Santa Clara, CA or Madison, WI (Eau Claire, La Crosse: houses, rain, live)

[oceanmomwith3dolphins]

Having lived both in CA and in Madison, I can say that I am a beach person that misses the ocean and warmer weather. Decide on the climate and geography that you prefer. You must like winter to live in Madison. That said Madison is friendly with more of a small city feel that you will not get in Santa Clara. The sprawl of Madison mentioned by other posts is NOTHING compared to the massive sprawl and traffic problems of CA. I guarentee you your commute here in Madison will seem like a magic carpet ride compared to a commute in the Santa Clara area. Downtown Madison is definately the way to go if you are single. If you have a family, Verona has good schools. good luck.

[Nique]

Madison is one of the best places in the Midwest for bicycling, and is striving to become even better in that regard. Of course, you have to be pretty hardcore to bike year-round here. But I don't drive pretty much ever in warm weather.

I'd agree with everything stated in the other posts on this thread. Working for Epic you'll either be on the far west side of town, or just far West of town, in Verona. I have several friends who live out near Epic and "commute" to go out downtown, and several others who live downtown and do the 30-40 minute commute out to the Epic Campus. While a 30-minute drive in Madison traffic is a pain, it's nothing compared to many other parts of the country.

I'd be curious to hear what kind of position Epic offered you. If you're an implementer/project manager, you will travel most weeks Monday-Thursday. I've heard they have great travel bonuses though.

Most of my friends work at Epic in one capacity or another. It's full of smart and creative twentysomethings, and they all work like crazy. It really is a unique and cool place though.

There are no mountains in Wisconsin. But there are some beautiful hilly areas with lovely hiking and camping, and of course lots of lakes. A 20 minute drive from downtown will get you in the countryside, from Epic you can practically walk out into farmland.

I can't speak much to forests, I don't go up North much. But I'm sure they call it the "North Woods" for a reason.

[pacificwhim]

I live in CA now and my wife and I are thinking about relocating to Madison, and one of my greatest areas of reluctance is leaving behind the awesome California scenery and outdoor recreation. I live in Ventura now, so in 30 minutes I can be kayaking on the Pacific, hiking in the Los Padres Natl. Forest, or water hole and waterfall hopping in the back country. I would miss the incredible variety and natural beauty; we'll see if lower housing costs and more sense of community are OK compensation.

As for Silicon Valley vs. Madison, I've worked in Silicon Valley. I hated it. It's one huge industrial park dotted with strip malls. Unless you can live someplace with some character like downtown Redwood City or San Carlos, you're likely to be bored stiff. And as others have said, the real estate costs are outrageous.

One more issue: traffic. 101 is bad all day now, and the traffic on the surrounding arteries is usually awful. And God help you if you try to get into SF on a day ending in "Y". I don't hear much about Madison traffic, but I guarantee Bay Area traffic makes it look like a picnic. Keep that in mind as well.

[pureid]

I found Madison to be very boring unless you're associated with the university. It is very hard to develop a social life outside of the U. Just something else to consider....

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Originally Posted by pureid

I found Madison to be very boring unless you're associated with the university. It is very hard to develop a social life outside of the U. Just something else to consider....

I don't doubt that you found this to be the case, but that is not the experience that everyone has.

Midwesterners are friendly but don't tend to go overboard in embracing new folks to the community. You're not likely to have a parade of neighbors at your door after you move in inviting you to cookouts and social gatherings; Midwesterners are more likely to sit back and wait to see what you're like. That is a cultural phenomenon that surprises some folks who move here from other regions in the country, but it's just how we are.

The key to having an interesting social life is to be proactive and go out and find it instead of waiting for excitement to come to you. For a city of its size, Madison has a lot going on, and it's quite possible to find plenty to do here. We're not particularly outgoing people, but we've still managed to find plenty of friends and lots of interesting and enjoyable activities here.

