Living in Madison as a destitute graduate student: places to live, things to do? (Monroe: apartments)

[katarzynat]

Hello,

I'm going to UW this fall for graduate school, and I have a few questions about the city. First of all, I'm coming from Cincinnati, OH -- judge if you must, Mark Twain did. I'm 22, won't have a car, am terrible with directions, and the only bus system I've ever navigated was in Turkey. I've been looking at apartments online, mostly within a block from State St. From what I understand, State St. seems like a great area and very lively. I am, however, intrigued by what you natives call the "East Side," near Williamson. I don't really care about "quietness," in fact the more raucous the better. In theory, I like all the typical things: cafes, interesting restaurants, thrift stores and bars. I suppose I'd fit well into that stereotypical hipster persona, but I'm also a Republican. Mostly, I'm wondering about the following: Where do most graduate students live/hang out? Is it an easy city to get around, walking or taking the bus? Can you recommend your favorite restaurants or hang-outs downtown? And any good resources to find apartments online that I can check out before I come visit?

This was a loaded post, and I felt like I was making a personals ad, but any help or suggestions would be fantastic and kind of you. Thank you!

[agb2003]

Check out cdliving.com for apt options...the east side and willy street are very cool. There are a couple great bars..mickey's tavern, weary traveler, crystal corners bar that are great and Lazy Jane's Cafe is fantastic for breakfast. The bus system here is pretty good and in general has great access to campus. You can probably stretch your housing search further than a block from State St...mainly undergrads live on/around State St. but the whole downtown area can get pretty rowdy so you'll probably enjoy it.

I live on the west side of Madison so I'm not sure about bus access from Willy to Campus..but, if I was going to be living here longer I would definitely live on/near Willy Street. You will love Madison!!

[RemiJP]

I am a grad student and live off of Willy Street. The neighborhood is great - I rarely leave! There is a great mix of bars, restaurants, and coffee shops. My neighbors are mostly other grad students, young families, and people who were grad students (30 years ago) and never left. I like living close to the lake for kayaking and there are lots of nice parks to walk my dog in. My favorite spots are Ground Zero Coffee, The Weary Traveler, Lao Laan-Xang, Bandung, and Sardine. I walk to the Capitol and State Street on weekends for the Farmer's Market (there's also a mini Farmer Market closer by in Central Park on Ingersoll on Tuesdays), shopping, etc. The Willy St. Co-Op is great, too. I frequently walk up to the Atwood neighborhood (takes about 10-15 minutes) to go to a show the Barrymore, to eat at Monty's Blue Plate Dinner or Tex Tubb's.

It takes me about 20 minutes to get to school/work on the bus, 15 minutes by bike. Riding my bike here is so carefree compared to what it was like in Boston - I ride on a separate/well-marked path the entire way. The (free for students) bus system is good. I'm still impressed by how closely the buses follow a schedule! My building is at the western edge of campus, near the hospital. That said, most of the people in my program live closer to campus, but I really don't understand why (other than having a walkable commute). Since I lived in an awesome neighborhood in Boston before, it was more important for me to be within walking distance to fun stuff, rather than school/work, as I was used to a 45 minute commute already. The neighborhood around Monroe St. is nice (Trader Joe's, Barriques Wine Cave, a handful of restaurants) but not as eclectic at Willy St.

I found my 2 bedroom place on Craig's List from an owner's ad. I was turned off by the large management companies here (Madison Rentals, Apex) but that works fine for some people.

[fisherman26]

Willy St./Atwood is probably the most interesting place around the town. I'm actually of the young professional type, and that area caters to the mid to late 20's crowd the best. Depending on what you like, The Crystal Corner will quite possibly remain as one of my favorite local/dive bars in any place I live in. It's filled with mainly locals, but not in a 'townie' kind of way, and has some pretty great live bands. Never had a bad time there.

The Capital Square area isn't too bad either, like places like the Brocah, Local Tavern, etc. There's also a few 'hidden' spots like the Argus and Meduro, etc. that are pretty fun.

State St., while having some cool shops/restaurants, is basically College Town USA socially, unfortunately...

[LucasS6]

Ya know, I loved State St., but I was 20-21 when I lived there. But it's incredibly happening and, yes, urban, for it's size. I had a car there and I'll be honest: It was parked in a free spot (that took me a couple days to find) for literally 7 months. I didn't drive anywhere. No need- everything I wanted was there. Something to think about.

[thetallnathan]

When I was a destitute grad student (living solely on the $875/mo or so that TAs clear), I lived in two neighborhoods:

-- My first year down in grad school in 2002-3 was in Miffland (aka the Basset neighborhood). My share of the apartment was $300/mo., which was below average. I was on Doty St., very close to WORT. Undergrad-heavy neighborhood, though grad students and, increasingly, $200k+ condos mixed in. Great for going car-less. Still walkable and very easily bikable to campus, though the bus routes aren't really ideal into that neighborhood. Capitol Center Foods has free delivery service, so a car isn't necessary. Though their prices are much higher than Woodman's, so you might do well to borrow a friend's car for food shopping. Some good neighborhood bars like the Echo Tap with lots of well-priced beer options. In warm weather, Brittingham Park (including tennis courts) is nearby, as well as the bike/pedestrian trail around Lake Monona.

-- My second year in grad school in 2003-4 was on E. Johnson St at Baldwin. My share of the 4-bed house was $275/mo., which was crazy cheap. Right by Tenney Park, probably my favorite park in the city, which was great. A bit further from campus and the rowdiness, but very good bus service (several routes use the Johnson/Gorham corridor). And also a pretty easy bike ride to campus. Quite a few other grad students, younger professionals, and some working class folks in the neighborhood. Several shops and hang-out spots around Paterson or Brearly and E. Johnson. Bars are a little more scarce, though the Caribou (a few blocks toward campus) is a legendary dive bar. The High Noon Saloon over on E. Washington is a great spot for live music and good beers.

As far as finding apartments, go to the Madison Craigslist. The UW-Madison Off-campus Housing Listings <http://housing.civc.wisc.edu/search_criteria.asp> used to be the best, but methinks they're waning now that craigslist has taken hold.

Best cheap eats on State Street for my money is the Mediterranean Cafe. Like six bucks for a big ol' plate of good food. Buraka (East African) or Husnu's (Middle Eastern) on the same block for a couple bucks more are also very good.

Near the Capitol, lots of good eats and good bars, but unfortunately, not many inexpensive ones. You can still get a good meal at the Great Dane for eight bucks, and many of their beers are truly great. Seriously. If you like beer, go there and get a sampler of all their brews (14-18, depending on the season). You might want a friend to share them with. Or at least don't drive.

I'll skip Willy Street since others have already discussed it here. Further east, Monty's Blue Plate out on Atwood is tops. Just up the street, Glass Nickel makes arguably the best delivery pizza in town.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure what to say about a Mark Twain-referencing, Turkey-traveling, thrift store-shopping, Madison-migrating hipster who's also a Republican. : / I'm simply not sure you'll find many of those. This tends to be a left-of-center town, particularly in the neighborhoods we're talking about on this thread. I will say, though -- I appreciate that in Wisconsin, the political spectrum is much broader than in many other parts of the country (like where I grew up). Historically, Wisconsin bred both Bob LaFollette and Joe McCarthy. In the present day, we've got both Russ Feingold and Jim Sensenbrenner. I tend to identify far more with the former in each of those pairings (if not a bit further to the left), and I'm glad there's room for that sort of politics here.