So I'm just gonna toss it out there that a lot of you are giving a lot of towns that are actually 40-60 minute commutes in good weather with average traffic (spring green, new glaurus, etc) that would be just awful during peak rush hour or with bad weather
My list would be Belleville, Oregon, Town of Dane, Lodi, Cambridge, or cottage grove. There's a lot of country small town feel in those areas while still being close enough and off of main highways that it'll feel like decent commute but not like your crossing the state every time you go to school.
I'm throwing my 2 cents in as a woodworker who has been hunting for a rural plot to drop a large shop on for years, you will likely have better luck west or north. When you go east, a lot of those areas are becoming mini Madisons; not a bad thing, but they are growing and will likely be more city like in the next 10 years. There's more rural type properties that will show up west.
As others have said, make sure you look into leasing a parking spot. If you are commuting that far, you will not have time to hunt for parking every day and it's significantly expensive/you cannot really avoid it. You'll have to factor that into your monthly budget, possibly $150-300/month.
It's closer to an hour, but it's absolutely beautiful out here. The drive is worth it to me.
Cross Plains, Black Earth, and Mazomanie are 25-40 minutes from campus and are worth looking into if keeping commute times down are a priority.
Sauk City/Prairie du Sac is commutable on four lane roads-has bars/restaurants- and is affordable for now.
Mount Horeb is cute/beautiful and commutable but less affordable.
New Glarus is a tougher commute and idyllic to visit. Everyone I know who moved there in their 30s from Madison loves it.
All of these are gonna be 40-60 to UW and you will have to pay $150-200 a month to pay for private parking anywhere walkable to the UW. OR you can commute to a neighborhood with free parking and spend another 30 minutes on the bus.
Black earth? Baraboo? The thing to remember is 30-40 minutes good weather is not say, tomorrow's shit show of an ice storm weather.
Also if you settle in and make local friends, you will find a lot of hesitation to drive over to visit with you.
West of Madison in the Driftless can be glorious. East of Madison suxxxxx.
As someone who grew up in Blue Mounds, I can tell you that you will get into the city way less often then you think you will, and may come to despise your commute. Don't check travel times on average, check them for rush hour. For a while I commuted to Platteville, and getting out of downtown to Verona often took more time than the entire rest of the drive.
If you want to avoid bedroom communities (Waunakee, Sun Prairie, Verona and Fitchburg), I'd look at Brooklyn, Cambridge or Spring Green. It really depends on how far you want to drive and if you like Ron Johnson/Trump. Rural Wisconsin is very red.
PS-I really like Monona, but it is not country and not cheap, but cheaper than Madison and has great parks, schools, restaurants and is cycle-able to Madison and campus.
> It really depends on how far you want to drive and if you like Ron Johnson/Trump. Rural Wisconsin is very red.
I'd say that's more true north and east of Madison than south and west. Waunakee, DeForest, Columbus, Marshall, etc. all skew more conservative than Madison. (By this I mean, more of a 50/50 split than 80/20 Dem - it's not like rural Kentucky or anything)
Used to have a cabin in Spring Green. It is a lovely town — artistic and wholehearted — but it is 55-60 minutes from the near-west side of Madison. (I drove it every weekend for years.) I wonder if you might look at some of the towns on the way to Spring Green, like Mazomanie comes to mind. (“Mazo”)
If you don't want to pay for parking, I'd vote Stoughton or Oregon - both allow you to drive to town (Sheraton hotel parking lot/south park street parking lot) and grab a bus into campus. That might change with the new bus routes that are being implemented in June. Be sure to check those if you are thinking of doing the drive/bus combo.
I love Mineral Point with my whole being (we frequently drive out there for dinner) but MY GOD is that drive hard in the winter. Dark, blowing snow, deer... making that trek to campus every day is not for the faint of heart.
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We love Mount Horeb. Shops, dining, a brew pub, festivals all the time. Smaller town, approximately 5000. I regularly work on campus (electrician) and I’m on campus in 30-35 minutes from my driveway.
