Crackership

Hi all,

I've got a bit of an out-of-the-blue question, but here goes:

I've recently discovered what appears to be a very interesting job opportunity in Madison, WI. So, I've done quite a bit of searching to try and get an idea of what it's like there... I can find a lot about weather, and sports teams, and great fishing locations, and how many wonderful biking and hiking trails there are there... But what I really want to know is what it's like to be a car guy there. Are there ridiculous vehicle laws? What are the speed limits? Are the millions of bored and grumpy cops? How many months out the year could you reasonably drive a 951? Do they salt the roads in the winter? Anything else I should know?

Just wondering if any of you are in that area of the country or know the area well... There's a cost of living calculator online, there needs to be a car-guy relocation calculator!

Thanks!

Hooverwi

Hi Dave,
While I can't speak for Madison directly, I do live about an hour east just outside of Milwaukee. April to November is the normal driving season - my 911 is parked for the winter now. Yes, they salt the roads in winter. Spring, Summer, Fall is generally very nice and there are a LOT of great roads in the general area. You will be amazed at what you find in a 2 hour circle around Madison - terrific!!! Wisconsin in General has a lot to see and some awesome "Kettle Moraine" type roads, the whole area being formed by glaciers. Speed limits are 55 in town on expressways and 65 on the open road.

Crackership

Thanks for the response! It sounds like the overall time of the year you can drive is less than here, as there are typically only a few days a year with sub-freezing or snowy weather, but it sounds like you get more quality driving time there as we only get about 1.5 months of nice weather here a year. It rains all the time.

I had to look up what "Kettle Moraine" was, but it looks interesting. Not quite what there is around here, but there aren't a lot of places in the world where you can drive from sea-level to over 5,000 ft in a few miles.

How is traffic typically? I mean, I can assume it's not as bad as here (as the I405 area in WA is actually the 3rd worst traffic in the country (behind NY and LA)

Hooverwi

Not totally sure about Madison traffic - depends on where you end up working vs living. Weekends aren't bad - but I'm never there during the week to experience their rush hour......

Dub_in_Rio

Hey, Just stumbled across this. I grew up and lived in the Madison area, but now I'm in Milwaukee.

Anyways, Madison traffic is not the worst, but I would say for a city its size it should have less. The Madison beltline (hwy12/18) is the source of most the issue due to a lot of commuters living on the west side and working on the east. Downtown doesnt really see a lot of traffic unless for sporting events. Just the usual city congestion.

Other car guy stuff to know. Madison does have a few grumpy cops, and the state patrol is headquatered in that area as well. Madison is not known as a car town (too many hippies) but its not too much of an issue. On the bright side, Madison hosts two premier Porsche shops, Kelly Moss Motorsports which handles more race stuff, and Accumoto which kinda covers it all.