Moving to Madison - Seeking great schools & nieghborhood (Fitchburg: crime, neighborhoods)

[dawn1801]

My husband has received a job offer which would relocate us to Madison area. We haven't made the trip up yet to look at housing but have heard that Madison Public Schools are very good as our kids are in elementry school. His offices will be just south of Madison's 151/14/12/18 and west of the 14. So he doesn't want to commute more than 30 minutes.

We are looking for a kid friendly neighborhood somewhat near my husband's offices and looking at either Fitchburg or Middelton. Is there somewhere else we should be looking? How is Monoma? If one of these areas work is there neighborhoods that are friendly?

Also, we are outdoor people and like going for walks on trails, having our kids ride their bikes, go to the parks and enjoy boating. We cannot afford to live on a lake but do own a boat.

thx for the help!

[WesWes608]

Bay Creek (Lakeside/Emerson/Whitter) seems like a good fit for you, 15 minutes from Fitchburg close to the lake yet affordable and close to the zoo/pool/and many big parks, and good access to bike paths and 10 minutes tops to downtown. And to top it off, elementary school (franklin) is right in the neighborhood

[Megan1967]

If I had to choose between Fitchburg and Middleton, I'd pick Middleton. Middleton has more of a community feeling. Fitchburg is more a collection of housing developments that have banded together to make a "town," but they aren't a cohesive community.

[Dairylander]

Originally Posted by Megan1967

If I had to choose between Fitchburg and Middleton, I'd pick Middleton.

Ditto.
Fitchburg is sprawl, Middleton is a community.

[Bowie]

If you like Fitchburg, you should like Verona even more.

[Megan1967]

Not sure if that was sarcasm or not, but I like what I've seen of Verona. It is definitely not Madison, however. Sort of depends on what you are looking for. Verona is a small town, nice community with some cute local business and a lot of potential due to the prescence of Epic Systems. I wouldn't compare it to Fitchburg at all as they are total polar opposites in my opinion.

Middleton has the advantage of being a small town, but one that seamlessly joins with Madison so is very accessible to everything good Madison has to offer. You literally would not know when you crossed the city boarders if you didn't see the signs, but somehow it still maintains a sense of self.

You have to drive through country side to get to Verona, although Madison's south side sprawl is closing that gap in many places. That sprawling area is not an asset by any means and it's proximity doesn't really put you any closer to the things most people like about Madison.

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by Megan1967

Not sure if that was sarcasm or not, but I like what I've seen of Verona.

I wouldn't compare it to Fitchburg at all as they are total polar opposites in my opinion.

No, not sarcasm. My comparison had more to do with the direction/distance from the work location and the amenities that the OP was seeking. Given the OP's list, I was surprised she put Fitchburg on a short list of places to consider and figured that must have to do more with location than anything else.

[Megan1967]

Sorry, Bowie. Sometimes it's hard to interpret posts. One of the drawbacks of the internet. I do agree Verona is a good suggestion.

[gold*dust1]

Having grown up in the town of Verona for a considerable length of time, as well as Waunakee and Madison, to date Verona would be considered by definition a sprawling suburb.

One of our papers recently ran a story about Epic and got feedback that their technology isn't as great as the hype. With a well known competing high tech company in CA dabbling in Medical records, it would be devastating to see the ghost town Verona could become if in these hard economic times they went under.

Truth be told many people in past decades moved to the suburbs (which around Madison is the small towns that surround it) to get away from crime and diversity.

Verona was very much a one horse town and hasn't changed in that respect much. We used to have undetected parties at the rock quarry in the countryside leading to Verona mentioned here, although I wouldn't describe it as true countryside, especially now. Verona has always been a short trip away from Madison.

Fitchburg in my opinion is over rated by the people who like it and was created for those wanting to get away from city dwellers.

[160500]

I am a doctor and have used EPIC as well as many other electronic medical records systems. EPIC crushes the competition in my opinion. Actually, not just my opinion since I recently interviewed for new positions and discovered that both the University of Colorado and the University of Illinois are changing their EMRs to EPIC. I wouldn't worry about EPIC going under.