What do you love & not love about Madison? (Milwaukee: buying, college)

[Megan1967]

Yes, I considered Austin and still haven't ruled it out, but financially moving isn't an option for me right now. I went to visit with my sister and she pretty much prevented me from really getting to know the place. For instance, one thing I wanted to do was to hang out at the Zilker Park pool, but she wouldn't even go in the gates. We sat on the other side of the fence and looked in. It was weird and a huge waste of time and money.

[gorlock]

I've lived in Madison for over ten years now. I can tell you it is comfortable and a livable city but has some major drawbacks. The main drawback I see is that the people here are clique. While the culture professes to be open it is in fact small townish and gossipy. Winters commonly have a few weeks of near 0 temps with high winds with nothing to do culturally unless you consider going out to eat, drink and listen to live music or go to a movie a cultural experience. If you are going to raise a family here you could do worse but for a single person over 25 there really isn't much here.

[Drover]

I'm curious, what cultural experiences would you like that Madison does not offer?

[Milwaukee City]

The elitist attitude from majority of the people.

[Nique]

Probably redundant, but I wanted to put in my 2 cents...

Love:
- City upkeep. Madison is beautiful, there are tons of great parks everywhere (I've never lived anywhere in the city that had less than 2 parks within walking distance) very little litter/graffiti etc. I think the property taxes are worth it for what we get.
- in the same vein, great bicycle paths! I can get almost everywhere I need to go by bike 6 months out of the year.
- Great people. I find most people here are intelligent, friendly, and easy to get along with. But then, I"m a liberal, so take that for what it is. I don't know why people call Madisonians elitist; you're talking about a city of people who dress and act the same whether they're at bratfest or the opera. I find it unpretentious. And people get really enthusiastic about whatever they're doing - whether it's a badger game or a local music festival.

To speak to that point for a moment, when I first moved here it did take me about 6 months to figure out why everyone here was so excited to tell me how great Madison is and how much they loved it. And then once I'd found some social circles and done some of the great things here (Concerts on the Square, walk the arboretum, etc.) I became one of those beaming Madisonians. It can take a little while to feel like you're on the "inside" here, but once you've been here a bit and found your niche, it's great.

- also love the local music scene. You can find great live music in this city 7 nights a week.
- Great bars and restaurants.
- Festivals and events in the summer: hardly a weekend goes by without some kind of festival, block party, outdoor concert, etc.
- Proximity to three bigger cities: you can get away to Chicago, Minneapolis, or Milwaukee for a weekend easily enough and therefore have access to their museums and major events as well.
- Schools and enrichment opportunities: We moved here just before I was in high school, and the change in quality from where we were living in Denver to here was huge. There are also tons of opportunities for both adults and children to take all sorts of classes, participate in music or theater groups, etc.


Things I don't like:
- after living in Minneapolis, Madison feels small. You have to get into the groove of going to a lot of the same places and having your regular spots, because there's simply not the variety of a larger city.
- Parking and driving in the winter: it sucks right now. Seriously. Of course, I have to park on the street, so I probably notice more than a lot of homeowners.
- Rent: On average you'll pay the same to rent a place here as you will in Minneapolis. Which is stupid.
- Student pedestrians: yeah, they don't really seem to get the "cars can hit you and hurt you" thing and will wander into the street oblivious to traffic. But that's only an issue when driving in the campus area during classtimes.

Overall, Madison is an amazing, fun, and great city. I'm extremely glad my folks moved us here when I was a kid.

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by Nique

- Student pedestrians: yeah, they don't really seem to get the "cars can hit you and hurt you" thing and will wander into the street oblivious to traffic. But that's only an issue when driving in the campus area during classtimes.

Why don't we have a little emoticon for someone laughing? I so agree with that statement. Pedestrians *do* have the right away - in crosswalks - but some of the students seem set on being "dead" right. That and the fact that they seem to think anywhere they choose to drop off the curb is a cross walk. I love the ones that wait until you are too close to hit the brakes safely before scurrying across 3 lanes of traffic.

[Indi9]

Why do some of the folks posting here keep writing about Madisonians being elitist? Most of the people I have known and met in Madison are very down to earth, with the exception of this one coffeehouse on Monroe Street, which I consider to be an exception to the rule. The atmosphere was so uptight and depressing. The folks there barely even spoke to each other and made it clear that I was not welcome there, that I was an outsider. Give me Willy Street's Ground Zero any day of the week. Very welcoming, cool, relaxed, etc.; the service, coffee, company, and conversation were excellent. I know where I will be hanging when I finally move back to Madison in August.

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by Indi9

Why do some of the folks posting here keep writing about Madisonians being elitist? Most of the people I have known and met in Madison are very down to earth, with the exception of this one coffeehouse on Monroe Street, which I consider to be an exception to the rule. The atmosphere was so uptight and depressing. The folks there barely even spoke to each other and made it clear that I was not welcome there, that I was an outsider. Give me Willy Street's Ground Zero any day of the week. Very welcoming, cool, relaxed, etc.; the service, coffee, company, and conversation were excellent. I know where I will be hanging when I finally move back to Madison in August.

Well, funny you would mention Monroe St. being unwelcoming. That would be considered an elitist area IMO, and yet it is often mentioned here as "super cool" and one of the first places one should look at for houses, if one has the good fortune to be in a certain price range.

[Indi9]

lol... The Monroe Street area was ridiculously elitist. At least my experience there inspired some good poetry. All you can do in a situation like that is go into "the zone"--or leave. Ha. Which was not much of an option that day--New Year's Eve in the afternoon. It also inspired me to head out to Willy Street the next day.

The one thing I do like about the Monroe Street area is the Arbor House (an environmentally-friendly bed and breakfast)--which turned out to be in large part a nice, warm, comfy, welcoming oasis in the midst of the sad coldness I experienced in the Monroe Street area. Oh yes, A Little Taste of India was also nice--gracious service, brilliant chai...

I guess you have to take the good with bad. Whatever... I still love you, Madison, Wisconsin. There are elitists everywhere. Ironically, I think this kind of service or atmosphere of exclusion in time has the effect of hurting a place economically. You would think that in these "interesting times" folks would try to be more welcoming, if only to expand their costumer or consumer base. Oh well... I have a strong feeling that Willy Street or the east side will be my home base, and I will save Monroe Street for, if anything, brief shopping trips. Get in, get out. lol

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Indi9

Why do some of the folks posting here keep writing about Madisonians being elitist? Most of the people I have known and met in Madison are very down to earth, with the exception of this one coffeehouse on Monroe Street, which I consider to be an exception to the rule. The atmosphere was so uptight and depressing. The folks there barely even spoke to each other and made it clear that I was not welcome there, that I was an outsider. Give me Willy Street's Ground Zero any day of the week. Very welcoming, cool, relaxed, etc.; the service, coffee, company, and conversation were excellent. I know where I will be hanging when I finally move back to Madison in August.

Even being "down to earth" can take on its own form of elitism where they harumph at anyone and anything that isn't "down to earth" like they are. For instance, by lamenting neighborhoods that are "ridiculously elitist" (wait, didn't you just say that almost everyone you've met in Madison is not elitist? Then how can you know there's an entire elitist section of town?) where one finds stuffy coffee houses full of people people who barely speak to each other. Had it occurred to you that they didn't want to be spoken to? True laid-back people adopt a "to each their own" philosophy and understand there is room in this world for places like Ground Zero and stuffy Monroe Street coffee houses where people just want to be left alone. It's like this: you go your way, I'll go mine, they'll go theirs and we'll all find what we need. But I guess that's not "down-to-earth" enough for some people.