Stoughton???Any thoughts... (Milwaukee, Madison, Janesville: fit in, real estate, house prices)

[jefmol]

Our family is returning to the Madison area after 8 years away (we have been living in Tennessee). We lived in Middleton before, but we are considering Stoughton. To be honest we lived in Middleton for 7 years and I have never stepped foot in Stoughton.

Can anyone offer any insights? Are there any areas to avoid as far as housing? We are looking for a 4 bedroom with character (cliche I know) with not alot of yard. Our agent has sent us a cute listing over on Giles Street (near the hospital I think), does anyone know that area?

Our daughter would be attending Stoughton High School. Are there any concerns about it?

I think I remember that Stoughton has a cute little downtown. Is that right? Are there a couple of restaurants?

We don't have commute issues, the hubby works from home and our son will be living on campus at UW Madison.

I would be so grateful for any insights. Please share your thoughts!!

[Drover]

Stoughton is probably the best bang for your buck right now anywhere in Dane County, which has gotten pretty expensive in the 8 years since you left (not that it was particularly cheap back then either). I don't think there are really any "bad" parts of Stoughton. Downtown is cute enough but not especially vibrant compared to other small towns nearby like Mt. Horeb or Mineral Point. It gets by but it doesn't draw a lot of tourists and shoppers and the like. I don't know much about the restaurant scene other than knowing there's your standard fast food restaurants including a Culver's and an A&W.

Word on schools is that they lag behind some of their counterparts in Dane County, but that's a pretty high bar. I haven't done a ton of research on schools, but Stoughton schools strike me as the type that do fine at providing all the fundamentals, and beyond that, the students whose parents take the initiative to enhance their childrens' education at home are the ones who will be the standouts. To get a more thorough assessment of the schools, schoolmatters.com and greatschools.net are good resources to check out.

Of course there are good recreational opportunities in the area with Lake Kegonsa (part of the same chain as Lakes Mendota and Monona in downtown Madison) and Lake Kegonsa State Park just north of town. Overall I think Stoughton provides as good a balance between quality of life and cost of living as you'll find in Dane County.

[jefmol]

Thanks for your reply! It is funny...we are moving from an area that is outrageous as far as house prices (200.00/sq ft +) so we think Madison is a bargain

I appreciate your insight on Stoughton. We are also considering Waunakee, Middleton and Oregon.

Hopefully our visit in a couple of weeks will clarify things for us!

Thanks again!

[Liz_E]

i don't know if this is much help, but there are a couple of decent restaurants..

Deak's is pretty good, it's a bar-and-grill type setting but you get a LOT of food.
Marsala's (Italian) seems to be known for their pizza, and i think their other food is good too.. i know there is a chinese restauant too, right by the comfort inn, but i haven't eaten there. And i heard the food from this mexican place (some unoriginal name like el rio grande) is awesome but i didn't make it there either. (otherwise there's a taco john's that serves breakfast)..
personally, i'm not big on the whole fast-food scene.. so haha, yes, sometimes i research restaurants if i go somewhere.. which is pretty easy.. but sorry i don't know anything about middleton, except i got lost in it trying to get through madison..(hehe) or any of the other places.
good luck

[Megan1967]

I think Stoughton is a cute little town. It has a nice main street, lots of little small music venues (cafe carp), nice cultural arts center, nice little speciality shops. I'm not crazy about small towns, but it seems to have most of the plus's one can offer and then some. Real estate is way cheaper there, too.

[kt35]

Stoughton is nice, but has a small-town mentality which is good and bad. If you're not from there, it takes a while to fit in. I'm 10 minutes north of Stoughton in McFarland and think it's much better. We have less in terms of services (shops, etc), but are still quite close to Madison and Monona. I haven't heard anything good about the high school. When kids have to walk through metal detectors to get in, that's not a good sign (correct me if I'm wrong about this, but that's what I've heard).

[montyc]

I currently live in Stoghton, WI and have been a lifelong resident of nearby Madison. I just wanted to clarify that there is not and never was an A&W restaurant in Stoughton. Also, there are no metal detectors at Stoughton High School. I went to La Follete High School in Madison, with a student population of 1300 kids and there are no metal detectors there either. Home prices in Madison and Stoughton will be pretty much the same in regards to new homes. The one thing nice about Stoughton is the availabilty of older (ie. Victorian) homes that have stood the test of time and are well cared for here. Like the other people here have said, downtown Stoughton is like most other bedroom communities. They have just completed a new KFC/Taco Bell combo restaurant at the north entrance to the city, next to the PDQ gas station. Of course there is a Culver's, a Taco John's and a McDonalds. It also helps that the city is flanked by two Kwik Trips. It's a nice and safe community to raise a family in my opinion. Good luck.

[115db]

Ive only been to Stoughton once or twice and it appears to be a nice little town. Not too big, easy to get around, and at the same time, you can live and work there without having to commute, unless you worked in Madison.

[gold*dust1]

I'm not sure many couples could both work in Stoughton as the jobs available would be limited. It's a 17 minute commute into the east side of Madison and about equally far into Janesville so you could travel to either city for restaurants, point being Janesvilles eateries are mostly located in several square miles which would make it convenient. I can vouch that the Mexican restarant in Stoughton is good although they did raise their prices, it used to be a steal.

There is a new development being built by Kegonsa I know of and the houses in Stoughton are going for several thousand less than the same units in Fitchburg and Sun Prairie. The negative side is you would be stuck in Stoughton unless you want to drive to other cities, which could give one a feeling of isolation.

[JoshB]

I love Stoughton. When I used to do windows on houses and businesses we had lots of customers in Stoughton and as others have said it was a relatively safe town. I personally like proximity to Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee etc. Shoot your right on 51 so you can even head up north.

It's the cats meow if you ask me.