How's the 'Hood?? Chapman and Monroe (Madison, Middleton: apartments, rentals, buying a house)

[calloo]

Hey all, looking at buying a house near Chapman and Monroe, but I'm not as familiar with the neighborhood. We've been looking more at the Willy Street and Vilas areas.

Is Chapman and Monroe getting close to some sketchy areas of town?

Seems this house is close to some great things, but not right next to them.

But it still seems like getting to downtown / the hospital (work), the isthmus would be pretty reasonable.

Any 'hood lovers / haters out there. ; )

[Megan1967]

Nothing in that area is remotely sketchy.

[subclavius]

You don't want to get too close or else you end up with student housing, which tends to be loud, messy, a tad bit run down, and with cramped parking. Vilas can be close to that in certain sections.

I lived in Madison before, Monroe was my first choice but unfortunately there aren't too many apartments there. I simply couldn't get my moving van into some of the Vilas streets in what few apartments I saw there that were halfway decent (moving in February when the streets were covered in ice didn't help). I couldn't look in Willy St. due to some respiratory problems that the power plant would irritate, but I love that part of town.

Generally speaking, the near west (like Monroe) and near east areas (like Willy St) are where people live who want to be close to town but still have a more suburban lifestyle when not working or enjoying the nightlife.

As far as proximity goes, you'd be a lot closer to work and all the downtown events than if you lived Middleton, Cottage Grove, etc.

Madison doesn't really have sketchy areas as much as it has sketchy streets, like Coho, Allied Drive, and Loreen. However, the far east and north east area between the airport and outer edges of Atwood is seeing a lot of crime.

[subclavius]

Oops, forgot about Badger on the sketchy part.....

[calloo]

Thanks to you all. We ended up deciding to rent for at least 1 year. We went with a place on Kendall Ave with a 1-car garage, just 4-5 blocks from the hospital (my future place of employment).

I suppose we'd rather be out in the Willy steet area, but the short walk to work will be nice, and seems like there's plenty to do in the vilas area. Here's to hoping we made a good choice ....

[Dairylander]

You've made a great choice. The entire length of Kendall is great, even the student rentals on the eastern end of that street are quiet. I lived in that neighborhood for 5 years and really enjoyed it; walk to Whole Foods, Hoyt park, Video Station, and you'll have great access to downtown.
If you're on the eastern end of the street, you're in University Heights, if you're on the western end, it's usually just called the "West High" neighborhood, named after the high school above you on Regent Street.
Be sure to check out La Brioche True Food on University Ave. and Barriques Friday night wine tastings on Monroe St.
Kendall is really golden, with the one caveat that if you'll be here soon, you'll have increased traffic on your street due to people avoiding the construction on University Avenue. Street parking is also tight there, since the narrow road allows parking on only one side.
Enjoy!