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We've been told by someone to have a look at Madison. (We are looking mainly in Westchester County Ny) Can anyone tell me about the schools in Madison? Are they as strong as the schools in Scarsdale or Edgemont in Westchester? What is the town like?
Schools are great in Madison. Rated in the top 10 in NJ if I remember correctly. It has a great little main street area with some fab places to eat and cute (mostly upscale) Mom and Pop stores. If you like Madison, you should also check out Chatham and Short Hills.
Yeah Madison is a nice town. It has a nice little downtown with a train station that goes directly into NYC in just about under an hour (about 55 minutes).
There are lots of little restaurants in town of various cuisines and the downtown is extremely walkable.
Also Madison has several universities within close proximity to the town (Drew, Fairly Dickinson, and St. Elizabeth's) and as a result the town has a somewhat progressive/hip feel to it because of the college kids.
I don't think the schools in Madison are nearly as good as the ones Scarsdale, NY (which has one of the top school districts in the entire country) but Madison definitely ranks high among NJ schools.
Madison is a great town! Great downtown, family oriented, good schools, great access to Rte 24, 78, PKWY and NYC via the train. Houses do run on the small side north of downtown, but they get pretty big and pricey on the hill going towards Chatham. Whatever your choice, you can't go wrong.
I love Madison! It exudes charm and character. This is one of our frontrunners for towns we are considering, and it has very good schools (at least based on test scores and people's opinions). Great transportation choices if you need it - direct train to mid-town and Hoboken, and you can also drive to Newark and take the PATH in.
Madison is small and nice. There are Stop and Shop, Shoprite, and Wholefoods. But, commute to New York wasn't really nice, since NJ transit was not really reliable. Also, it was hard to find a seat from NYC during peak hour, then sometimes I had to keep standing until Summit. The train was often late, and sometimes I had to go to Hoboken from NYC to go back to Madison (and fare is getting more expensive: off-peak round trip to NYC is $15, and One way is $8.75. You cannot use round trip ticket during peak hour. $246 monthly pass). The town is good for family, but not good for single people, and also not good for people of color as I myself had numbers of bad experiences there. Recycle pick up came every other week (a week for cans, glass, etc., and the other week for papers). If someone is rather conservative, wants to 'escape' from the city and is afraid of diversity while enjoying occasional touch of diversity experience, Madison might be a great place.
Madison is small and nice. There are Stop and Shop, Shoprite, and Wholefoods. But, commute to New York wasn't really nice, since NJ transit was not really reliable. Also, it was hard to find a seat from NYC during peak hour, then sometimes I had to keep standing until Summit. The train was often late, and sometimes I had to go to Hoboken from NYC to go back to Madison (and fare is getting more expensive: off-peak round trip to NYC is $15, and One way is $8.75. You cannot use round trip ticket during peak hour. $246 monthly pass). The town is good for family, but not good for single people, and also not good for people of color as I myself had numbers of bad experiences there. Recycle pick up came every other week (a week for cans, glass, etc., and the other week for papers). If someone is rather conservative, wants to 'escape' from the city and is afraid of diversity while enjoying occasional touch of diversity experience, Madison might be a great place.
First, there is no Shoprite in Madison, but in Chatham on Shunpike.
Second, while I don't live there, I've been working in Madison for over 11 years and Madison is accepting of "other" people. It has a large population of Columbians and blacks which families have been there for many years. Sure, there are some who feel others are beneathed them, but what town doesn't have those type of people.
As far as being conservative, the Town council is controlled by the Democrats. People have been crossing party lines for a number of years.
Madison is expensive to live, but truly a great town with a downtown feel.
I disagree with Sixthave. Madison is a great and accepting town. I lived there for almost 5 years. I commuted a lot into NYC, and never experienced unpredictable train rides, they were almost always on time. Sure, the trains are crowded, but then, that should tell you something about the area. People love the area and commute on a regular basis.
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