The skinny on Monona??? (Madison, Cottage Grove: city hall, houses, neighborhoods)

[zazutoo]

My family is considering a house in Monona. The schools seems pretty good; the house a wee bit cheaper than its equivalent in Madison. And we can be 2 blocks from the lake. Anyone want to comment? Anything negative would be appreciated. We started looking in the near west side of Madison (Regent, Vilas, University heights, Crestwood neighborhoods) because we love older houses, but it is really hard to find a house under $300K.

The posts on this forum have been good for me to read. I do wish I had found this forum a week or so ago, but . . .

Suzanne

[Chelito23]

Monona sounds like a good place, can't say much negative about it. Only that is does not have a regional mall nearby...if that is your thing. I know the areas on the lake flood into people's yards and homes in rainy summers....but that is immediately near the lake. Bugs would be bad too because of the water nearby...but other than that I think it is a nice place to live.

[LML]

The only thing negative I would say about Monona is that you should be certain that you don't intend to build on to the property as they are very restrictive about building permits....not adding large garages, etc. Other than that (and that isn't ALL bad) it is considered a pretty good place to live.

[toast12]

Nice Town.

[mononamom]

Did you buy a house? How old are your kids?

We worked long and hard to keep the 7 and 8 graders from going to school in Cottage Grove. We hope to move them back to Monona sooner or later. This will not start until 2008.

The good thing is the middle school (Winnequah) is being changed into the 3-6 school and they are spending $3 million on a remodel. It is smack dab in the center near everything.

The best part of Monona is the pool, library, dream park, sports fields, police station, city hall, community center, tennis courts, new 3-6 school and now a skate park. These are all within 1 block on Nichols road.

[CADRMNDANES]

I was looking at homes there a few weeks ago. My friends live in Madison. No one ever had anything bad to say about Monona. We were there during July 4th. They have a huge carnival in one of the many parks. Your kids can walk/ride their bikes to school. Usually they are only a couple of blocks away from something to do. The pool & library are also only a few blocks away. It seemed like a very nice community with LOTS of families.

[dkmisol]

Can't go wrong with Monona at all... yet another gem in the Madison metro area.

[conniefay]

I lived there as a little girl - about 40 years ago. Does anyone remember Mr. Lucky's? It used to be a fancy restaraunt/club.