioned Sun Prairie is that it DOES have such variety.
As far as affordability is concerned, Sun Prairie is certainly less expensive than Madison though not as economical as you'd find in smaller and more outlying communities. The bigger, newer apartment complexes are likely to be within 10% of what a similar unit would go for in Madison. Where you'll find a bigger savings is with the small, independent landlord who has half a dozen or so duplex buildings; those can be as much as 30% less expensive than a similar unit in Madison. Of course the downside is that the small mom-n-pop outfits generally do all their own maintenance, tend to be a little less well organized and efficient, and sometimes push limits that they shouldn't, but with care, that can be dealt with. My elder kid is living in such a place right now, in fact, on Sun Prairie's east side. She and her partner have a 3-bedroom/2-bathroom duplex with a lower-level 2-car garage and I believe they're paying a bit under $1K/month for it. I'd say the building is 30-40 years old, not palatial, of course, but solid and comfortable.
I am not as familiar with McFarland or Cottage Grove, but both have a reputation for being fairly solid middle-class communities. Oh, Monona would be another good choice - right at the southeast corner of Madison, very close to your workplace, and it, too, is generally more affordable than Madison itself. We have dear friends who live in a complex just off Monona Drive and who seem to like it very much, although that complex does not have laundry in the unit. If you wanted to go farther out, Marshall (quite a small town, fairly rural, about 15 miles east of Madison) has even more affordable rentals; our elder kid lived out there a couple of years in a very large 3-bedroom apartment for around $700/month.
You'll find air conditioning in just about any place built in the past half-century hereabouts. Some older places have the through-the-wall units that don't do a really great job of cooling the farthest reaches of the apartment, but unless you opt for one of the historic buildings that has been chopped up into apartments, you're pretty much guaranteed to find AC. One thing you'll want to check out whenever you find a place that interests you is the utility costs, particularly during the heating season. If you wind up living in Madison itself, I can give you a link to Madison Gas & Electric's website where you can look up the utility costs for literally any address in the city. I'm not sure if a similar service is available from other utility companies outside MG&E's service area, but I can certainly do a bit of research and let you know.
You can get high-speed internet through Charter anywhere in Dane County. I believe AT&T offers DSL, and I know TDS does in some areas. I think the satellite TV places offer it, too (Dish and Direct TV). Most places won't provide it gratis (and even if they do, you're still paying for it as part of the rent) but most buildings built within the past four decades have wiring in place to accommodate internet. Again, if you went for one of those historic buildings, it would be less likely you'd have wiring for internet - but then, the farther out from the city center you go, the less likely it is that you'd wind up in a century-old building.
Trails... Biking? Hiking/running? Cross-country skiing? Doesn't matter, we've got 'em all. Here are some links to peruse:
Within the city of Madison, you'll find bike paths criss-crossing the entire city. Some go through neighborhoods where you probably wouldn't want to bike alone late at night, but if you are a strong cyclist (lots of hills here!), you can get from one side of the city to the other entirely on your bike. There are trails in most of the small communities, too, as bicycling is a pretty popular sport here.
Does that give you a bit more to chew on? Keep the questions coming, and we'll do our best for you!
If I ever move back to Madison ( and right about now it seems pretty nice, in retrospect), I'm going to ask you for an update.
Sun Prairie has a good mix of housing. There are lots of SFH neighborhoods, some bigger apartment complexes, plenty of duplexes and four-plexes, at vintages ranging from the early part of the last century to the early part of this one. Largely middle-class, a few very well-to-do neighborhoods, a few low-income areas, so pretty much all ends of the spectrum covered. One of the reasons I mentioned Sun Prairie is that it DOES have such variety.
As far as affordability is concerned, Sun Prairie is certainly less expensive than Madison though not as economical as you'd find in smaller and more outlying communities. The bigger, newer apartment complexes are likely to be within 10% of what a similar unit would go for in Madison. Where you'll find a bigger savings is with the small, independent landlord who has half a dozen or so duplex buildings; those can be as much as 30% less expensive than a similar unit in Madison. Of course the downside is that the small mom-n-pop outfits generally do all their own maintenance, tend to be a little less well organized and efficient, and sometimes push limits that they shouldn't, but with care, that can be dealt with. My elder kid is living in such a place right now, in fact, on Sun Prairie's east side. She and her partner have a 3-bedroom/2-bathroom duplex with a lower-level 2-car garage and I believe they're paying a bit under $1K/month for it. I'd say the building is 30-40 years old, not palatial, of course, but solid and comfortable.
