looking for safe, affordable neighborhood near trails (Madison, Waukesha: apartments, rental)

[mangopaco]

We're thinking of moving to Madison next summer and are on the lookout for some specifics:
- safety
- kid-friendly, we have a 3yr old with another on the way
- close to parks and running trails (dirt trails, not paved)
- bike-friendly

We're active and want to stay active. We're used to leaving our front door and heading out for a run so the idea of having to drive far to a trail is not appealing. Any ideas?

[7G9C4J2]

You'd need to narrow your criteria down a bit; a good deal of the city would fulfill your list of bullet points. In the order you list them:

Most areas of Madison are reasonably safe. NOT completely safe, but reasonably safe for a prudent person. Once you are closer to moving, feel free to ask about specific areas that you are interested in for a more detailed response.

Madison in general is very kid-friendly, with lots of parks, a wonderful children's museum, and plenty of activities.

You'll be close to parks pretty much anywhere in the city.

The city is also criss-crossed with biking trails, although most or all are paved, not dirt. In the more outlying areas close to the edge of the city, you could be several miles from a bike path, but within about a 3-mile radius of the Capitol, you'd be within half a mile or so of a good bike path.

The biggest problem you'd encounter is mentioned in your thread title, and that is the word "affordable." That word has absolutely nothing to do with Madison. Tiny one-bedroom apartments in older buildings in so-so parts of town rent for about $700 per month, and a nice two-bedroom with decent amenities will set you back $1,200. Houses are similarly priced.

It's a nice city in many ways, but affordability is not one of them.

[r_k]

Are you planning to buy or rent? If new to the area then renting makes more sense.

Some idea of the price range you want to stay within?

Where will your work be?

[jaycobflynn]

there are plenty of great biking and walking trails with plenty of parks in the area but if your willing to drive janesville sounds like you its the city of parks with lots of new development and a trail that goes all over its a very friendly town which i have lived in for quite a while now and love it, you get stores restaurants you get it all now population 63,000 seems big to me but it really inst janesvilles the 10th largest city in the state with great schools the high schools are a bit large but otherwise the elementary and middle schools are fabulous the teachers seem to enjoy their jobs and want to help the kids which is an advantage with smaller schools there are three steak restrants due to the new one just built where damons was also there are several Chinese places and an olive garden housing is cheap cheap cheap due to gm closing killing janesvilles economy but it looks to be turning around

hope you will consider it

[BMoreJuice]

Look near the Westtown Mall area.

[ranger17]

another option, depending on where employment would fall, would be on the north side of Lake Mendota/Waunakee area. I cant give specifics on any rental areas over there but Governor Nelson State Park has trails for walking/biking, beach and nice boat launch areas, and kid spots as well. So finding yourself living on that side of Madison puts you a short distance from at least one of the nice park systems.


I cant comment on the Janesville suggestion as that info seems to be popping up more often recently; and that is a heck of a drive in summer let alone winter

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by MidwesternBookWorm

The biggest problem you'd encounter is mentioned in your thread title, and that is the word "affordable." That word has absolutely nothing to do with Madison. Tiny one-bedroom apartments in older buildings in so-so parts of town rent for about $700 per month, and a nice two-bedroom with decent amenities will set you back $1,200. Houses are similarly priced.

Just to clarify, MWB, are you saying that that houses for rent in Madison are similarly expensive, but not at the same price points as apartments? I think you mean similarly expensive. Don't want the OP to think for a moment that they can get a decent house rental in Madison for the same apartment prices you've mentioned. The OP will need to budget much more monthly rent for a house! Probably closer to $1,500 - $2,500 methinks.

[redswede]

Indeed, as some of the posters mentioned above, many of the bike paths in Madison are paved, not dirt. I believe there are some dirt paths around Picnic Point near the UW Campus. You may want to consider living near the UW Arboretum in the Lake Wingra area. There are many trails that go through the Arb and it's absolutely beautiful. There are many smaller towns around Madison with lovely, extensive trail systems, though- in Cambridge (20 mins. from Madison), there are the multi-use CamRock trails, and the Glacial Drumlin Trail runs from Cottage Grove to Waukesha (52 miles) through scenic South-eastern Wisconsin. I've been on some sections of this trail and it's gravel, but not paved. There's also the Ice Age trail, a footpath that runs through the entire state. In Dane County, you can get on the trail just West of Madison, in Verona.

Home | Ice Age Trail Alliance | IATA
http://www.glacialdrumlin.com
Cam Rock Trail System | Trail Genius
Glacial Heritage Area: Linking Trails