East or West (Madison, Sun Prairie, Middleton: houses, established neighborhood, best schools)

[catching_up]

I'm moving to Madison this summer and I'm trying to decide if there are any differences between the East and West side in terms of safety, school systems, etc.

It seems that the West side is more expensive but I can't tell if the price increase equals an increase in quality.

[Drover]

Madison: East Side or West Side?

Need advice on housing

Best middle and high school or schools in Madison area

Schools, Rent, Areas, Advice Please

That should be a good place to start.

[Megan1967]

There are so many plus's and minus's to both sides of town. You really have to visit and see what you like. Plus, there are some pretty big differences within the various parts of both sides of town. Maybe it would help to give us an idea of what you are looking for.

[Sorge]

Originally Posted by catching_up

I'm moving to Madison this summer and I'm trying to decide if there are any differences between the East and West side in terms of safety, school systems, etc.

It seems that the West side is more expensive but I can't tell if the price increase equals an increase in quality.

Speaking of schools ..... West side!
West side is more expensive, it's true. If it looks too expensive for you, go to the East side, it is not too bad. Look at Monona, it should be a good city of the East, another good one might be Sun Prairie. But if your budget is fine about going to the West side, than it you will feel better on the West.
Just don't go south. Or, if you go south, go far south, to Verona.

[Megan1967]

I've heard that Sun Prairie's school aren't that hot from a couple of different sources. People get lured in by SP because housing is cheap there, but really there is a reason for that. It's a generic, boring community with so-so schools. It's also pretty far from, well, just about anything.

[jbear182]

The near West and South side (Lakeside Street area) are cool. Anything past Nakoma is generic. If you like strip malls, and endless chain restaurants the mid to far West side is for you. Verona, Sun Prairie, McFarland, Oregon, whats the difference? All very bland with endless vanilla sprawl.

[dcnurse]

When you guys says West side, is there anywhere in particular that you are speaking of? Specific town/area name?

[Bo]

Originally Posted by dcnurse

When you guys says West side, is there anywhere in particular that you are speaking of? Specific town/area name?

I used to live west of Junction Rd in Junction Ridge. That was a great area with some of the best schools in the city.

[Megan1967]

Junction Road is far West. Not sure which schools it feeds into, but any Westside school tends to be good.

There are areas of the far West that are very generic (I guess I would consider the Junction Rd area to fall in this category - sorry Bowie), but the neighborhoods off of Gammon Way, mainly to the east of Gammon are very nice - big trees, nice lots, nice houses (some very upscale). Rosa Road area is nice, too.

The area jbear is referring to is considered "near west." It has older (in a good way), more established neighborhoods. It is also nice area in that it is very accessible to downtown, but not populated by students. The University "corridor" up all the way into Middleton is very nice too.

Here is a map of what I consider the "generic" areas of the Westside. This is sort of a rough boundary.

http://acmewebweavers.com/Generic.jpg

[Megan1967]

Big mistake.... I did not mean Gammon Way, I meant Gammon Road.