Smaller communities outside madison (Milwaukee: living, area, territory)

[Stone1]

I have never been to Monroe so I looked it up on the map and it looks like it is too far from Madison to give much thought to.

[BadgerGrl]

Originally Posted by drawk04

I'm glad you enjoyed the Dorf Haus.....believe it or not, I'm actually the guy who makes the german potato salad....I work there Thur and Fri evenings. I'd like the tweak the recipe slightly but the owners and customers it seems enjoy it the way it is....

That's cool! What's the secret to their sauerbraten? No matter how I make it, it's still tougher than how they make it at the Dorf Haus. Is it the cut of beef?

[larsona10]

Hello,
I am interviewing for a position in the Madison area on Thursday. I've been a Badger fan all my life because I attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison. However, in business, this position will require a sales territory between Milwaukee and Madison. I need to be closer to Madison than Milwaukee in order to go into the company several times per week. Can anyone recommend a few good communities which are quiet and very nice outside of Madison on the East side? Do I look into Janesville or is that too far East? Should I consider Sun Prairie? Not sure where to look. I would need to find a new apartment by July 1st in one of these areas. Or should I just live on the East side of Madison?
Many thanks for your help!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by larsona10

Hello,
I am interviewing for a position in the Madison area on Thursday. I've been a Badger fan all my life because I attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison. However, in business, this position will require a sales territory between Milwaukee and Madison. I need to be closer to Madison than Milwaukee in order to go into the company several times per week. Can anyone recommend a few good communities which are quiet and very nice outside of Madison on the East side? Do I look into Janesville or is that too far East? Should I consider Sun Prairie? Not sure where to look. I would need to find a new apartment by July 1st in one of these areas. Or should I just live on the East side of Madison?
Many thanks for your help!

If you intend to avail yourself of Madison's various amenities, Janesville seems a little far afield. Plus there's just not much going on in Janesville itself.

If you're looking for a nice community between Milwaukee and Madison leaning closer to the latter, the ideal place to start looking would be Lake Mills.

[CowsAndBeer]

Apparently even the weather in Monroe is worse than Madison!

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by CowsAndBeer

Apparently even the weather in Monroe is worse than Madison!

I laughed at that too!
I spent part of my childhood on Monroe though and frankly, I have to agree with the post on most other things.

That town was about 10K in population when I lived there in the 70's and I think it is still about 10k today.
(Probably 9800 are the same folks too.)

[CowsAndBeer]

I have a few relatives there, and outside of the cheese fest, you're probably right. It's no worse than Stoughton or other towns of similar size in the area as far as I can tell, though.

[Drover]

True but Stoughton has the major benefit of being within minutes of Madison and all that Madison has to offer. I could live in Stoughton; I don't think I could live in Monroe. I like Monroe and it has its charms, but as someone who grew up around 9 million people I just don't think I could live in the relative isolation of that particular location unless I were offered the career opportunity of a lifetime there or something.

If Stoughton and Monroe switched places, then I would come to greatly prefer Monroe to Stoughton as a place to settle down.

[mrs.cool]

Your best bet is to be in one of the many communities JUST off the Interstate between madison and Milwaukee. Look at Cottage Grove, Marshall, Deerfield, Lake Mills, Johnson Creek, Oconomowoc, Delafield...
Cheapest are going to be Deerfield and Marshall, and they're very close to the interstate. Lake Mills is the nicest and even closer to the interstate. As in in the town. Johnson Creek has some nice development out by the interstate, but the old downtown is horrid. Once you get to Oconomowoc and Delafield prices are going to be higher.
Jefferson is a nice town, bigger than Deerfield/Marshall/J.Creek, but further off the I.
Watertown? Ick.
Stoughton and McFarland are too far from Milwaukee, IMHO.

[Newbern]

Originally Posted by Stone1

It looks like we would need to be further out, a $100k for a couple acres would not be good on our budget... I know the WI property taxes can vary from one location to another fairly quick.

Dane county has one of the highest tax rates in the nation...and with the county board, it'll only get worse, so anyone wanting to retire in dane county should seriously have their noggin examined.

Your kids are only a two year gig left, so I'd not mortgage your life/retirement on their desires. If they really want to live in madison, they can rent an apt there and both parties will be better off.

NE, E and S of madison is flatland, boring IMO. I"d go north, NW, or west. There are new communities in those areas.

You (and everyone else) should check their tax/school district they are considering moving to because one house can have double the taxes as another one, but be in the same city/town. And some towns themselves have exceedingly high taxes.