Advise on the Edgerton Area (Madison, Kenosha: real estate, apartment complexes, to rent)

[Nysee53]

I am a doctor from Chicago's northern suburbs. I just applied to a job in Edgerton, WI. I will be traveling back and forth from Chicago to Edgerton probably weekly or bi-weekly. I will be living in Edgerton by myself and I am looking to find out more about Edgerton and where to live. I am an african-american woman and I have heard that it can be fairly racist in the smaller Wisconsin towns and Madison which makes me concerned about considering this job. I desire a nice clean, safe, neighborhood, in which I can feel safe being in as an african-american. I looked at a new townhome place that is on Thronson Road, right near Main Street. My housing budget is up to $150,000 and if I were to rent, I would like to spend no more than $1,500. I did a google streetview and the Thronson Road area looks like there are a lot of farm families. Is that area a good area for a person like me? Is it possible to commute from Madison to Edgerton daily? Also, I have heard that Middleton is a nice area, how far is that and is it within my budget?

Thank You!

[Chelito23]

Yes you can commute to Madison from Edgerton.

Just curious, why Edgerton?

I don't think you will experience any more over racism in Wisconsin small towns that anywhere else. You don't sound like you will be around very much, so I don't know how much interaction you would even have at a local level.

You should be able to find housing in your price range in that town.

Madison is not racist by a long shot. Middleton is basically Madison with a different name. You will be fine and shouldn't experience any problems being African American and living in these places. The prices for a house in Madison are higher and it will be hard to meet your criteria for a house under 150K, but you should be able to rent something nice for under 1,500 a month.

[Nysee53]

The hospital that I applied to is in Edgerton, so I would like to be close to my workplace.

[montyc]

I would stick with Janesville or the Northwest part of Beloit. I know Edgerton well. The town and people are nice, but they don't take kindly to non-whites. That's just my observation. Good luck.

[Nysee53]

Thank you for the advise montyc. How far are Janesville and Beloit from Edgerton? I will look into those two towns and maybe they will be friendlier to a doctor from Chicago, since I know Wisconsiners don't tend to like Chicagoans. LOL. Where could I find a nice new home in one of those places for less than $200,000? I am also considering a position that is in Kenosha, which is only 45 minutes from my house and depending on the pay I will have to decide between the two. Is Middleton far from Edgerton? How much would a house or condo there cost, preferably newer? I would like to be in a more cosmopolitan atmosphere. I thought Edgerton looked a little, you know.

[emmie3g]

I thought you were a real estate agent and moving to boston? and your husband was the doctor????

[nanannie]

I just read she is a new home builder on the north shore.

[Nysee53]

I have been building homes with a good friend of mine for years now. I am a doctor and I am on staff at Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and Lake Forest Hospital. My father is a real estate developer and he trained me in real estate. I got a brokers associate license two years ago to help supplement my business. My husband and I had looked into Boston because of the higher pay, but I ultimately decided to stay because of my business and my kids school situation. I was checking out my Evanston Development Question and I saw things about another user. Another reason we decided to stay is because we are in the adoption process. Condell said that they wanted me to go to Edgerton for 1 year to work and I could make more money, but I am not sure that I would do too well there. Hope this clears everything up!

[Megan1967]

Frankly, I think you are right about racism in smaller towns. Even if you didn't encounter racism, you might feel conspicuous as I don't think there are too many African Americans in Edgerton or the surrounding communities. I could be way off on this though, it's been a long time since I lived in that area. I did an internship in Edgerton and I was raised in Janesville which is only about 10-15 miles away, but I've lived in Madison for 23 years and I only go down there occasionally to visit family at this point.

Madison and Middleton are both a very long drive to Edgerton, esp in winter weather, but you're from Chicago so you know what that is like. Madison or Middleton to Edgerton would mean either going hwy 14 which would be extremely slow (and a little risky in the winter) or the interstate (I90/I94). It would be at least a 40 minute drive on the interstate and maybe a little longer on hwy 14.

As far as housing goes you will not find the kind of home you are looking for in Madison for $150,000, but $1500 in rent will get you a very nice apartment.

Now about Janesville.... Again, it might have changed, but when I was growing up there were exactly two African American families in town. I know there are more people of color now but, unfortunately, most came when the GM plant was playing musical chairs with employees. They transfered a bunch of line workers from Janesville to Fort Wayne, IN and then a couple of years later transfered a bunch of line workers from Detroit to Janesville. I don't mean to be a snob, but line workers (of any race) are not *usually* that well educated or well traveled so I don't think you, as a doctor, would find you had a lot in common with these people even if you share ethnic background. I feel terrible generalizing like that, but for the most part I believe it is true. The people you'd have the most in common with would most likely be overwhelmingly white. If you are cool with that and don't focus on differences as opposed to the similarities you share with other people you'll be fine, but you will be noticed in a crowd.

If you choose to live in Madison, pick the house and neighborhood you like, don't try to find a specifically "Black" neighborhood. I get a little frustrated when people post here to find out which areas of Madison are Black, Hispanic, etc. Everyone tells them to check out the North side apartment complexes or the Allied Drive area. Madison doesn't have ethnic neighborhoods. Everything is socio-economic. People live with other people in their income bracket. Unfortunately, the poorer areas do tend to have more Blacks, Hispanic, Asian residents, but that doesn't mean you should tell the Hispanic physicist who is moving here to work at the UW that he/she should check out housing in the Allied Drive area! People need to share more in common than skin color

[WiscoGirl]

I know that I am a few months late on this but here are my 2 cents.

I was born and raised in Edgerton. I went to school up in La Crosse and have worked in Madison so I have been outside of this small town. Edgerton is a small town and there is a very small town like atmosphere. Racism is a problem everywhere not just in Edgerton but even so I don't think it is a huge issue. No there aren't many blacks in the area. I think I went to school with only 3 or 4 black students (I graduated from the HS in 2003) so there isnt a large black population. I love it in Edgerton and it will always be home no matter where I actually live. Thronson Rd is right on the outskirts of town and while nothing is far from anything in Edgerton you might want to move more into the center of town. I dont know how long you plan on working in Edgerton but they are planning on building a new hospital out of town on hwy 59 so you might want to look at living in Newville or towards the east side of Edgerton.

I find Edgerton to be very friendly with everyone knowing everyone. The main newspaper is playfully called the Edgerton Repeater instead of the Edgerton Reporter because everyone already knows the news before the paper is published.

Edgerton is a great community and while there are some negative feelings towards Chicagoians it is not towards anyone who is coming to work here but towards some of the rude people who vacation here.