New to Madison! (Milwaukee, Washington: renting, crime, houses)

[spitph!r3]

I'm coming to US for a job and I've got to choose between accepting a position in St. Louis, MO and that in Madison, WI. Ignoring all other parameters of the jobs in the two places, if the salary is 56K in St. Louis and 76K at the latter, I would like to know which is better? Even if both are horrible, which I understand might be true, I've to choose one! So please provide some inputs.

[mawipafl]

My personal preference would be Madison. The culture and climate are different between the two places, and I found Madison more to my liking (friendliness of Wisconsinites, and clear, crisp, distinctive winters and wonderfully warm (however short) summers.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

You're asking this question in the Madison forum, which sort of sets things up for getting a lot of "Madison is better" replies, but I'll try to be as even-handed as I can in comparing the two communities.

St. Louis is a city, a big one. Madison is a small city (about 200,000 inhabitants). There are some who claim that Madison isn't really a city at all, just a big town with delusions of grandeur. If you like the fast pace and wide array of activities that you find in a big city, you wouldn't care for Madison. If you are more of a small-town person who finds large cities overwhelming and intimidating, you probably wouldn't care for St. Louis.

Another distinction is a regional one. You don't mention where you would be relocating from, but one thing that people from other countries don't realize until they arrive in the US is just how big this country is. The cultural norms and expectations you will encounter in the Midwest are radically different from what you'd see in the South, and both are radically different from what you'd experience on either of the coasts.

Although St. Louis is in about the country's midsection when you look at a map, it has more regional characteristics in common with the South than it does with the Midwest. You'd see far more ethnic diversity in St. Louis, for example. Madison, on the other hand, is very typical of a small city in the Midwest; it's still pretty homogeneous, and while there are Hispanics, Blacks and Hmong in Madison, they are all very much still minorities.

The weather is another big point of distinction between the two cities. Some people cannot tolerate extreme cold weather, while others have a hard time with very hot weather. If you dislike the heat, you will not enjoy St. Louis as much as you would areas farther North. If you cannot handle cold weather, you will definitely be less happy in Madison than you would be farther South. This past winter in Madison has been a simply awful one - over 100 inches (2.56 meters) of snow - but even in a typical year, we still get about 45 inches (1.2 meters) of snow.

Economics is an important factor, of course. An annual income of $76K in Madison would let you live comfortably but not extravagantly. Cost of living here is fairly high for the Midwest. I am not as familiar with cost of living issues for St. Louis, but I assume that you are asking similar questions in that forum as well, which should get you more specifics.

It might help us be more informative if you can give us an idea of where you're coming from, and what kind of lifestyle you enjoy. Are you a sports enthusiast? Do you love jazz? Classical music? Do you enjoy dancing? Live drama? Are you moving by yourself, or are you bringing a family? Let us know where your interests and concerns are, and we'll do our best to respond to them.

Good luck in your move!

[mawipafl]

Good post MidwesternBookWorm!

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

I don't particularly care for Madison, but if someone was offering me $20,000 more per year for a job in Madison versus St. Louis, I would take the job in Madison.

I have never been to St. Louis, but I would hazard that a house in a decent neighborhood in St. Louis City or St. Louis County would be roughly about the same as a house in Madison.

These days a $56K income can be hard to make ends meet on. $76K is not going to net you an extravagant lifestyle, but at least you will be able to afford a nice home and have some money left over for some petty luxuries. $56K would get you a halfway decent house in most metropolitan housing markets, but in all honesty you'd might be better off renting at that salary.

[meganks]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Ronnie

I have never been to St. Louis, but I would hazard that a house in a decent neighborhood in St. Louis City or St. Louis County would be roughly about the same as a house in Madison.

I have a friend in St.Louis and from what i know, the house are cheaper in St.Louis. Madison does have expensive houses compared to other cities.

[florida_sassy]

I would choose Madison... just check out the awards this city has won...

Greater Madison Convention & Visitor Bureau



And it is so beautiful!

[Drover]

Madison proper is a much nicer place than St. Louis proper; and I would guess it's the city proper rather than the outlying suburban areas that would be of the most interest to a foreigner. And speaking of cities proper... something to consider is crime. St. Louis proper (not the entire metro area, mind you) lives up to every stereotype that the rest of the world has about crime in American cities; whereas Madison has more "Western European" levels of crime if you will.

If you switched the potential incomes around and offered me $56K to live in Madison versus $76K to live in St. Louis, I'd still pick Madison.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by Drover

Madison proper is a much nicer place than St. Louis proper; and I would guess it's the city proper rather than the outlying suburban areas that would be of the most interest to a foreigner. And speaking of cities proper... something to consider is crime. St. Louis proper (not the entire metro area, mind you) lives up to every stereotype that the rest of the world has about crime in American cities; whereas Madison has more "Western European" levels of crime if you will.

If you switched the potential incomes around and offered me $56K to live in Madison versus $76K to live in St. Louis, I'd still pick Madison.

Couldn't disagree more with your first line. Lafayette Square, Washington Ave, South City, Tower Grove, Soulard, Central West End, on and on of high end urban areas in St. Louis. And, St. Louis County is not considered part of the city. This would be like taking several urban parts of Chicago and calling them suburbs.

St. Louis has its share of crime but much of it is located on the North side of the city where you wouldn't be spending your time, as opposed to Central, South, West, etc...portions of the city.

Comparing Madison to St. Louis is like comparing apples to oranges.

I've spent a lot of time in both places. They are very different places. I've enjoyed both quite a bit.