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Posted: 2/3/2017 12:15:48 AM EDT
Hey all! My wife and I are relocating to the Madison area soon. We are looking forward to discovering some new shooting ranges and gun shops, even if we have to go to Milwaukee!
 Any suggestions for good neighborhoods (or ones to avoid) would be appreciated! Also looking forward to meeting up with some of you.. -Steve
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Posted: 2/3/2017 12:31:21 AM EDT
[#1]
Welcome!
Generally speaking the Madison area is very livable. There are various (fairly well defined) neighborhoods depending on your tastes in Madison proper. Don't know about any that are really "bad" but the Allied Drive neighborhood is probably one to avoid. Most of the cities around Madison are pretty good too. Really comes down to where you are working and what you are looking for. |
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Posted: 2/3/2017 10:05:31 AM EDT
[#2]
Personally, I wouldn't live in Madison. Prices are astronomical and you have to deal with liberal idiots 24/7.
Look into places like Verona, Fitchburg, Middleton, Waunakee, Sauk, Sun Prairie, Mt Horeb, DeForest, Windsor, Cross Plains, Oregon, cottage Grove. Depending on where in the city you will work, I would stay on that side of the city for living. You don't want to be on the beltline(hwy 12/18 from interstate out to Middleton area) during rush hour traffic...it's not nearly as bad as bigger cities...but it's slow pretty much every day and a joke if it snows. You're not going to find squat for gun ranges or shops in Madison. Pretty much every gun shop in Madison moved out of town back when they had a ban on selling handguns in the city. Zero ranges that I know about. There are gun shops is almost every smaller town around Madison though. Oregon has one that I drive by every day. There's a good indoor pistol range in Deerfield. I've been there a couple times. Gander Mountain is just North of town on the interstate and has an indoor shooting range as well. |
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Posted: 2/3/2017 1:55:16 PM EDT
[#3]
Stoughton is also a good place. Access to both the east and west sides of madison, plus a club with indoor and outdoor ranges plus indoor/outdoor archery and trap/skeet range. The only problem is that it's a bit fuddish with the range rules.
But yeah, look into the communities around madison, not in the city itself. Gunshops are Cabelas and Gander in madison itself, Max Creek in oregon (they have an indoor range, haven't been to it myself), Great Lakes firearms in fitchburg (actually pretty far south of it, closer to oregon really), the NAPA store in Mt. Horeb has the cheapest FFL transfers, PT firearms in Cross Plains, Deerfield rod and gun has a range and rentals. Those are the ones off the top of my head. Avoid the bob and rocco gunshows after your first one, they're all the same thing, different location.
Lots of public lands in the area for hunting, but overcrowded for deer season, and usually waterfowl and pheasant opening weekends, but you can always go further north. |
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Posted: 2/3/2017 8:54:32 PM EDT
[#4]
Sounds like great advice so far- the wife will be working in downtown Madison, but we are looking at houses in Verona, Fitchburg, and Sun Prairie. Seems like none of the houses downtown have garages?? That's not gonna work! 3 car garage would be optimum, but we can work with a double. We're trying to stay within 35 minutes of downtown.
Having both grown up in Seattle, we can tell you what bad traffic and liberal gun-haters are like.. Spokane has been better, but the stupidity is spreading east.. Thank you all for the info and input! Really makes it feel like I know someone living there already... 
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Posted: 2/3/2017 9:34:49 PM EDT
[#5]
Personally, I would rather live on the West/Southwest side (Verona/Fitchburg), or South in Oregon or Stoughton than the East side . IIRC, going east like Sun Prairie has been getting more expensive. Depending on where your wife is working downtown though, living East of Madison might be an easier commute.
My brother moved from Madison out to Seattle about a year ago. I have been out to visit several times since. Traffic in the MSN area won't be anything like Seattle area. Beltline is about as bad as it gets and it usually isn't too bad if you avoid it at commute times. Parking downtown is as bad as Seattle though. Another isthmus. I lived near West side and on the West side of Madison for about 12 years, but haven't lived there in almost 10 years (MKE area now). I am probably not the best resource, but if there are specific questions you have you don't want on the open forum, you can IM or email me and I could try to answer. I am still pretty up to date on the best restaurants in Madison. Did you ever go to Wisconsinburger in Spokane? My brother said it was pretty accurate if you want to temper yourself to potential culture shock.
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Posted: 2/3/2017 10:27:16 PM EDT
[#6]
Ha! We had a "going away" dinner with some friends at Wisconsinburger.. one of our favorite places in Spokane. Cheese curds and Miller High Life, hell yes! I think we'll fit in just fine. We love good food (and cheese), and we enjoy a cold beverage now and again.
