East madison vs west madison (Washington: apartment, renting, low crime)

[jessicaplayful]

My husband and I are moving to Madison next spring, we are wondering about the benefits and downfalls of the East and West sides.

We are in our 30s, probably will have at least one child, nice neighbors but we are really into our privacy, I'm a nurse and will probably be working for one of the major hospitals, and we have 2 dogs.

Any advice would be so appreciated. Also are there any neighborhoods to stay clear of?

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Hi and welcome to Madison!

It seems as though a lot of folks come here looking for east vs. west insights, and there have been a number of good conversations in other threads about the relative merits of each. Since there are rather a lot to look through one by one, I went back through the list and found a few that I recall as being particularly informative or useful:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...west-side.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...t-isthmus.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...re-should.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...ghborhood.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/madis...nt-advice.html

In all of those discussions, you'll find passionate devotees of the east side and equally passionate supporters of the west side. I won't tell you that one is better or worse than the other, because I don't think that is the case, but it does pay to take the time to find the spot that feels right.

As to neighborhoods to avoid, well, as you'll see in several of the threads I linked above, Madison is not a tremendously cheap place to live. If you find a two-bedroom apartment renting for $600 a month, that's probably a clue that the neighborhood is likely to be an iffy one. Specific areas to avoid are the Allied Drive area, the Badger Road area, South Park Street near the Beltline, one or two small patches along East Washington, and some parts of the north side.

Browse the links above, check out the "variety of useful links" sticky, and see if those answer some of your questions. And if you come up with new ones, c'mon back and ask away!

[mad420]

Originally Posted by jessicaplayful

My husband and I are moving to Madison next spring, we are wondering about the benefits and downfalls of the East and West sides.

We are in our 30s, probably will have at least one child, nice neighbors but we are really into our privacy, I'm a nurse and will probably be working for one of the major hospitals, and we have 2 dogs.

Any advice would be so appreciated. Also are there any neighborhoods to stay clear of?

Since your wants are a little vague I would suggest the suburbs for a nice private spread. There are downfalls to all sides of town. It would be more helpful to know your price range.

[why_so_much_racism]

if you want to be close to work, you shoudl live on either hte near east or west side. west is closer but really it doesnt matter that much. if you want to live out of the way, i'll let you in on a secret, the best part of town is the far east side. its not close to downtown, about 9 miles away, but is very suburban, very relaxed, and with very low crime.

[jessicaplayful]

Thanks so much everyone for your helpful info. Can't wait to return to the Midwest, the people are simply the best!