diversity in madison and surrounding areas (Fitchburg, Sun Prairie: apartments, rental, crime rates)

[theegusta]

Hello all I am a white single mom of one bi-racial daughter i am seriously considering relocating and am interested in madison. I have heard much of liberal madison but how open is the area in general and does anyone have suggestions for the best areas to look at? Requirements would be reasonably rent (under 600) a good mixture of people. We are going to run into ignorance everywhere but the least amount possible where we live would be nice. I have no issues being in an all black nieghborhood (currently in newark NJ) Bus routes and bike commuting availability would be Great.
Thank you

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by theegusta

Hello all I am a white single mom of one bi-racial daughter i am seriously considering relocating and am interested in madison. I have heard much of liberal madison but how open is the area in general and does anyone have suggestions for the best areas to look at? Requirements would be reasonably rent (under 600) a good mixture of people. We are going to run into ignorance everywhere but the least amount possible where we live would be nice. I have no issues being in an all black nieghborhood (currently in newark NJ) Bus routes and bike commuting availability would be Great.
Thank you

I hope you do come and enjoy this wonderful city. No doubt a certain someone () will tell you how lilly white Madison is, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Granted I am a white woman, but I do have eyes. At any rate it does have a culture of both excepting and embracing social and cultural differences.

I'm afraid you are never going to find rent under $600, however, unless you live in an efficiency.

[theegusta]

Thank you for your reply I saw some on craigslist but wasnt sure. Would you have any suggestions for surrounding areas that i might look into?

[Chelito23]

If you want to live in one of the more racially diverse areas, there are plenty with affordable rent. Try along Fish Hatchery Road....also along Gammon Road south of Woodmans...those are areas that are central to most places and still safe overall.

The East side has diverse pockets, as does the North side.

Surrounding communites are all white with the exception of parts of Fitchburg and Sun Prairie.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Are you going to have people staring at you as you're walking down the street? No. This is the 21st century, and most of us (but not all) have moved on from such business.

But if you're coming from a big city you will notice Madison's relative lack of diversity. I'm just being honest, and I admit I'm biased because I lived in Madison for 6 years and I really did not care for it. But I'm being honest here. On a scale of ethnic diversity 1 to 10, with New York City or Los Angeles being a 10, and Small Town, Iowa being a 1, Madison comes in at about a 3 or 4. But Madison thinks it's much higher than that. You'll find after living there for awhile there is a huge disconnect between what Madison is and what it thinks it is. Again, just my opinion.

[Megan1967]

I wish I could help with suggestions, but I don't know enough about the surrounding communities to help with suggestions on where to look.

Chelito23 is right about the surrounding communities and I would even venture to guess that your daughter may experience some gawking outside of Madison. Probably not malicious, just a complete lack of exposure.

I would avoid certain parts of town, however, in that they may be diverse, but they are also very poor and have high crime rates.

On the Northside Kennedy Heights Apartments, Packers Town Houses and Northport Apartments. (Northport Road)

Anything just south of the beltline to the left of Verona Road as you are headed out of town (I think that's south). Allied Drive, Jenewein and all the area around them.

Broadway/Simpson neighborhood. I think Simpson has been renamed Lake Point Drive.

[LML]

I always shake my head when I read these messages about Madison's "all white" neighborhoods. I lived, for 7 years, in a very nice, newer, middle class neighborhood on Madison's far west side. Nice, well kept, family occupied homes. On my small block alone I had neighbors that were African American, Bi-racial, Latino, Asian, and European American. And not just one or two families of each but several families of each. Everyone got along just fine and I NEVER heard or saw one second of discrimination. My grandchildren go to a beautiful new school in that neighborhood where there are 64 different countries represented in the students. If you walked around the school at recess time or through the neighborhood after school you would see children of every possible racial and ethnic makeup playing with one another and running in and out of each others houses. Now there are no rental units in that neighborhood. All are owner occupied homes or I would suggest that as a good neighborhood for you. But the idea that there is no diversity in Madison always strikes me as downright peculiar after living in that neighborhood for 7 years. By the way, my bi-racial grandson lived with me in that neighborhood for a year while attending college in Madison and not one eyebrow was ever raised.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Everyone in Madison lives in a diverse neighborhood. It's true! And, for proof, they can tell you the exact numbers of non-white families that live in their immediate neighborhood, as if they went door to door with a clipboard and did their own census. "We have two African American families, one Hmong and three Latino households in this neighborhood!" Golly gee, we're all one big happy family here! Just ask the non-whites that I've put on a mental list to demonstrate that I am surrounded by "diversity!"

It's all relative. In the most diverse urban settings, which you can only find in places like New York or Los Angeles, there are so many different kinds of people that no one keeps count. It would be impossible. Walk onto a subway in New York City and no one is keeping track of who is what or where they're from. No one who lives in Hyde Park, Chicago, keeps a running tally of the ethnic makeup of their neighborhood. To do so would be futile, and pointless. If America is home to any true racial utopias, where the polyglot of diversity is so rich and varied that race almost becomes irrelevant, the closest thing we've got to that are those rare urban neighborhoods where there are so many different kinds of people, no one truly gives a crap about who is "what."

I'm trying to find that utopia, and I haven't found it. The closest I've come is where I'm living now, a place that's not a "white" neighborhood, "black" neighborhood, or "Latino" neighborhood. I have a general sense of who is "what" but I honestly would be hard pressed to break the groups down into specific numbers. I can tell you that there are two Latin families on my block (they stand out somewhat because they speak Spanish), and the rest is a blend of Black and White, with some Asians thrown into the mix. What's the exact breakdown? I haven't a clue. Do I care? Yes. But I wish I didn't care.

[Megan1967]

And, for proof, they can tell you the exact numbers of non-white families that live in their immediate neighborhood, as if they went door to door with a clipboard and did their own census.

I only started counting in order to respond to your claims that there are no people of color in Madison. I honestly hadn't really thought about it, but sat down one night and took a mental inventory just so I'd have some solid facts to give you.

[Chelito23]

I also believe if someone is able to tell you how many X families there are in their immediate neighborhood it is because the neighborhoods here tend to be close knit and small. Madison is a SMALL city after all, so it isn't impossible to keep up with the comings and goings. Most people could probably also tell you all of their neighbor names and places of work as well, in addition to race.

Now, I agree Madison is not a melting pot or very diverse, but it is not lilly white and it DOES has a small but growing minority population.

Also to note, many of the newer, diverse residents have move in recently, over the past 5 years or so...which explaisn why ex-residents probably aren't as aware as some of the current residents regarding this issue.

It is true though, that compared to most places in the US, Madison is overwhelmingly white.