need advice, please help (Madison, Baraboo: apartment, rental, elementary school)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by nayefceo

my wife is very excited about the beer and wine. she is already planning trips to vineyards and brew pubs in the area. so for her, it will be a great time. she is also a cheese freak, so needless to say, the transition to wisconsin food and beverage culture wont be so difficult.

Beer tourism in Wisconsin is a blast. I've already done two three-day weekend brewery/brewpub tours of Wisconsin and I've barely scratched the surface. I'll have to start adding wineries into future trips. I don't know that there are that many really good wineries in Wisconsin, but since I'm not much of a wine conaisseur it doesn't matter that much to me. Just getting there is half the fun and it's almost always a great time hanging out at the cute little wineries and sipping wine and nibbling on overpriced snacks and all.

[nayefceo]

cool. sounds like fun. i dont drink but love to visit these places and i'm very intrigued by the processes involved in brewing beer and making wine. me personally, i'm a big farm geek. so i think we will fit in just fine on that level.

as for the diversity, let me remind everyone, we are currently in Salt Lake City. not the stronghold of tolerance and diversity in the country. so i think madison will be an improvement regardless of how limited it might be.

[nayefceo]

anyone have any feedback on the elementary schools on the east and west side? any really good ones? bad ones? my son is at one of the elementary public schools here in salt lake. so i would like the new school to be somewhat similiar. thanks

[Drover]

General consensus is that schools on the west side of Madison are better than the east side, though most are generally good. There's been some chatter about schools in the Madison forum, you might be able to turn up something by using the search function.

[schrovm]

I am from Wisconsin and, in fact, just recently retired. I was an English teacher in High School. If I were you, and concerned about the education of my son, I would most definitely choose Baraboo. Yes, it's small, but there is little crime, the schools are small enough that your son would receive personal care from his teachers (unlike Madison schools), the area is beautiful and only a few miles from the Wisconsin Dells. Your wife will have no difficulty in finding something good to drink with her meals, no matter where you go in Wisconsin. I believe that you are closer to the Ho-Chunk in Baraboo. Don't quote me on that. Hope this helps. Madison is a good day trip with many things to see; however, State Street, which is the center of the tourist industry, is not so safe any more.

[Dairylander]

Originally Posted by schrovm

State Street, which is the center of the tourist industry, is not so safe any more.

During the day, State Street is as safe as Mayberry.
(unless you consider being asked for spare change "assault")
After dark, however, you risk getting vomited on by rowdy undergrads.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by schrovm

. . . the schools are small enough that your son would receive personal care from his teachers (unlike Madison schools) . . .

The student/teacher ratio in the Baraboo and Madison districts are basically the same. In fact many Madison elementary schools have a student/teacher ratio well below that of those in Baraboo.

[nayefceo]

thanks for all the input.

as for the whole baraboo thing, yes i know its small and relatively safe. but being from NYC originally, i'm not worried about my safety in madison. i'm sure its not that serious. when we moved here to utah, everyone told us, oh, dont go to the west side, all the gang members are there etc......

so the first thing i did was, go to the westside to see how bad this area could be. i mean, was it a bit run down?, yeah, some unsavory characters, yes but not compton or brooklyn during the crack wars. so its all relative. i'm sure as in every place, you have your element but if you are smart, most things can be avoided.

my biggest concern for my son and wife being in baraboo is not the proximity to the tribe which obviously would be a huge benefit nor the quality of education which i'm sure is not that much of a difference either way, at least i hope. its more of a diversity issue. i want my son to feel as comfortable as possible as well as my wife. his current school while in utah, is pretty diverse because of the area we currently reside in. my concern in baraboo would be the limited diversity because it is a small town. its a tough balance and tough call.

what i may try to do is live in baraboo initially throughout spring summer before school starts for my son and get a real feel and if it doesnt work, then move to madison. but i'm still thinking about it.

[nayefceo]

ive learned that if your family is not happy, it can make the easiest of moves really, really difficult and place unecessary stress on a marriage. not what i want at all, so if the commute is something i have to deal with then so be it. we'll see i guess.

thanks again to all who are giving input. i really do research everything you guys tell me and do appreciate it.

[Bo]

I know someone who commutes to UW from Baraboo and someone else who commuted to UW from Wisconsin Dells for 10 years before retiring. Neither of them enjoyed the commute in the winter and their chief complaint was the traffic from their fellow commuters. (They had some hair-raising tales about a couple of slippery hills on US 12 to beware of in winter. Those may be better since the widening.) Doing the reverse of their commutes would likely be much easier because you'd be going the opposite way of most commuters.