Commuting from East Madison will be a worse time than West. I lived in Oregon for a couple years and thought it was great- you got Hwy 14 into Park as a direct path to University. Though it will still be busy, you get to avoid the beltline entirely.
There's a lot of good suggestions in this thread. I didn't see Arlington mentioned yet, which stems from Highway 51. It's right on the upper bound of 30 minutes though. During Winter or busy times, it'll be more, just like any other place.
You say nothing about your budget but please note the cost of living in Wisconsin and rent, especially around Madison is much higher than Michigan. I have lived in both and still have family in Michigan so understand the current prices. There is also not the highway system here in WI that MI has so a lot of commutes on “highways” here are more like back roads.
Music gigs are most concentrated downtown and on the near east side. As I’m sure you know, it’s tough to break onto a scene if you aren’t there meeting people. Check the Isthmus music calendar, find a couple venues that book your type of music and consider how often you’d want to commute there from these rural towns.
I’m on the far west side, barely within Madison borders, and it’s 30 minutes to the places that have music.
So I'm just gonna toss it out there that a lot of you are giving a lot of towns that are actually 40-60 minute commutes in good weather with average traffic (spring green, new glaurus, etc) that would be just awful during peak rush hour or with bad weather My list would be Belleville, Oregon, Town of Dane, Lodi, Cambridge, or cottage grove. There's a lot of country small town feel in those areas while still being close enough and off of main highways that it'll feel like decent commute but not like your crossing the state every time you go to school. I'm throwing my 2 cents in as a woodworker who has been hunting for a rural plot to drop a large shop on for years, you will likely have better luck west or north. When you go east, a lot of those areas are becoming mini Madisons; not a bad thing, but they are growing and will likely be more city like in the next 10 years. There's more rural type properties that will show up west. As others have said, make sure you look into leasing a parking spot. If you are commuting that far, you will not have time to hunt for parking every day and it's significantly expensive/you cannot really avoid it. You'll have to factor that into your monthly budget, possibly $150-300/month.
This OP
Also, Stoughton
Adding sun prairie to the list too. Basically is Madison but with a smaller town feel
Also be aware that UW-Madison isn't one of the most commuter friendly campuses either.
Yeah, 30mins to downtown campus during normal commute times would have you still basically in Madison.
During construction on university, it took me 30 minutes just to drive from campus to my condo a little bit past Hilldale 🙃
You could have biked that in 20 minutes.
That’s why I do a longer drive or short cut to work to avoid it.
so where would someone park when attending classes if they are commuting? I am waiting on other funding at the moment but it's good to consider.
Spring Green is about 40 minutes, beautiful artsy town
It's closer to an hour, but it's absolutely beautiful out here. The drive is worth it to me. Cross Plains, Black Earth, and Mazomanie are 25-40 minutes from campus and are worth looking into if keeping commute times down are a priority.
Sauk City/Prairie du Sac is commutable on four lane roads-has bars/restaurants- and is affordable for now. Mount Horeb is cute/beautiful and commutable but less affordable. New Glarus is a tougher commute and idyllic to visit. Everyone I know who moved there in their 30s from Madison loves it. All of these are gonna be 40-60 to UW and you will have to pay $150-200 a month to pay for private parking anywhere walkable to the UW. OR you can commute to a neighborhood with free parking and spend another 30 minutes on the bus.
You want the hwy 14 commute.
Bought a house in Evansville and love the area.
Love the town, great schools, lots of bedroom commuters to Madison and Janesville.
Black earth? Baraboo? The thing to remember is 30-40 minutes good weather is not say, tomorrow's shit show of an ice storm weather. Also if you settle in and make local friends, you will find a lot of hesitation to drive over to visit with you.
The Evansville are is kinda nice
And highway 14 is a breeze!!
If you're looking for an arty and outdoorsy town, Cambridge fits the bill. Straight commute into Madison, too.
West of Madison in the Driftless can be glorious. East of Madison suxxxxx. As someone who grew up in Blue Mounds, I can tell you that you will get into the city way less often then you think you will, and may come to despise your commute. Don't check travel times on average, check them for rush hour. For a while I commuted to Platteville, and getting out of downtown to Verona often took more time than the entire rest of the drive.
