Moving to Madison this week! (Sheboygan, Middleton: apartment complex, rental, crime)

[marionberry]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I will be moving to Madison this week. We plan on living in short term housing for a few weeks while we search for place.

We are thinking of living near the West Towne Mall, Hilldale, or maybe Middleton. On the east side, we were thinking Monona.

Does anyone have any opinions of these areas? Any leads on any particular good apartment buildings?

Also, I noticed that many apartments mention that heat is included...is this fairly standard? Here in Seattle, I have almost never run across any utilities being included.

Thanks

[7G9C4J2]

Hi, and welcome to the Madison forum. I don't have a huge amount of time this instant for a long response, but I'll start you off with links to some other threads in the forum that discussed some of your "where should we live" questions.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...e-madison.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...ce-please.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...west-side.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...t-isthmus.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...re-should.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...ghborhood.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...nt-advice.html

As to your question about utilities, generally most buildings that have the heat included tend to be older construction, which may be why you're seeing them listed with availability. Rental housing is pretty tight in Madison, and the newer, more modern buildings don't have many vacancies; in fact, many of them have waiting lists. You are wise to look in the outskirts of town, including the satellite communities, as you are likely to find at least a few more vacancies there. You might take a look here: StartRenting.com - Search for your apartment in Madison Wisconsin to see if you see anything that interests you.

Good luck to you, and do come back and post again if you have questions about specific neighborhoods.

[Aprily78]

Before you sign a lease, check out the energy usage:
https://www.mge.com/myaccount/averagecost/

Also some advice about internet providers:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...-provider.html

Safe moving!

[Megan1967]

I appreciate how MWBW explained the utilities situation. I want to add, that I've observed that the places that include heat tend to be less desirable. They tend to be in higher crime areas and, as MWBW stated, older, mostly in poor condition.

Be prepared to have to spend a good chunk of change on rent in Madison to get a nice apartment. The cheapest place I've found (I just helped a friend find a new apartment this summer) is Country Meadows. I always thought it was a bit of a slum, but the manager of another apartment complex recommended it saying the current manager runs a tight ship and my friend has been very happy there since July of 2012.

Country Meadows Apartments - Madison, WI

I believe she is in the Maple, a one bedroom floor plan for $705 per month plus utilities. Because she is on the second floor, however, her heating bill has been very reasonable. I can't remember what she told me it was, but I could ask if you are interested. She says it is the quietest place she has ever lived. She is in an end unit, so only has 2 neighbors - one below and one on one side. They totally redid the apartment before she moved in - new paint, new carpet and a new dishwasher. I guess a lot of rental property owners will do these kinds of improvements if you ask. There is no underground parking and no in-unit laundry, which are drawbacks, but otherwise it seems like a fairly nice place. It is older and not a luxury property by any means, but clean and quiet. There are two coin-op washers and dryers per building and apparently they are really inexpensive.

I can assure you that you aren't going to find anything worth renting for less - I spent the better part of a month, up to 4 hours a day looking for her. I wouldn't even bother to look at properties with lower rents unless it was an owner occupied 2 flat house. You might find a deal in that case.

[marionberry]

Thanks everyone for all of your great advice!

A few questions:
The Hilldale Towers comes with heat/water/internet/satellite TV for only 765 -775 per month (1 bedroom). This price almost seems to good to be true. Anyone heard of it or have opinions on the area? It's at 4817 Sheboygan Ave and they currently have an apartment available in March. Kind of later then we wanted, but it's doable if the place really is that good. (From MidwesternBookWorm's notes I tried to find out if it was an old/outdated building but failed. It seems like the general area though is new, right?)

Aprily78: Thanks so much for your links..I think it'll be super helpful!

Megan1967: Thanks for the pretty glowing review of the Country Meadows..they do have a few openings and I plan on looking at them (One looks particularly promising!) . But one question: You had said that you had always thought that it was a "bit of a slum". In what way would you describe? Is the area "safe" ...I know this is a relative term but would I have to worry about my car getting stolen/broken into in this area or walk around at night? I see it's slightly below the belt line and have read that below the beltline isn't great....but don't know if that's the whole bottom belt line or only part of it Anything info you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

And yes, if you could happen to find out how much your friend pays in heat that would be great! (one of the one bedrooms that is open is a Maple and on the 3rd floor so I'm guessing the heat could be about the same).


Also a general question in A/C....how necessary is A/C? Window vs Central? In Seattle, no places come with A/C, but it also doesn't get nearly as hot here, and when it does.... it's literally for a few days. I'm worried about getting an apartment w/out central A/C in Madison. Is my worry valid?

[Megan1967]

I think the area around Country Meadows is relatively safe. It is a busy commercial area so, as a single woman, I wouldn't wander around at night by myself, but during the day it is perfectly fine. You'd probably be fine at night, too, but I tend to be cautious. You'd be fine going from your car to the building.

