Relocating to Madison (Middleton, Monona, Verona: low income, renter, crime)

[ct2wi]

Hey everyone, My family and I will be relocating to Madison in just a few weeks and I have been searching for apts for now until we get a feel for the place, I have located a few, the one I am leaning toward is in the Warner Park area can someone let me know what type of area this is? Is is child friendly? Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks, CT2WI

[Megan1967]

I'm afraid it is kind of an iffy area. If you can afford more rent I'd pretty much avoid the whole north side. There are nice residential areas on the north side, but the rental areas tend to be a little less than desirable.

[ct2wi]

Thanks for the input...what are the better areas to look into? I much more prefer the suburbs, however inlight of the winters my husband will want something closer to the city.

[Megan1967]

Madison really isn'nt a "big" city in that you would want to avoid the city proper. In fact, in most cases, you don't even know you are leaving the city and entering a suburb.

That said, you might consider Middleton or Monona.

Rather than list the areas you might want to look into, it is easier to list the areas you want to avoid since that list is much shorter.

• The area south of the beltline between Seminole hwy and Verona Road is not the greatest and even the area just to the west of Verona road can be kind of iffy these days.
• South Park Street.
• The Northside for rental properties, although the North Sherman Avenue from about Wheeler Road on up is okay.

[ct2wi]

What about the Monterey Drive and Trailsway area? It is located on the North side however I'm looking for safety as well as a good school system.

thanks!

[ranger17]

one thing to check is what school system would serve the area you are looking at living in. Kids can and do get bussed to other districts; so just something to keep on the checklist as you do some searching.

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by ct2wi

What about the Monterey Drive and Trailsway area? It is located on the North side however I'm looking for safety as well as a good school system.

thanks!

I would consider that close to Warner Park and include it in my assessment as a sketchy area.

[gold*dust1]

Ct, it really depends on your comfort level. I don't personally like the north side of town much, but I suppose if I was a renter it could suffice short term given the circumstances. There are some old all brick apts. surrounding Warner Park that 20 years ago were just fine...I don't know their current status.

There are several low income apt/townhouse complexes off Northport Drive/Dryden Dr. I think it's more the fact you might have neighbors that are undesirable more than the risk of becoming a crime victim, but there again that could happen anywhere. The Troy Drive area is somewhere you *really* probably don't want to be.

The schools servicing that area wouldn't be considered the most desirable, but then again it could be worse.

I guess my main question to you would be to wonder why you are interested in that area exclusively?

[ct2wi]

Not exclusively looking into that area, I blindly responded to an advertisement for an apt rental in that area, so I'm questioning the location before we actually get there. What are the better neighborhoods in Madison. Looking for something that does not have a lot of hussle and bussle, good to great school system and safety...noted crime is every where but a sense of safety is worth a lot!!!

[erinuncool]

I would also say that the North side is a little sketchy for the area. Not in general, but just when compared to the rest of Madison.

We relocated to Madison about a year and a half ago and live on the Far West Side.

I really like it, for what it is (suburbs), and it is very close to everything!

It takes me 4 minutes to get to Target. I can walk to my doctor's office. Good food within 5 miles. Even better food within 10 miles. Shoot down University Ave to get downtown (15-20 minutes, mainly because of a few stop lights). The beltline (Hwy 12) is half a mile down the road, which is nice because it takes me everywhere I want to go.

I live in the Wexford Apts on High Point Rd. They are clean and I feel safe here. Since it is a newer construction (compared to my old apt), I feel like it wasn't all that well thought out and things were done on the cheap, so we have had some maintenance issues, but the maintenance staff is really nice and they take care of things quickly.

We pay $905 for a 2 bdrm. About $150 more than we were hoping for when we moved to Madison, but all the $750 2 bdrms were kind of sketchy.

I also like where I live because it is in bike riding distance to a park and tennis courts, a small bike trail that leads to 2 ponds, etc. There is a brewery right up the road called Capital Brewery if that's your thing (it's certainly a big part of the WI culture to try different beers!).

Good luck with your search!