Moving from Fort Collins Co to Madison... need info please. (Milwaukee: home, employment)

[Jay11875]

Hi everyone..... we are thinknig of coming out there to see you! We have lived in CO forever....40 years and are use to cold winters, but not quite as cold as yours. Our biggest questions are, where to live? (we avg. about 100k a year or more) cost of living (fuel, utilities, food etc.) need good schools 6th grader and a 9th grader.... Our backgrounds are in the financial retirement sector and PC manufacturing/recycling industries. How is the economy out there? Colorado is in hard times (don't beleive the press) We welcome any input! Oh yes, we are LDS so any church info would be great!

Feel free to email at JAY11875@aol.com or just reply here.

Thanks in advance!

Jay in CO.

[Megan1967]

Hi Jay,

You should be fine living anywhere in Madison with an income of ~100K. What kind of neighborhood are you looking for? Madison has a little of everything. An average "starter" home is about 200K here, give or take a few thousand.

CNN Money has a calculator to figure out cost of living differences that I checked. Oddly, it didn't list Madison (the capitol and second largest city...) so I picked Milwaukee. Should be comparable. Here are the results:

Cost of Living - Cost of Living Calculator from CNNMoney

I did a Google for LDS and found several temples. At least that is what it looked like, though I suspect the Middleton location is administrative offices. I broke them down by geographic area. Be prepared that there might not be a very big population of LDS here. I've lived in the area 41 years (23 in Madison) and have only met one LDS member, who I went to high school with.

Far-Far West side
Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints - Madison Foyer (also 4th ward)

(608) 831-8274
Middleton, WI 53562

Far West side
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
701 Bear Claw Way Madison, WI 53717


(608) 831-8274

Downtown
1711 University Ave
Madison, WI 53726-4041
Phone: (608) 238-1071

Near West side (central)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
(608) 236-0837
4505 Regent Street Madison, WI 53705


Far East Side
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
5602 Irongate Drive Madison, WI 53716
(608) 221-4425

[Jay11875]

Thanks so much for your info! t all helps and from what I have read so far, we would really enjoy it there! We are planning to drive out this summer to check it all out. YAY!

Thanks again.

[radraja]

It's not a little bit colder in WI...it's a lot colder, and the winters are longer.

And Megan is correct that the Mormon population in WI is minimal. In the many years that I lived there, I had never met one.

As for economy...the local economy is good, but the state's economy is iffy...definitely not better than CO's. It's a blue-collar state by nature, if that gives you a better idea.

Those are the only things I can think of. I'm trying to give realistic advice. Good luck. Are you looking anywhere else?

[houseinmadison]

My advice is go where the job is, you can figure out some nice place to live afterward. If you have a good job in Madison, then you can see the bright side and live comfortably on 100K. If you are looking for employment it can feel claustrophobic. In one day you can send resumes to all the employers here and then wait, and wait...They don't move fast here.