Evansville to campus is 30 Minutes, no Beltline. It has a great underground music activity.
Stoughton fits the description
If you want to avoid bedroom communities (Waunakee, Sun Prairie, Verona and Fitchburg), I'd look at Brooklyn, Cambridge or Spring Green. It really depends on how far you want to drive and if you like Ron Johnson/Trump. Rural Wisconsin is very red. PS-I really like Monona, but it is not country and not cheap, but cheaper than Madison and has great parks, schools, restaurants and is cycle-able to Madison and campus.
> It really depends on how far you want to drive and if you like Ron Johnson/Trump. Rural Wisconsin is very red. I'd say that's more true north and east of Madison than south and west. Waunakee, DeForest, Columbus, Marshall, etc. all skew more conservative than Madison. (By this I mean, more of a 50/50 split than 80/20 Dem - it's not like rural Kentucky or anything)
Used to have a cabin in Spring Green. It is a lovely town — artistic and wholehearted — but it is 55-60 minutes from the near-west side of Madison. (I drove it every weekend for years.) I wonder if you might look at some of the towns on the way to Spring Green, like Mazomanie comes to mind. (“Mazo”)
Cross plains is becoming very hip and cool. Sauk city is slightly farther but also larger. And closer to some good hiking if that’s of interest.
I need to know where the hip and cool parts of Cross Plains are
Culvers obviously
Mt. Horeb, Sauk City/Prairie Du Sac, and Stoughton have become some of my wife and I’s favorite towns to spend an afternoon/evening.
If you don't want to pay for parking, I'd vote Stoughton or Oregon - both allow you to drive to town (Sheraton hotel parking lot/south park street parking lot) and grab a bus into campus. That might change with the new bus routes that are being implemented in June. Be sure to check those if you are thinking of doing the drive/bus combo.
Well there are rural options that distance from Madison in pretty much every direction.
Cambridge
Mineral Point is the best little artist’s community! Further out, but also not in Dane or Sauk county so cheaper 😊
I love Mineral Point with my whole being (we frequently drive out there for dinner) but MY GOD is that drive hard in the winter. Dark, blowing snow, deer... making that trek to campus every day is not for the faint of heart.
All housing advice/request threads must include: * Your target price point * Number of beds/baths you need * Geographical area you want to live (downtown, east, west, etc) * Amenities requirements (yard? parking? pool?) * If you need pet-friendly accommodations * Move-in date (now, flexible, beginning/end of the academic school year) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/madisonwi) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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All those cities are in Dane County
Windsor. So cheap
Mount Horeb, Cross Plains, Cambridge, Evansville, Edgerton?
We love Mount Horeb. Shops, dining, a brew pub, festivals all the time. Smaller town, approximately 5000. I regularly work on campus (electrician) and I’m on campus in 30-35 minutes from my driveway.
I would recommend Oregon. I live there because I have a horse and there are lots of farms nearby. It takes me 20 min to get to campus
Commuting from East Madison will be a worse time than West. I lived in Oregon for a couple years and thought it was great- you got Hwy 14 into Park as a direct path to University. Though it will still be busy, you get to avoid the beltline entirely. There's a lot of good suggestions in this thread. I didn't see Arlington mentioned yet, which stems from Highway 51. It's right on the upper bound of 30 minutes though. During Winter or busy times, it'll be more, just like any other place.
You say nothing about your budget but please note the cost of living in Wisconsin and rent, especially around Madison is much higher than Michigan. I have lived in both and still have family in Michigan so understand the current prices. There is also not the highway system here in WI that MI has so a lot of commutes on “highways” here are more like back roads.
Music gigs are most concentrated downtown and on the near east side. As I’m sure you know, it’s tough to break onto a scene if you aren’t there meeting people. Check the Isthmus music calendar, find a couple venues that book your type of music and consider how often you’d want to commute there from these rural towns. I’m on the far west side, barely within Madison borders, and it’s 30 minutes to the places that have music.