Young couple seeking affordable housing

[ranger17]

OP, here's a link (hope it works) to a crime report map for Madison. Helps give an idea on what crimes were listed in each area as you scroll around on it (often they are of the theft type). My opinion, i wouldn't let an occasional basic theft (ie car break-in, etc) be the limiting factor in where i'd live as those can and do happen everywhere regardless of how high or low class a neighborhood is. But if you notice more along the lines of assaults, drug issues, etc then i'd weigh those much higher in my determinations.

My only experience in the Independence Ln area was i lived there back when i went to school and that was 3 decades ago when those were all apt complexes. Most tenants back then seemed to be college kids and younger adults, i'd assume if they went to condos there's be a decent mix of younger families as well these days. Even back then we'd have an occasional theft but we never dealt with any major issues.



https://www.crimereports.com/map/ind...ch=+Madison+WI

[Making It In Madison]

Well, it's been exactly a year since I moved to Madison, and I realized I never updated this thread to let everyone know where we landed.

We ended up picking the place in the Elvehjem neighborhood. It's an 1,100-square-foot, two-bedroom place in a duplex with a semi-finished basement and a backyard. And the best part is that we got it for just under $1,000. Of course, if you'd told me a year ago that I'd be ecstatic to be paying that much, I'd have laughed in your face.

But, as several of you mentioned, it's just about impossible to find a two-bedroom place under a grand that's in a semi-safe neighborhood. As it turns out, we're in a section of South Thompson that is clearly undergoing a change in demographics.

Personally, I like our place and have never had any issues with the area. But I can see that we're not too far from a less-than-ideal area along Cottage Grove Road. And it may be just a matter of time before it seeps into our neighborhood.

Alas, we may not be around to see how things develop. My girlfriend is far less comfortable in our neighborhood, particularly after she discovered that there had been an armed home invasion in the other half of our duplex just a couple of months before we moved in. It appears to have been an isolated incident — and one that was likely targeting the former tenants of our half of the duplex — but that was enough to leave my girlfriend constantly paranoid about our area.

So, almost from the time we moved in, we have been exploring options for new housing. But, just as we learned a year ago, it's very difficult to find a two-bedroom place that is affordable, in a decent neighborhood and meets our other two big criteria — allows dogs and has an in-unit washer/dryer. We've looked at plenty of places throughout the year, and we're definitely willing to venture outside of Madison as we've already toured places in Middleton, Fitchburg, Verona, Oregon and Stoughton.

All of that being said, I'm very happy to be living in this city. It's even better than I'd hoped, and I already can't wait until spring rolls around again so we hit up the Farmers Market some more!