Relocating to Madison area (Fitchburg, Sun Prairie: new home, job transfer, neighborhoods)

[dafish721]

My wife and 2 children (8 and 10) and I are considering relocating to the Madison area. I am looking to see if anyone has information about quality schools and housing in and around the Madison area. I would like a newer house in the $300,000 to $350,000 price range with good schools. I have 2 gifted children so, like everyone, am very interested in a quality education system. My wife and I would be working in "downtown" Madison so it would have to be an easy commute. I have looked online at housing and it looks like the Sun Prairie area is something we would be interested in. Does anyone have any other reccomendations about any other surrounding areas or any comments on Sun Prairie?

[yo vanilla]

i suggest you look at middleton, a small suburb on the west side. it was picked by cnn money as the #1 american city to live in iirc last year. it is close enough to madison that going to the city is fast; it is a fairly short commute to downtown via university ave. its close to the west towne mall, for instance, and not far off from the beltline (bypass hwy) which has alot of major businesses such as auto dealers, etc.

sun prairie by comparison is a few miles outside of the madison area altogether on hwy 151, and once you get past I94, where hwy 151 turns into washington ave, its a looong drive into downtown. its also a nice city, but in my opinion too far out into the sticks. it also seems to be driven by the highway; meaning its just full of franchise eateries, etc. boring.

basically middleton can offer you easier access to madison's restaraunts, shopping, and other amenities.

[LML]

The far west side of Madison has nice neighborhoods with nice houses in your price range. The schools in this area are excellent.

[Sideblinded]

Sun Prairie would not be my first choice.

Have you looked at Waunakee? I have a few friends that are teachers in the district.

[dafish721]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. How far of a drive do you think it is from Sun Pararie to downtown Madison? 15 minutes? I have looked online at houses in Middleton and there don't seem to be any "newer" homes in the $300,000-$350,000 price range. Waunakee and Sun Prairie seem to have many newer homes and neighborhoods and you money seems to get you more. Is this assumption correct? How are the schools in Waunakee and Sun Prairie? They both seem to be about the same commute.

[L.K.]

depends on where in sun prairie and the time you're commuting.You're right about middleton,it is a great place/great schools,but new homes are $400,000 and above.I would choose waunakee.Lots of new construction there and I would say schools there are alittle better than sun prairie from what I hear.

[Sideblinded]

I would pick Waunakee over Sun Prairie in a second, simply because I like Waunakee better!

Test scores look close:

Waunakee High School scores: http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/achievement/wi/1931

Sun Praire High School: http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/achievement/wi/1815

[Chelito23]

When my sister relocated back to the area, she looked into Sun Prairie because she wanted was priced out of Madison. She could ger more home for her money there and it is a nice community. It is also slightly less of a boondocks feel than the other suburbs, since there is a 4 lande freeway connecting it with MSN as oppsoed to the 2 lane country roads to the other areas (except Verona and Oregon)

[tanyagail]

We currently live in Sun Prairie and I would pick it over Waunakee. Waunakee does have nice schools doesn't seem to have much else to offer at this point. Very small "downtown" where Sun Prairie has a nice downtown with lots of growth, cute restaurants, and shops to visit.

I'm not familiar with Waunakee schools, but my daughter goes to CH Bird school I have been very happy with it so far. Her teacher is amazing and many parents have good things to say about the other teachers too. It has a small school feel where the Principal is always smiling and saying Hi to students etc. Yes, there is a higher percentage of "free and reduced lunch" students at this school but we have found the diversity refreshing.

I do find the commute into downtown very easy. Just hop on 151 and you are there in about 15-20 minutes. Brings you right up to the Capital building and a bunch of parking garages. You skip out of all the student traffic that is on the other side of downtown from the Middleton access points.

If you do pick Sun Prairie, I would suggest you look into the CH Bird or Royal Oaks school districts because of the easy access to Hwy 151 from the west side of town. The east side of Sun Prairie (Eastside school district) has great new homes, but you have to drive through Sun Prairie to get to the highway. Not a big deal, but adds about 5-10 minutes anytime you want to get into Madison. The west side of SP seems to be the area for more retail development and the new downtown development off of West Main Street.

We are moving out of SP due to a job transfer and we will miss our friends that we made here. Check out my post to another inquiry about Sun Prairie if you are interested in knowing more about it. Or feel free to PM if you or your wife would like more specific info.

Good luck!!

[tanyagail]

One more thought.....

Another 2 areas that you may want to look into would be Verona and Fitchburg (southwest of Madison). I think they have options for homes in your price range and the schools are known to be good. Might be a bit longer commute---especially from parts of Verona (maybe more like 30 min?) but they are on the west side of Madison which gives you good options for shopping and restaurants. Also some nice bike trails out that way--Military Ridge Trail comes to mind.