Moving from Los Angeles to Madison/Portage area...and I have questions!

[CrazyCatLady]

I spent a year living in Madison when I was in first grade, otherwise I have pretty much spent my life in Southern California.  I have an opportunity to move to WI this year sometime.  I have a lot of family there, but I don't know them very well.  The home school and vax laws seem ok.  It's obviously much more affordable and the weather will be VERY different lol.  There is also a large Norwegian population/culture that I am excited about being closer too (I speak Norwegian). 

I guess I am just nervous and looking for words of encouragement.  I know the culture is very different from CA...and I am pretty stereotypical CA. 

Are there crunchy/AP groups in the area that aren't hardcore religious?  Has anyone here moved from the West Coast to WI and liked it?  I'm just afraid it might not ever feel like "home".  Or that I might not be welcomed there or something because I look different.

Thanks in advance for any help. :)

[loudmama]

Oh, Madison has AP/Crunchy families that aren't religious! No worries there. Happy Bambino on the east side of town is a good place to start to meet folks. Madison has a birth center & pretty large home birth community as well. There really is quite a bit to do that is inexpensive.

The Madison area is quite a bit more liberal than most of WI, so differences are usually accepted without much thought. We're very Midwest here, but liberal. That's not so say that the area is perfect & w/o its conservatives. And the further outside of Madison you go, the more conservative it gets. But folks, even when conservative, are usually nice.

That's the short version. The winters here can be nasty & we have some good humidity in the summer, but it's a nice place to live.

L

[CrazyCatLady]

Thanks for responding!  All I remember is living there when we were kids, and people in the neighborhood wouldn't let their kids play with us because we were from CA.   But that was 20 years ago in a smaller town outside of Madison...so I probably shouldn't be letting that experience scare me off lol.  I'll keep doing my research, especially on home schooling there.  But it's good to hear that there are plenty of other crunchy families in the area.  Thanks again. :)

[rchoyt]

I grew up in Madison and I miss it so much.  If you live in Madison you shouldn't have any problems being crunchy.  Some of the surrounding areas may be a little less crunchy but Madison is def. crunchy and I don't consider it "christian crunchy" at all. 

I agree that Happy Bambino is a great place to start.  There is a huge home-schooling community and many who are not doing it for religious reasons. 

I would hope no one would treat you differently because you are from CA!  BUt I guess you never know.  The Willy St area and the Olbrich Park/Atwood Ave area of the near east side are very crunchy neighborhoods as is the near west side of Madison near Monroe St. 

Wingra school is also a great private school that is quite crunchy. 

Good luck, I'm jealous you get to move to Madison!

[poppyseed2012]

Oh, I love Madison! And I live in the aforementioned "crunchy" neighborhood of Willy Street/Olbrich. It's fantastic and I can't wait to raise my little one here. There are many people here from all over the the country (and world) because of UW-Madison. There are pocket of crunchy outside of Madison (Viroqua in southwest WI) but they are few and far between. However, in general people are very accepting in the Midwest. I think we might be too polite to say otherwise.

I agree with loudmama, the weather can be crazy. But it's all I've ever known so I kind of dig it. Feel free to ask more questions! Good luck with whatever you decide to do!!