I guess I thought it was slummy because it is older and I knew the rents were cheap, so I assumed it wasn't a nice place, but it is fine. As I mentioned before, it isn't a luxury apartment community, but decent basic housing.

I looked up the address in crime reports (https://www.crimereports.com/) and there have been a number of residential burglaries and thefts in the last six months, but few (3) occurred within the actual complex. Most of them occurred by Struck Street. It is easy for me to poo-poo this, but we are talking about a huge complex and commercial area.

Her electric bills (which includes lights, appliances and heat) were larger than I expected:

Oct 34.99
Nov 84.75
Dec 127.31

She was surprised, too, because she said she rarely has the heat on because it is always warm without it.

In answer to your question about AC, I guess it depends on where you come from, what you are used to and your basic tolerance for heat and humidity. It is the humidity that will get you here in WI. I, personally, would not want to be without it. I know lots of people who rely almost solely on fans. We can have stretches as long as a week where the daily high is in the 90s. For me, that's too hot.

[7G9C4J2]

Originally Posted by marionberry

Also a general question in A/C....how necessary is A/C? Window vs Central? In Seattle, no places come with A/C, but it also doesn't get nearly as hot here, and when it does.... it's literally for a few days. I'm worried about getting an apartment w/out central A/C in Madison. Is my worry valid?

A decade ago, I'd have said that pretty much anyone would be fine without A/C in Madison. There'd be a few hot days, but not unbearable. Not any more, though. Whether or not you ascribe it to global warming, I have to say that the summers have gotten significantly hotter, drier and longer just in the past 13 or 14 years that we've lived here, and I would not want to go through a summer without A/C.

Aside from new construction, central A/C is somewhat unusual here. What you're likeliest to find in rental housing is one through-the-wall unit (as opposed to a window unit) which is intended to cool the entire apartment. When our elder kid and her partner had a place like that, they wound up sleeping in the living room (where the A/C unit was located) on the hottest nights, because the cool air just didn't get back to their bedroom.

Be aware, too, that those window or through-the-wall A/C units are not the most efficient in terms of energy use. If your landlord pays the electricity, there may even be specific lease clauses prohibiting air conditioners from being installed. If you pay the electric bill, expect some pricey statements in the summer months.

Oh, about the complex you asked about - that's a quite decent neighborhood, reasonably centrally located and pretty convenient to get to most parts of the city. It's not the newest part of town by any means; at a guess, I'd estimate 1960s vintage. [Yup, just checked the city assessor's site - built in 1965.] Even so, I'm a bit surprised, at the rent rates they're quoting. Definitely visit in person before you submit a rental application or pay any earnest money; it could be a sweet deal, or not. And you will want to check more closely into the utilities, too; you mention heat and water, but not electricity. If the tenant pays electricity, you'd definitely want to check the utility cost history (for the specific unit you're looking at) in the summer months.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by marionberry

The Hilldale Towers comes with heat/water/internet/satellite TV for only 765 -775 per month (1 bedroom). This price almost seems to good to be true. Anyone heard of it or have opinions on the area? It's at 4817 Sheboygan Ave and they currently have an apartment available in March. Kind of later then we wanted, but it's doable if the place really is that good. (From MidwesternBookWorm's notes I tried to find out if it was an old/outdated building but failed. It seems like the general area though is new, right?)

Hilldale Towers is a fine property in a great near-West location with plenty of bus service and easy access to the campus area. I lived there in 1999 when I first moved to Madison. I rented the apartment sight unseen and had no real issues other than it was pretty warm on the 7th floor year-round. Expect to have a lot of retirees and graduate students for neighbors. The building and amenities are fairly old and nothing special - no workout areas, etc. and only surface parking. However, it's within walking distance to an upscale-ish shopping mall (Hilldale) along with a Target and grocery store, and the property backs up to a park. I wouldn't have any hesitation living there again if needed, and you could do a lot worse for a temporary place to live.

[Indyking]

Welcome. Coming from Seattle, you will probably find rent a bargain in Madison. In many ways, Madison is sort of a smaller version of Seattle, so I hope you like it.

[marionberry]

Sorry about the late replies everyone... spent the day loading my stuff to be moved and cleaning the apartment.
Driving out tomorrow!

Indyking: Yes, the most expensive 1 bedrooms in Madison are still cheaper then the "least desirable" areas of Seattle, for sure. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw how cheap it is in comparison. That being said, I still want to get a good deal for Madison - tired of Seattle's high prices. (oh and FYI my husband's job in Madison will pay more then the job he had in Seattle so win-win). Cost of living in Seattle is pretty ridiculous.

Also, I have had others tell me that Madison is a smaller version of Seattle - from what I could tell when I visited earlier this year it seems to be accurate. It seems to be fairly educated, liberal, independent...but has the smaller city feel which I love. (Although from what I can tell there is no version of "seattle freeze" in madison - which is a good thing. google it.)