Neighborhoods & Housing

Grad students here generally live near enough to walk or bike into the Department, although some have found great apartments and condos farther out along one of the many bus lines that run throughout the city. Generally the price of housing decreases with distance from the Capitol, and depending on your price range, you can find very nice and reasonable apartments for rent in many areas of the city. Leases generally expire on August 14/15, but as is true in many college towns, it's good to find something as soon as possible. Although there are usually apartments for rent year-round, the best places tend to go fast. You may also want to consider buying your own place. The real estate market in Madison is very good, and some grad students have chosen to buy condos or even houses rather than renting.

Down Town

The main street downtown where most restaurants and bars are located is State Street. Apartments and houses around State Street are within walking distance of our department, most necessities (ie grocery and drug stores), the Capitol, and many restaurants and entertainment spots. This area is mostly populated by undergraduates and grad students without families. There are apartments above buildings along State St., but generally the astronomy grad students don't actually live on this street. However many grad students do live just a few blocks off of State St. in apartments or houses in the surrounding area. Gilman St. and its cross streets in between State St. and James Madison Park are a good place to start looking in this area. You may consider staying away from Langdon St. since that is where the majority of the fraternity and sororities are located. Although there are some nice (but pricey) places overlooking the lake very near to Langdon. Most streets to the north of the Capitol up to the lake and to the west of the Capitol up to the University have nice apartments or houses for rent. Prices in this area range from ~$800 per month for a one bedroom apartment to ~$550 per month for each person in a house.

Willy Street Neighbohood

If you would prefer to live farther from the downtown area, a favorite choice is to settle into one of the very nice neighborhoods in Madison's East side near Williamson St. (better known as "Willy St."). This area is generally more liberal and home to more of the "hippy" crowd. You'll find graduate students and families living around here as well as some older undergrads. Willy St. has great food, bars, most necessities, and is within a bike ride of the Capitol, downtown, and the university. If you're looking in this area, you might want to start with Jennifer or Spaight St., but pretty much all streets south-east of Willy St. (from its start near Blair St. to where it turns into Atwood Ave.) share the same welcoming vibe. There are a few actual apartment buildings in this area; but most leases are either for houses or for various one, two, or three bedroom parts of houses that have been separated into individual units. Prices in this area tend to be slightly less than downtown, though in many cases the rent is comparable. In the CIVC housing search website, this area is covered by regions 3 and 6.

South of Campus

Another area that you might consider living is south of the University. You may want to stay away from the immediate area around Camp Randall Stadium (unless you really enjoy getting up early every Saturday to tailgate and watch football). The Monroe St. and Regent St. neighborhood has a mix of restaurants and shops as well as quiet streets where a few astronomy grad students have chosen to live. The area around Vilas park is quiet and family friendly and home to quite a few grad students. Prices in this area can range from ~$700 for a one bedroom apartment to ~$400 per person in a four bedroom house.

 

 

 

Co-ops

Joining one of Madison's many Co-ops is another option. The houses, ranging in size from 5 people in the Orton Co-op to 36 in Lothlorien, share home-cooked meals several nights a week, and are lively and interesting places to live.

"When I moved to Madison, I decided to move into one of Madison's twenty-odd housing co-ops. This ended up being a great way to meet people outside of the department."     —N. Murphy

Other Useful Links

Campus area housing listings

Division of University Housing

Madison neighborhoods

Madison neighborhood websites