So far, we're pretty excited for the move. It's gonna be a helluva drive with a U-Haul or two, but we'll pace ourselves and take our time. Every one of our friends that has been there has told us how beautiful it is, and judging some of the photos, I believe them. We're looking at early March for arrival. We'll see what the weather and roads look like... |
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Posted: 2/3/2017 10:31:17 PM EDT
[#7]
Make sure you try a Culvers when you get here. Probably the best fast food place around, and they use FRESH beef and cook each burger to order. No beer there though.
But yeah, the above poster is right about Sun Prairie, they are growing fast, mostly on their SW side-it's pretty much their umbical cord madison. Won't be too long before they're another subdivision of madison for all practical purposes. BTW, I misspoke, Cabelas is in sun prairie, TECHNICALLY. |
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Posted: 2/3/2017 10:43:47 PM EDT
[#8]
Early march. Roads are either clear or under 3' of snow.
Waiting for the "big snow" of the season.
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Posted: 2/3/2017 10:49:12 PM EDT
[#9]
I helped drive my brother out to Seattle for his move New Year's eve last year (2015-2016). About 31 hours straight through with minimal stops and, due to snow, some of the mountain passes barely re-opened before we hit them. Hope it stays clear. Not a bad drive until you hit Eastern South Dakota and Southern Minnesota.
I am guessing you have already done the research on the move and have something lined up, but FWIW... When my brother moved, he was going to use a large Uhaul, but a Pod ended up being cheaper. The Pod was not cheaper when he first called them, but Pod called him back couple days later and finally gave him a price a fair bit below the Uhaul rental (hundreds) and he didn't have to deal with driving the Uhaul through the mountains. |
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Posted: 2/4/2017 10:49:32 AM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Welcome! Generally speaking the Madison area is very livable. There are various (fairly well defined) neighborhoods depending on your tastes in Madison proper. Don't know about any that are really "bad" but the Allied Drive neighborhood is probably one to avoid. Most of the cities around Madison are pretty good too. Really comes down to where you are working and what you are looking for. The answer to these questions is always "Don't live IN Madison, live NEAR Madison." Most of Fitchburg (though expensive) is good, East Side of Sun Prairie, Waunakee (all), and Verona are good. Anywhere on South West side or out of city limits of Madison that direction you are competing with 100k per year 28 year old Epic people so the market is quite inflated. |
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Posted: 2/4/2017 11:41:59 AM EDT
[#11]
I'd recommend Sauk City/Prairie du Sac. The commute into Madison is decent since you'd be coming from the West rather than the East. It's also across the Wisconsin river in a different county. From what I've been told, the tax rates are much lower in Sauk county vs. Dane county. Just my $.02.
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Posted: 2/4/2017 12:07:40 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'd recommend Sauk City/Prairie du Sac. The commute into Madison is decent since you'd be coming from the West rather than the East. It's also across the Wisconsin river in a different county. From what I've been told, the tax rates are much lower in Sauk county vs. Dane county. Just my $.02. Also has the best reloading supplies shop in the area. |
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Posted: 2/4/2017 3:53:29 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'd recommend Sauk City/Prairie du Sac. The commute into Madison is decent since you'd be coming from the West rather than the East. It's also across the Wisconsin river in a different county. From what I've been told, the tax rates are much lower in Sauk county vs. Dane county. Just my $.02. That's probably true on cost. I am originally from south of Madison (Green County) and I know costs that direction are rising disproportionately. I always thought the Sauk City area was beautiful. One of my favorite short hikes is nearby at Devil's Lake. |
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Posted: 2/4/2017 5:53:15 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Also has the best reloading supplies shop in the area. Yep. Recobs gets plenty of business from me
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Posted: 2/4/2017 5:55:19 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
That's probably true on cost. I am originally from south of Madison (Green County) and I know costs that direction are rising disproportionately. I always thought the Sauk City area was beautiful. One of my favorite short hikes is nearby at Devil's Lake. You should check out Parfrey's Glen outside of Prairie du Sac. Beautiful place for a hike. |
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Posted: 2/4/2017 6:23:28 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You should check out Parfrey's Glen outside of Prairie du Sac. Beautiful place for a hike. We drove by a few times when 113 from the Merrimac ferry was closed a number of years ago, but never stopped. Looking at some pictures online it looks like it is similar in landscape to some areas of the Ice Age trail we have over here around Holy Hill. Will have to check it out. Oh, and Op, you will likely find yourself missing the mountains. That is something we are lacking in Wisconsin. I lived in Munich for a while and didn't realize how much I missed the mountains until I had been back here for a while. |
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Posted: 2/6/2017 1:40:24 AM EDT
[#17]
Yep, we've figured out that Wisconsin is more rolling hills and less mountains. I think we're both ok with that. Glad to hear that there are hiking and outdoor opportunities. So far this looks like it will be a fairly easy transition for us- good food, good beer, good gun-loving people. I do hate to think that we are abandoning Washington right now- they need all the 2nd Amendment support they can get. Check out the California-like gun and magazine bans that are being proposed in the Hometown section. It's time to stand and fight, at least politically speaking. The blue is creeping in from the coasts...
