Looking likely that I'm moving to Madison, WI

[RealSNR]

Yep, another "what do you think of this city" thread. Sorry.

I opted to not renew my contract for my professorship at the local university due to bad politics and all around misery when I'm at work. I made this decision with the blessing of my wife. We have barely any debt (outside of mortgage loan on a small house) and no kids, so we figured my happiness was more important than the extra 45K per year (her salary would more than keep us afloat). But we are planning on expanding our family at some point and we're gonna need more than that one job.

For the past three months (really more like 10 months since I thought about quitting my current job) she's been browsing the job market which is already in rough shape for something with better pay. She found one in Madison, interviewed, and just received an offer today.

Anybody ever lived there? Good areas to find a house/raise a family? I've heard nothing but good things about the town, so I'm not worried. Just curious if anybody has any hints/suggestions about living in Madtown.

[Jewish Rabbi]

The Hy-Vee there is really nice?

[Buck]

Packer lover

[SLAG]

"Its like going into Wisconsin..."

"I got the Shit kicked out of me In Wisconsin"

[bango]

I lived north of there in the late ninties. I have some friends there. I'll ask them some questions, and try to get back to you about it.

[BWillie]

Dude there are alot of bustacious skanks in Madison. Have fun buddy, wrap it or clap it

[HonestChieffan]

Taxes are a killer. Madison is politically like Boulder or Moscow. Great Brats, fresh beer, good fishing. Brandy Manhattans are good, better further north.

[Simply Red]

believe it or not, there are some great technology companies there. Not terrible, at all. Much better than Michigan.

[kregger]

I have a good buddy that lives in Madison. Try to visit at least every other year. Ditto on what HonestChieffan said. Very liberal and high taxes. My buddy lives in Fitchburg, a nice area to the southwest of downtown. A nearby city is Verona, good schools and close enough to the downtown area. They bitch about the commute as it gets pretty crowded at rush hour.
Have a real good snow car. They don't salt the streets and the snow piles on the sides of the street can seem like you're driving through canyons.
Great brewpub downtown called the Great Dane. Essen Haus for authentic German food. Capitol Brewery puts out decent beer. State street is a pedestrian mall that runs from the capitol to the university. Lots of indy businesses catering to the college crowd. It is easy on the eyes.

[blaise]

I've only visited, but I thought it was a beautiful town. That was summer though. Winter, I'm sure, is brutal.

[Bugeater]

I've heard that they really like to drink there.

[DaFace]

A friend of mine's wife did her vet internship up there last year. I never went, but I heard a lot about the place secondhand. From what I gathered, the place has a pretty cool atmosphere as a college town - pretty laid back environment and that type of thing. There is a surprising amount of outdoor activities you can do if you look for them. My friend got into cross-country skiing while he was out there. Not that I think most people would be into it, but he also did a bit of rock climbing there as well (he's a big climber out here where we have real hills).

That's about all I can really say, but I think they really liked the place overall (just not as much as they like Fort Collins).

[teedubya]

Cheese and beer, FTW!!

[Reaper16]

Great Taste of the Midwest FTW

[Zebedee DuBois]

I went there once several years ago for training on an analytical instrument. It was early October and the trees were gorgeous. The whole place was beautiful. I had a wonderful time. Then I noticed that the fire hydrants had whip-antenna flags on them, so they can locate them under several feet of snow in the winter.