Moving to Madison area? (Monona, Verona: to rent, low crime, house)

[moving to a base]

My husband is with an airlines and is looking to move bases to Chicago. Having grown up in southern WI he would love to go back. He loves Madison -- I have not gone myself. We do not desire to live in the city itself. But request reccomendations on suburbs, especially school districts.
Perhaps on the south side -- if this is ok -- to cut down on a allready long commute. Looking for family friendly young area, low crime and like I said must have excellent schools.
Looking to move this summer -- ok to rent first.
Anyone want to buy a house in upstate NY please let me know!

[Bo]

I think you shouldn't rule out living in Madison proper. The Madison Metropolitan School District is renowned around the country as a wonderful place to teach. When I lived in Madison, West High School produced the largest quantity of Merit Scholars of any school in the state of Wisconsin. Not all schools in MMSD are excellent, but some are. Check out the link below for school ratings.

Madison Metropolitan School District schools, Madison - WI: charter and public schools. Madison school district - Madison WI school district

[Dairylander]

Commuting to Chicago from Madison? Brutal.
As far as neighborhoods go, avoid the south side of Madison around Verona Road.
If you look at a map of the greater Madison area, you'll see that interstate 90 to Chicago comes in from the South-East, so the communities of McFarland and Monona might serve you better. There are some really nice areas in both towns.
To really get the "feel" of living in Madison and not some sprawling suburb, you need to live within the beltline to the West (highway 12/14) and within Atwood Ave to the East. These areas will have great schools but an unreasonable commute to Chicago (2.5 hours to O'Hare).

[Harpoon]

If I were you I would move somewhere a bit closer to Chicago than here, it would be an awful commute from Madison. Maybe a smaller town in Lake County, IL, places like Round Lake, etc that are located on the METRA commuter rail line.

[Bo]

Pilots and flight attendants can commute to and from their bases by catching flights at the nearest airport. Considering the number of direct flights to O'Hare from Madison, it shouldn't be a problem for a pilot to live in Madison.