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Posted: 2/6/2017 8:19:52 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yep, we've figured out that Wisconsin is more rolling hills and less mountains. I think we're both ok with that. Glad to hear that there are hiking and outdoor opportunities. So far this looks like it will be a fairly easy transition for us- good food, good beer, good gun-loving people. I do hate to think that we are abandoning Washington right now- they need all the 2nd Amendment support they can get. Check out the California-like gun and magazine bans that are being proposed in the Hometown section. It's time to stand and fight, at least politically speaking. The blue is creeping in from the coasts... State gun laws are pretty decent. (A few blind spots but not bad.) Madison area though, you will NOT be surrounded by gun-loving people. It'll be a few that talk about it, a bunch that don't, and a bunch of ninnies. |
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Posted: 2/6/2017 8:35:26 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yep, we've figured out that Wisconsin is more rolling hills and less mountains. I think we're both ok with that. Glad to hear that there are hiking and outdoor opportunities. So far this looks like it will be a fairly easy transition for us- good food, good beer, good gun-loving people. I do hate to think that we are abandoning Washington right now- they need all the 2nd Amendment support they can get. Check out the California-like gun and magazine bans that are being proposed in the Hometown section. It's time to stand and fight, at least politically speaking. The blue is creeping in from the coasts... You'll love Devils Lake State Park, it's not far from the area. |
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Posted: 2/8/2017 11:46:14 PM EDT
[#20]
I live north of waunakee and have experienced three different gun ranges in the area. Gander Mtn, max 30 ft range a bit pricey. The worst thing is they allow shotguns in there, someone was ripping off 12 gauge loads, couldnt even focus on shooting as the impulse ripped through my body in that small room. Circus City in Baraboo. It is cheap, like $35 per season, but is outdoor only. They do have a 100 or 200 yd rifle range there too. And my favorite is Winnequa Gun Club in Lodi. They pretty much have everything but unfortunately they just put a cap on membership so you would have to be put on a waiting list. Welcome to the area!
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Posted: 3/8/2017 10:37:42 AM EDT
[#21]
I'd stay out of Dane county opt to live west north north west or north east.
Head out towards Barneveld (Vortex Optics has a new headquarters there escaping Dane county) That way you have Hwy 151 to head into Madison for work @ 65 mph Hwy 14 for example is a killer and very slow traffic flow night and day. |
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Posted: 3/8/2017 8:50:27 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote History(Vortex Optics has a new headquarters there escaping Dane county). What? They're leaving Middleton? Nnnnnnoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Posted: 3/8/2017 10:31:44 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
What? They're leaving Middleton? Nnnnnnoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yup, and the new building is huge! Its super easy to get to. |
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Posted: 3/8/2017 11:10:57 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yup, and the new building is huge! Its super easy to get to. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
What? They're leaving Middleton? Nnnnnnoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yup, and the new building is huge! Its super easy to get to. Where? |
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Posted: 3/9/2017 8:01:14 PM EDT
[#25]
Off of 18/151 in Barneveld. They aren't in it yet, as it's still under construction.
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Posted: 3/9/2017 8:27:47 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Off of 12/18 in Barneveld. They aren't in it yet, as it's still under construction. That's quite a bit farther away, but there's Duluth Trading Company and that gun shop in Mt Horeb to round out the trip. |
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Posted: 3/9/2017 11:25:53 PM EDT
[#27]
I live in Fitchburg and my kids go to school in Oregon. Just about everyone I know around here is cool with guns and I've taken a number of my friends and neighbors shooting. We are super close friends with a lesbian couple close by and even they think my safe full of EBRs is awesome.
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Posted: 3/10/2017 6:51:06 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Do you mean 18/151? 12 goes up to Baraboo and the Dells and such. That's quite a bit farther away, but there's Duluth Trading Company and that gun shop in Mt Horeb to round out the trip. yup. Had been telling drivers whick exit to take to get on the beltine, off the interstate all day. Just kept running with those numbers....
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Posted: 3/13/2017 1:49:17 PM EDT
[#29]
I live in Deforest because we wanted to be on the north side of town. Don't regret it, but now after living here 10 years I'd probably do it differently.
Either I'd live in the rural areas around the beautiful rolling hills around Lodi or closer to the west side of Sun Prairie. Seems Sun Prairie is our go to location for movie theater, groceries, gym, etc. |
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