Hey Madison, how's your economy doing? (foreclosures, insurance, condos)

[LaughinWillow]

Hi folks - my husband and I lived in Madison until 5 years ago - we've been living in Virginia since then, on a cooperative organic farm (we moved here to start the project). It's awesome living on a farm, but we're out in the middle of nowhere, and there is absolutely NO culture here. We miss Madison - the veggie restaurants, Willy Street, all the activities for the kiddos (we have 3), and everything about UW. So we're thinking about possibly moving back there at the end of the summer. My question is, with the economy doing so bad, how are you all doing there? Are good jobs difficult to find? I have a master's degree in counseling, so my husband would probably stay home with the kids and I'd work. What about cost of living? Has it gone up much? We want out of here, but don't want to make a stupid move - we live here for free in exchange for running the farm, so money hasn't been an issue for us at all. But we miss Madison so much!!

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Hi there,

While I would never describe Madison's economy as bullet-proof, we certainly seem to be weathering the national/global downturn fairly well thus far. Unemployment continues to be very low, although I don't have any insights as to job potential for counseling positions, and in many ways, there are not a lot of obvious differences.

Housing has remained pretty pricey, even though there are a lot more homes and condos on the market than was the case a year ago. People just don't seem to want to budge on their asking prices, even though the market is much softer, and they keep the homes on the market for months (or over a year) hoping to get their asking price.

Other costs are about what they always have been in Madison, although with the rising costs of fuel impacting companies everywhere, there is a gradual increase in prices to cover retailers' and wholesalers' costs. It's still not an affordable community, although those of us who love living here still find it a worthwhile tradeoff.

The ways in which the economy has begun to affect Madison are still pretty subtle. A number of charitable organizations have reported fewer donations, and food pantries have reported higher demand. Homeless shelters this past winter were continually at or above capacity (in fairness, it was a really, really rough winter, which undoubtedly contributed to that). Arts organizations are having a harder time selling seats and filling venues. There have been foreclosures here, too, although according to NPR, Madison in particular and Wisconsin in general have not been as hard-hit as many areas. And we have lost a couple of big employers, most recently Famous Footwear, which announced that it's moving its corporate headquarters to St. Louis.

There's still a lot keeping the local economy ticking over, though, and between the state government, the university, locally based insurance companies, lots of retail, the tech sector and a bit of manufacturing, we're fortunate in having a pretty broad economic base here.

Unquestionably, quality of life comes into a decision like the one you are considering. My family and I moved here from a very low cost-of-living region nearly a decade ago, knowing that our expenses would increase significantly but convinced that the payoff in improved quality of life would be worthwhile for us. That is exactly what has happened for us, although probably not everyone would say the same. It's a very subjective decision, but you have a distinct advantage in having lived here before, so you know better what to expect and how it compares with your present situation.

There are a couple of threads in the Madison forum with some really useful links that you might check out; I've got to scoot to get to work, or I'd dig them out and link them here. I'll check back in tonight to see if you need me to find them for you.

Good luck in your decision-making process!

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Until the State government or University starts "downsizing," which obviously is never going to happen, Madison will never face a real economic downturn.