I am not as familiar with McFarland or Cottage Grove, but both have a reputation for being fairly solid middle-class communities. Oh, Monona would be another good choice - right at the southeast corner of Madison, very close to your workplace, and it, too, is generally more affordable than Madison itself. We have dear friends who live in a complex just off Monona Drive and who seem to like it very much, although that complex does not have laundry in the unit. If you wanted to go farther out, Marshall (quite a small town, fairly rural, about 15 miles east of Madison) has even more affordable rentals; our elder kid lived out there a couple of years in a very large 3-bedroom apartment for around $700/month.
You'll find air conditioning in just about any place built in the past half-century hereabouts. Some older places have the through-the-wall units that don't do a really great job of cooling the farthest reaches of the apartment, but unless you opt for one of the historic buildings that has been chopped up into apartments, you're pretty much guaranteed to find AC. One thing you'll want to check out whenever you find a place that interests you is the utility costs, particularly during the heating season. If you wind up living in Madison itself, I can give you a link to Madison Gas & Electric's website where you can look up the utility costs for literally any address in the city. I'm not sure if a similar service is available from other utility companies outside MG&E's service area, but I can certainly do a bit of research and let you know.
You can get high-speed internet through Charter anywhere in Dane County. I believe AT&T offers DSL, and I know TDS does in some areas. I think the satellite TV places offer it, too (Dish and Direct TV). Most places won't provide it gratis (and even if they do, you're still paying for it as part of the rent) but most buildings built within the past four decades have wiring in place to accommodate internet. Again, if you went for one of those historic buildings, it would be less likely you'd have wiring for internet - but then, the farther out from the city center you go, the less likely it is that you'd wind up in a century-old building.
Trails... Biking? Hiking/running? Cross-country skiing? Doesn't matter, we've got 'em all. Here are some links to peruse:
Within the city of Madison, you'll find bike paths criss-crossing the entire city. Some go through neighborhoods where you probably wouldn't want to bike alone late at night, but if you are a strong cyclist (lots of hills here!), you can get from one side of the city to the other entirely on your bike. There are trails in most of the small communities, too, as bicycling is a pretty popular sport here.
Does that give you a bit more to chew on? Keep the questions coming, and we'll do our best for you!
Thank you for that detailed response. I have quite a bit to look over now.
A few questions with regard to the smaller towns and cities... Are the rural road networks mainly paved or gravel? Do the smaller cities and towns have their own individual character and identity with stores and shops (Main St) or do many of them function as suburban or exurban places?
Sun Prairie looks interesting and I will investigate that area further... The overall COL based on what I'm seeing does not seem TOO HIGH based on the higher than average median household incomes for Dane County as a whole.
"Within the city of Madison, you'll find bike paths criss-crossing the entire city. Some go through neighborhoods where you probably wouldn't want to bike alone late at night, but if you are a strong cyclist (lots of hills here!), you can get from one side of the city to the other entirely on your bike. There are trails in most of the small communities, too, as bicycling is a pretty popular sport here."
That is great to hear. I always find that cities with well developed trails and conservation land tend to care more about health, wellness, and the environment so that is a good sign. We have conservation lands in spades where I live now in NH so it is nice that a good network exists. I am also partial to the Northwoods so I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time up there when I get the opportunity to do so.
"Oh, Monona would be another good choice - right at the southeast corner of Madison, very close to your workplace, and it, too, is generally more affordable than Madison itself. We have dear friends who live in a complex just off Monona Drive and who seem to like it very much, although that complex does not have laundry in the unit. If you wanted to go farther out, Marshall (quite a small town, fairly rural, about 15 miles east of Madison) has even more affordable rentals; our elder kid lived out there a couple of years in a very large 3-bedroom apartment for around $700/month."
Thanks for those suggestions. I have a good winter vehicle so a bit of driving doesn't bother me too much, but I'm sure the drive time would be very low coming into the east side of town.
In terms of my ideal sized city it would be 30-50K. What is the closest match in that regard?
Glad you found it useful! On to your new questions...
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Are the rural road networks mainly paved or gravel?
