Considering relocating to Madison from Nashville, Tn

[devosays]

topinambour, wth did that come from?

OP, you will find Madison a great place to raise a family, but it is modestly above average in terms of housing, renting depends on where you live, but it is equally modest.

I don't know why you picked Madison, unless you love it there I would look around the area of SE WI, my opinion of Fon Du Lac/Appleton and Osh Kosh is you get the same amenities without the politics of living in Madison and near UW, more laid back all the way around. Not much further than Madison to Chicago, worth the hour extra drive it might be imo. Cost of living is probably 10-20% less.

Stay away from Chicago and its suburbs, and MKE is worth looking at the suburbs too, but stay away from anything close to the city proper or its direct suburbs.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

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Originally Posted by Kluch

Hi all, My wife and I are considering moving to Madison in light of trying to be closer to my wife's family (they live in the west chicago suburbs). We are both originally from the Midwest (she from Chicago and myself from Columbus, Oh) so we are used to snow. We would be looking for a good place to live with decent cost of living, decent schools (we have a 5 month old) and good amenities. Any thoughts?

How far??
1 hour from Chicago is Rockford, IL. I don't recommend Rockford itself, but there is a great school district in the Rockton/Roscoe IL area about 20 minutes north of Rockford. You get all the amenities of Rockford but without all the crime and school issues. It's on the I90 corridor just before you cross into Wisconsin. Almost everything you could want is at the intersection of IL251 & 173 about 10 min south of Rockton.
I left this area for better job opportunities for my wife and kids.


As others have stated, the cost of living in and around Madison often outweighs the benefits of being there. Last time I looked, Sun Prairie was the most affordable area in the Madison metro area.


I ended up in the Appleton, Wi metro area. It is roughly the same metro size as the Rockford metro, with similar cost of living but lacks all the crime and school issues. There are tons of reasons to move here. The drive back into the Chicago area would be about 3 hours. That's putting it at just about an overnight trip or a long day of traveling.