At the end, though, it depends on what you bring to the process and how much you're invested in it. If you really don't like the city, whatever activities or people you encounter probably aren't going to change your mind.

[remcycle]

I remember the Kettle Moraine area being littered with forests and trails and other exciting places to ride a bike. I can't imagine that's changed all that much.

...and they may tell you that Silicon Valley looks good on a resume, but it really doesn't amount to much out in the working world. Trust me...I've got three great years of network administration at Microsoft on mine and while it definitely helps during the interviews, I wouldn't say it helps at all when it comes to selecting a resume out of a pile.

My opinion about the work climate is really this: choose how much time you want to spend at work FIRST, and then choose where. Sure, I'd love to live in the bay area....even had an offer from SFGATE for a net admin gig, but I bowed out because I wasn't interested in 50 hour weeks plus 3-4 hours PER DAY of commute.

I'd rather move to Madison and hunt for the perfect job when I get there than move to SF and have to forsake my family for the grind...

[mrsgreeniemama]

For hiking and biking I love Kettle Moraine South, a state forest with mountain bike/hiking trails. I know its not really "mountains" (I used to live in So Cal and Arizona) but the uphills will definitely get your blood pumping and the rocks are unlike what you find out west. Very cute campsites and a bike shop/sandwich shop with organic coffees. The kind of stuff I love to find in The-Middle-of-Nowhere, WI. It's only about 50 miles from Madison I think, and close to New Glarus brewery where they make awesome cherry beer.

My family and I are also going to some MTB races near Fond-du-Lac this summer. We live in Illinois now, but we go to Wisconsin for all our outdoor needs. While you do have to travel many hours north for back-woods stuff, southern Wisconsin has some beautiful outdoor activities.

I just read the post by PacificWhim, and I think a sense of community would be more than compensation for lack of California-style topography. I miss the mountains and beauty of Cal. and AZ, but I can always visit and be fulfilled for awhile. I don't think a visit to a small town can fill your everyday need for community.

[Mysweetdreamsbaby]

I haven't read anyone else's responses but have to say, if the weather doesn't bother you, Madison is a great place to live!!! We LOVE it here and I think most everyone here does. I have LOTS of friends that work for Epic too (15 or so) and they for the most part seem really pleased with it. Good luck making your decision. Oh, and we live in Verona where Epic is and it is a fantastic place!

[andy1987]

I've been living in WI for over 20 years now, and I can't stress enough how inclement the weather can be. I don't know if you're from a place that gets hit with snow every winter, but you'd better get used to it if you choose Madison. Our temps can dip into the -20's, not including wind chill, which can cause serious inconveniences and problems. For example your car may not start. Also, the snow can be awful. It creates dangerous road conditions and it's likely that at some point, you will get your car stuck in the snow, or slide off the road, unless you have a big truck. Get used to having to shovel and/or plow your driveway and walk every morning after snow has fallen before going to work. Madison in particular seems to really get socked by snow, in fact I was driving down from Menomonie for the Hillary Clinton rally when the whole thing was cancelled due to a huge snow storm. I don't want to come off as entirely pessimistic, but these are important things to consider. If you don't mind not seeing the sun from october to march then maybe you won't mind living here. Madison can be a pretty cool town itself, but the region can be difficult to live in, in general. I'm currently planning on leaving WI for CA for these and other reasons. The weather is a big one though. Either way, good luck on your decision.

[houseinmadison]

I've lived in San Jose which is in Santa Clara county in California and I now live in Madison. I would recommend Madison over that area. Yeah, the weather is more constant in Cali, but it's very bleak and expensive and alienating. Did I mention expensive? On the bright side, there are more employment opportunities in that area, much more than will ever be in the Madison area. But if you are in the IT business, you should do OK even here. As far as Madison is concerned, nine months out of the year it's either snowing or raining. But you can get a great, newer house for a reasonable price and you can afford to go on vacation with all the money you save on living expenses.