Nice town, but...
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5/2/2008
I moved to Madison in August 1996. For the most part, it's a pretty decent city to live in. The cost of living might bother you a little, but hey, cities over 100,000 population cost more. There's plenty of cheap housing downtown, where most UW-Madison students live, mostly rooming houses and smaller apartments. New apartment buildings have sprung up downtown, but they are more expensive.
As for the people, Madison is overwhelmingly a liberal town, which suited me just fine. But if you're a white heterosexual male, you're gonna get the cold shoulder from a lot of folks downtown. If you go out further east or west of downtown, you'll rarely deal with that, though. The worst of left-wing miscreants had their glory days back in the 90s. Protests and marches on State Street no less than twice a week. Since 9/11, they've toned it down dramatically. Conservatives here, who wouldn't have uttered a word ten years ago, are now making their voices heard.
In '96 the local unemployment rate was an unbelievably low 1.5%. At this writing, April 2008, it's up to 3.7% and rising. Google's coming to town with a new downtown facility in the works. Hopefully, Madison will weather the current recession. To be continued...
As for the weather, typical upper-midwest climate. Not quite as cold as, say, Minnesota, but we do get a considerable amount of snow. A city ordinance requires residents to shovel off their sidewalks, so you won't be plodding through slush. Lots of ice fishing on the two lakes that flank downtown Madison. Property taxes can be a major pain. Even if you're a renter, you won't be spared. If your landlord's property taxes increases, so will your rent on your next lease.
As for jobs, lots of biotech, health care and IT jobs cropping up. Those in the medical fields have four places to choose from: UW Hospital, Dean Health Clinics, Meriter and St. Mary's hospitals. Manufacturing, however, has taken some hits in recent years. Not as many of those jobs nowadays.
All things considered, Madison is better than most cities. Anything you could possibly want or need can be found without going far. There are nice, helpful people here, just don't let the extremists get you down.
Danny | Madison, WI