Madison and it's Suburbs (Milwaukee, Franklin: houses, employment, neighborhoods)

[psychegirl]

My husband and I are considering moving to Madison (from the Milwaukee area) to be closer to family. I have been having a really hard time figuring out which schools are good because I don't believe test scores are any indication. So can you recommend schools in western Madison that are good or in a suburb (doesn't necessarily have to be the westside)?

[Megan1967]

MMSD Elementary Schools
John Muir (my first pick)
Shorewood
The Franklin/Randall pair
Van Hise

MMSD High School
West High School is the best in the city if your child is a traditional learner. Special needs? You might want to try Lafayette.

MMSD Middle school - I don't know. I would just pick one that fed into West.

Suburbs
Verona is good
Middleton/Cross Plains is excellent
Waunakee is supposed to be great, but I wouldn't want to live out there - it is really far from just about everything.

[psychegirl]

Thanks!

[ranger17]

our daughter went thru the DeForest system and we were happy with how that all went. I'd maybe ask where potential employment was to be considered and try to find an area close to that. As small a city as Madison is, getting around it especially in winter can really add time on to the daily grind if you transit in and out of the burbs for work.

[Chipmunk702]

A lot of people love living in Waunakee because it's right between both sides of Madison. There's not much there for shopping, though, so it's at least 15 minutes to get to a store of any size. They do have a great family vibe, and lots of activities. It's also starting to be "the" place to build half-million dollar houses and up, and prices for all houses are somewhat inflated when you compare to the rest of Dane County (maybe 10% higher?).

DeForest/Windsor is a nice place to live, with good schools, as is McFarland, Cottage Grove, Verona, Oregon, and Middleton/Cross Plains. There are a lot of nice neighborhoods in Sun Prairie, but make sure you get into either Royal Oaks or Horizon's attendance area (if you have children in elementary school). There is also a new school near the YMCA that I haven't heard good or bad about.

I agree with Ranger that you should try to get relatively close to your place of employment. I commuted to the near-West side of Madison from the Northeast side of Dane County for a couple years - it was awful. On Google maps it was 25 minutes, but usually took 45 because of all the traffic on the Isthmus. It would often take a full hour on snowy winter mornings.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by Chipmunk702

I agree with Ranger that you should try to get relatively close to your place of employment. I commuted to the near-West side of Madison from the Northeast side of Dane County for a couple years - it was awful. On Google maps it was 25 minutes, but usually took 45 because of all the traffic on the Isthmus. It would often take a full hour on snowy winter mornings.

This. If you're moving into the Madison area, live near your place of employment. Although Madison is much smaller than Milwaukee, there are far fewer road options for getting around, leading to more congestion on the commuting arteries. When the Beltline becomes a parking lot at rush hour, you'll truly be stuck without other options.