I don't think I've ever seen a non-paved road in Dane County, other than on private farmland. They may exist, but I've never encountered one in the 13 years we've lived here. Plowing in the winter is usually fast and efficient (though there have been a few notable exceptions); when my elder kid lived in Marshall, she took a county highway in from Marshall to Madison, and never had any issues with snow in the winter. She could usually make the drive in about 20 minutes, on all but the worst winter days.
If you travel farther afield, up in the more rural northern part of the state, you can find gravel or dirt roads, but this area is pretty well established in terms of infrastructure. If you look at a map of Wisconsin, it's a sort of misshapen left mitten. If you draw a line from Green Bay at the base of the thumb down diagonally to the corner of the state closest to Iowa, roughly 2/3 of the state's population is in that lower right-hand corner. The rest of the state is much more sparsely settled, and you are likelier to find more rudimentary infrastructure, especially on county and village roads.
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Do the smaller cities and towns have their own individual character and identity with stores and shops (Main St) or do many of them function as suburban or exurban places?
Sun Prairie definitely has an individual character. The city as a whole has invested a lot of time and effort in establishing and maintaining a community feel, and it works really well. Our elder kid prefers to shop there than to drive into Madison, even though it's less than a 15-minute trip.
Monona has a history of being more of a bedroom community to Madison, but in recent years they've worked hard at establishing themselves as a community in their own right. I think they have real potential to continue that, if they can just get over the feeling that they're Madison's orphan step-sister.
Cottage Grove is an interesting mix. The original city center is very much the rural village, little shops and restaurants, farm supplies and the like, but in the past maybe 10 to 15 years, there have been several quite large (and to my eyes, pretentious) developments pop up in what used to be farmland. I don't know how they're faring since the economy tanked, but for a while there, it looked like Cottage Grove was aiming to be the new yuppie destination of Dane County. I wouldn't go so far as to describe it as schizophrenic, but there are definitely two very different and distinct faces to Cottage Grove.
McFarland is a nice small city, has a small town center, some business and shops, but I haven't gotten the sense that they really have a lot invested in developing the kind of self-contained Main Street feel that some other communities have. Caveat: I also am not as familiar with McFarland as I am with some other communities on the east side, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
Marshall is a nice little farming village. It does have its own identity, but they're really struggling to keep the town center afloat. They lost their only grocery store a couple of years back, and the businesses are working hard to keep people walking in the door, but it's tough. One reason why it's more affordable, of course, but sadly, it doesn't bode well for the community's future.
Waunakee (northeast of Madison) is definitely a bedroom community all the way. For folks who like to live where there isn't much noise or activity, it's ideal, but if you want a city that has a sense of its own identity, Waunakee would not be at the top of my list.
Oh, and then there's Stoughton, about 15 miles or so south of Madison. Now, that's a community that really has a strong identity, a whole lot of history and a real sense of what they are and what they want to be. I know several people who live there, and in fact we regularly get tickets to the events at the Stoughton Opera House (in preference to the gigantic Overture Center in downtown Madison) because we enjoy it so much. It's a very Norwegian community - if you have a hankering for lutefisk and lefse, you'll find it in Stoughton.
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I always find that cities with well developed trails and conservation land tend to care more about health, wellness, and the environment so that is a good sign.
Very true, and I think Madison does well in that regard. Not perfectly by any means - this is, after all, the land of deep-fried cheese curds, bratwurst and an astounding array of good beer - but in comparison with other cities of similar size that we've lived in, I think Madison earns high marks for both environmentalism and health/wellness.
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In terms of my ideal sized city it would be 30-50K. What is the closest match in that regard?
The only one of those I've mentioned that comes close to that range would be Sun Prairie, at about 29K. Stoughton has a population of about 13K, Waunakee is around 11K, Monona, Cottage Grove and McFarland are between 7K and 10K, and Marshall is less than 4K.
One thing you haven't mentioned that I should probably bring up is politics. I had the experience of living for eighteen years in a community (in a different state) where nearly all of the population embraced the diametric opposite of my own political views, and I found it a terribly isolating and frustrating experience. Some people have described experiencing the same thing living in Madison. Madison is an extremely left-leaning community, and to a lesser degree, much of Dane County leans left as well. That may or may not be a problem for you, but I would be remiss if I did not bring it up at least briefly.
Keep those questions coming!
Last edited by 7G9C4J2; 08-04-2012 at 10:49 AM..
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