Author Topic: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?  (Read 1609 times)

StashingAway

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FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« on: October 28, 2020, 11:25:31 AM »
Mustachians who have lived or are familiar with Madison, any advice or opinions on gunning for FIRE and raising a family in Madison? My wife and I are looking around to move out of the Chicago suburbs and have some friends there. I've only been once, but liked it. Seems to be plenty of jobs in my field and lots of outdoor activities for us to enjoy. We'd likely move in a year or two.

honeybbq

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2020, 02:31:58 PM »
I went to graduate school there and lived there for 6 years. I enjoyed it - it has a small town feel but close enough to Chicago to use that as a 'big city' for airports, shopping/sports, etc. The outdoor recreation is pretty great. Lots of mountain biking and x-country skiing, hiking/camping/fishing. The city itself is obviously a college town with 50k students. I didn't have kids then - but I think it would be a great place to raise a family.

Cranky

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2020, 04:47:34 PM »
I’m actually in the process of moving to Madison. My dd and her family live there and we’ve bought a house that we’ll finish moving to next summer when dh retires.

So obviously we quite like Madison. There’s lots to do and plenty of quirky stuff. It’s both a college town and the state capital and now a regional tech hub.

I will say that it’s currently a VERY hot real estate market. We bought our house before it was even listed.

wenchsenior

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2020, 06:52:14 PM »
I have family in Madison, and other areas of the state.  I lived there for several years in my teens and again in my twenties.  I absolutely love the city and the area (esp southwestern WI).  That area is the only place I would seriously consider moving back to in the Midwest.  The city is quite 'big' for its size in terms of diversity and culture (American Players Theater !!), if you want that sort of thing.  Great parks, outdoor opportunities, very picturesque landscape.

I really struggle with Great Lakes winters, but if you are from the Chicago area, you are used to that.  And the real estate market is absolutely CRAZY in the Madison area (my sister just bought her first house and had to buy about 35 minutes north of the city), but the economy is consistently good.

No idea about 'family/kids stuff', but the schools are good, and there's tons to do, so I can't imagine that would be a problem.

It's definitely among the top contenders for locations we will move to if my husband ever decides to retire. 

martyconlonontherun

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2020, 10:01:18 PM »
State street got slammed with the pandemic and riots. It's really sad walking down.

That said I think it is a good area with great suburbs. Belt line traffic sucks but nothing compared to Chicago. Overall, good lifestyle with focus on education and healthy activities (well outside of drinking heavily)

StashingAway

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2020, 08:33:52 AM »

I will say that it’s currently a VERY hot real estate market. We bought our house before it was even listed.

We have notice that just casually glancing around! I'm curious what it will look like in a year or two once we are ready to move.


Cranky

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2020, 11:04:38 AM »

I will say that it’s currently a VERY hot real estate market. We bought our house before it was even listed.

We have notice that just casually glancing around! I'm curious what it will look like in a year or two once we are ready to move.

I can recommend a realtor! LOL

Secret Stache

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #7 on: November 02, 2020, 08:15:33 PM »
I live a couple hours away from Madison.  I've visited a time or two and thought it was a nice place. Also there is this write up in the relocation thread:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/mustachian-relocation-guide/msg1562927/#msg1562927

Cassie

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2020, 10:40:47 PM »
I lived in Kenosha for 32 years and Madison is a great town.

wenchsenior

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2020, 08:08:02 AM »

I will say that it’s currently a VERY hot real estate market. We bought our house before it was even listed.

We have notice that just casually glancing around! I'm curious what it will look like in a year or two once we are ready to move.

I can recommend a realtor! LOL


So can I, my cousin!

Watchmaker

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Re: FIRE and family in Madison, WI?
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2020, 08:53:28 AM »
I live in a small town near Madison. I think it's a great city. As others have said, it's a medium sized city but tends to punch above its weight for culture due to the University and being the state capital. There are certainly challenges for the city-- like Wisconsin in general, it has issues around racial inequality. And housing in Madison is expensive, and has been since I've lived in the area. That's part of the reason I ended up in a small town (but there happen to be a lot of great small, livable towns around Madison if that's an option for you).

Obviously much of this doesn't apply right now (and might never be the same as it was) but there are many good restaurants, good local breweries and distillers, fantastic theaters and museums, interesting local music, etc. Weather will be similar to what you are used to in Chicago.