Considering a move to Madison (from Colorado) (Middleton, Shorewood: low income, house)

[acousticbiker]

My wife and I currently live in the Denver area and are considering a move to Madison to be closer to family. We have 4 and 2 y/o boys, are active and also enjoy urban amenities (lived for a long time in Chicago). We would appreciate help locating a neighborhood in Madison with as many of the following attributes as possible:

-Good public schools
-Safe neighborhood where the kids can play with other kids and ride their bikes around
-Good sized yards & mature trees
-Ability to walk to school, park, and a town/neighborhood center (grocery, restaurant, etc)
-Pool community (less important than the others)
-Less than $500k home that isn't a dump/fixer-upper

We've just started our research and it seems that the west side of town (near Monroe, Vilas, etc) seemed to meet some of the above. But we'd like to get some more input also.

[cheesehead1]

The neighborhoods off Monroe St. and Regent St. may be what you're looking for. We moved there from Boulder in 2000, and sadly moved on again. It's a great town! Lots of walkable neighborhoods close to downtown if you have a budget such as yours. Best of luck!

[Megan1967]

You described Monroe Street/Vilas area in your "wants" list. There is also an area on the near east side where Baldwin runs by the lake that is similar, but the yards are smaller.

500K will get you a very nice house anywhere in town so don't worry about dumps.

[cheesehead1]

Originally Posted by Megan1967

You described Monroe Street/Vilas area in your "wants" list. There is also an area on the near east side where Baldwin runs by the lake that is similar, but the yards are smaller.

500K will get you a very nice house anywhere in town so don't worry about dumps.

I forgot about Baldwin by the lake! What a great street. I didn't know you could get in there for 500k! Nice tip, Megan!

[Dairylander]

Monroe/Vilas is an ideal neighborhood, but don't get too close to Regent St. or Park St. or you'll be surrounded by rowdy undergrads.
Keyes Ave and West Lawn Ave are ideal if you have kids. A friend lives there and says in a 6 block area there are over 30 children under the age of ten. And don't get a house on Monroe St. itself; it's too busy.
If you want a "good sized yard" you may have to go a bit farther west to perhaps Hill Farms, which is bordered by these streets:
Whitney Way, Midvale Blvd, Regent St, Mineral Point Rd.
Hill farms has a great pool with a good swim team.

My folks moved from Boulder to Madison 35 years ago and say they are very similar. So if you've visited and liked Boulder, it could be a good match for you.

Even if you're using a realtor, check out fsbomadison.com for additional listings.

[Wiscobadger]

You might want to consider Middleton as a possible place to live. Madison schools have had an increase of low income families and some neighborhood schools have as high as 50% of their population as free or reduced. Look at www.madison.k12.wi.us where you can find this kind of information on each school.

Good luck. It is a great place to live and work! With the amount of money you are spending on a house, you might want to consider Shorewood Hills, a great neighborhood with some nice older homes.

Good luck

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by cheesehead1

I forgot about Baldwin by the lake! What a great street. I didn't know you could get in there for 500k! Nice tip, Megan!

I guess it depends on how big a house they want. A move in ready Victorian with 4000 sq feet is going to be more than 500K, but I'm betting they could get a nice 2500 - 3000 sq foot house in those neighborhoods for 500K.