Looking at a relocation to Portage, WI

[ranger17]

Originally Posted by SoftPillow

Also if anyone has any feedback on Pardeeville that would be welcome, too...

just my .02-- way too long transit time from there to the south side. While this past year they had a very mild winter, even a normal one would cause delays and issues as you came down 51 before you even hit the interstate. On normal to bad days in winter it could take my wife well over an hour+ just to get to Deforest from Todd Dr ( a couple miles past Badger rd), and Pardeeville is another 25 mins +/- past that. Heck on summer Fridays it could take that long as well with the tourist traffic coming up. The stretch of the beltline from the interstate to south side of Madison can get nasty, and on cold am's gets pretty slick (parts run over the marsh) so accidents are a given.

If your job was on the north side, then northern outlying towns could make sense, but again in my opinion and understanding costs i think you're getting too far for a daily commute when you consider a place like Pardeeville. And depending on your car's mileage, WI gas isnt cheap so maybe keep that cost in your overall budget as well.

[SoftPillow]

Originally Posted by JoshB

Lets cut to the chase what can you spend on an apartment and how many bedrooms? I spent so much time looking at rental properties I know I could help you out.

Budget-wise I really can't spend more than $600-$625 a month on rent, obviously the cheaper it is the better. I know it's not much for the region, really, but consider where I am coming from that amount gets you a rather terrific apartment. Perhaps later after a year or two I could afford a higher rent but that's where I'm at now. I should say I'd LOVE to find a place with washer/dryer hookups as I have my own w/d machines and I'd like to keep using them. I've gotten spoiled having them in my apartment here, and not using a laundry facility, for the past 8 years. But I realize that'd be asking for the moon at that rental cost.

Originally Posted by ranger17

just my .02-- way too long transit time from there to the south side....in my opinion and understanding costs i think you're getting too far for a daily commute when you consider a place like Pardeeville. And depending on your car's mileage, WI gas isnt cheap so maybe keep that cost in your overall budget as well.

I do see your point. I haven't been able to find any affordable rents in an acceptable property (and I'd like to think I don't have too high of expectations at this point) on the south side of Madison, even in the outlying communities.

My friend, who lives in Portage, commuted to Madison for work for a while before he was laid off and didn't find anything bad about it. Sure the commute was long, and traffic could be rough depending on what time you're traveling, but it was one of those things that you just did because you had to. I have considered the gas/mileage factor and built that into my monthly budget (anticipated budget, shall we say) - to compare it to my current location (I have a much shorter commute here) a round-trip to town and today's prices would cost me roughly $5.82. North from the Portage/Baraboo/Pardeeville area to my new workplace and back would cost about $15. Part of that is due to the higher gas prices, and the rest of it is to the longer commute.

I've done commutes here as long as 30 minutes, so a 40-50 minute commute doesn't faze me much, as long as I can learn alternate routes in case of "incidents" like accidents and the like. I like options!

[ranger17]

well i'd guess it's 50 mins give or take from Pardeeville to Badger road, without any major traffic delays and in good dry weather. Slowing from 55-65mph due to wet/snowy roads or backups will add time especially once the snow flies, so as long as you have a good understanding of what you're potentially looking at. Unfortunately coming from the north there arent many options if a backup occurs on the interstate, you can drive thru town on East Wash but that isnt any quicker with all the lights. Again just my opinion but if you need to stay out of the area at the beginning then you may have better options (transit wise) if you head west or northwest (Baraboo, Cross Plains, etc) and come into Madison on 12

[JoshB]

Okay so 600-625 a month? I guess you would best off looking at a small town. What about Columbus? I think that Columbus is in a good position, about 10-15 minutes from Beaver Dam and about 15-20 minutes to Madison's eastside. Columbus may be smaller than Portage but it's always felt clean and growing at a steady pace. I'd recommend searching padmapper dot com it's basically like google maps. aptshowcase dot com is another great resource. Let me know if you need any help.


Josh