Relocating (Milwaukee, Madison, Waukesha: appointed, transplants, to rent)

[disappointed]

Hi,

I currently live in northeastern wisconsin and interested in moving to madison. My family have been subjected to a few racist incidents- overrall the people in WI seems to be pretty nice and friendly. I am originally from IL and I've visited several cities in WI and noticed the difference. I want to know if madison is the same as the other places in WI, I've visited considering it does have a lot of IL transplants and others. What is the job outlook for healthcare, is their a big gang and/or drug problem, like MLW.

[aleksandra33]

I live in Milwaukee, and I can tell you that unfortunately it's pretty segregated down here. Milwaukee actually held 1st place in segregation of all US cities in the last few years, so I can tell you that much about Milwaukee.

Madison is about 1hr -1.5 hrs away. I have been there quite a few times, and it's really beautiful. Madison is more open minded than Milwaukee. Milwaukee is more conservative. Madison is where democrats are!!! (Yey!)

If I didn't hate winter (which is why I want to escape WI so bad), I would definately relocate to Madison. It's a student city, though, but there are plenty of families there.

You should take a weekend or a few days and go see for yourself. You don't even need car. Almost everything is w/in walking distance. I have a good friend that has lived there for over 6 yrs now, and she has never owned a car, never really needed it.

But as I said, there are tons of students there. Depends what you're looking for. Either way, good luck!

[Jolefrijoles]

I am fairly new in the area, but having done insane amounts of research on certain areas (reading, talking and observing), I can tell you it depends a lot where you live.
For example, the south-central area of Madison, into Fitchburg, does have quite a few gang/drug-type problems. Verona and Middleton are not at all diverse, but the closer you get to the university, well, it's a university town. Think Austin, Texas, or maybe Columbus, Ohio. It's got a very liberal base for the most part and is very eco-friendly. It is progressive to a fault at times.
One big problem in Madison is cost of living. It is very hard to find any sort of decent accommodations under $200,000 unless you go condo. I myself will have to rent for a bit.
I love it here, and my wife, who experiences discrimination everywhere she goes (it's not racial), does, too, though she does run into problems in certain areas. I think it's less racial than cultural -- as in people from Illinois or Alabama are treated almost as suspiciously as people from India or Nigeria by some people.
As far as health care, well, it's the heart of UW-Healthcare and has two other very large healthcare systems, Dean and Meriter. There is no better place for that.

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by aleksandra33

IMadison is about 1hr -1.5 hrs away. I have been there quite a few times, and it's really beautiful. Madison is more open minded than Milwaukee. Milwaukee is more conservative. Madison is where democrats are!!! (Yey!)

Yes and where all of our TAXES come from. (yey!) So much for open minded........

[dunslav]

We live in Madison and I actually find it somewhat close minded and somewhat segregated, very expensive, and there is also a lot more crime than I anticipated given the high ratings of the city. However, that being said, I do like the area and there are a lot of things to do with family. I had come from GA where actually things are a lot nicer and livable believe it or not, so it was a shock to come back here to see how restricted things really are. I would just really look around the city before you decide where you want to live and where you are happy before you make a purchase.

[Schnidly]

Originally Posted by disappointed

Hi,

I currently live in northeastern wisconsin and interested in moving to madison. My family have been subjected to a few racist incidents- overrall the people in WI seems to be pretty nice and friendly. I am originally from IL and I've visited several cities in WI and noticed the difference. I want to know if madison is the same as the other places in WI, I've visited considering it does have a lot of IL transplants and others. What is the job outlook for healthcare, is their a big gang and/or drug problem, like MLW.

Every place you move to these days, big or small has drug problems, there was an article in the Milwaukee Journal last fall how the drug and gang problem is moving to northern Wisconsin faster than its growing in southeastern wisconsin! If you want the best schools and best quality of life look to moving to Waukesha County, very low crime rate, great family quality of life and lots of things to get involved in, especially for the kids!!!

[disappointed]

Thank you, everyone has been very helpful