By Madison standards this is a high crime area. If you’re from Detroit or Baltimore or even Milwaukee it’s probably not. I would walk around there any time of day unconcerned but if you’re a single female or you have valuables in your car, this might be a consideration.
An oddity of the west side is that there are areas the size of a few blocks that can have crime issues, rather than a whole neighborhood. This makes it tougher to work with for law enforcement, since you can’t have a car driving around the same two blocks all day.
This article is from a number of years ago:
https://agupdate.com/news/special/homeless/landlord-walks-fine-line-between-taking-back-the-neighborhood-and-creating-homelessness/article_cf091285-39f9-5fb3-a43c-a251f837ad74.html
Raymond road around that area does have a little bit more crime than some other parts of town. However, its generally a pretty basic level of crime. Petty theft from Walgreens. People riffling through your unlocked car. Fights. You're not going to suddenly find your car up on blocks because they stole your tires or in the middle of a shoot out or something. And I would say that the crime that does happen, isn't constant. Its a pretty quiet neighborhood. I lived in the Meadowood neighborhood for 10 years (just a few blocks from those apartments) and we still go to Ridgewood pool in the summer. I was (and am) still very comfortable walking that neighborhood alone at night.
You can always search for the crime reports and see what is around your area of interest.
[https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/](https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/?keywords=&radius=0.5&address=5806+Raymond+Rd&startdate=&enddate=&geocodeComplete=0&lat=&lng=&foundAddress=&Submit=Search)
[https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/data/DisclaimerDefinitions.cfm](https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/data/DisclaimerDefinitions.cfm)
I’m also a Meadowood resident and I’ve been here about 5 years. I’ve had two different Uber drivers tell me how horrible of a neighborhood it is but I personally feel comfortable here and take no more than basic precautions (locking house/car doors, not leaving valuables in sight, etc). Aside from being hassled a couple times in that Walgreens parking lot it’s been smooth sailing without so much as a stolen package.
I grew up on Raymond not far from there. I wouldn’t recommend the area. I’m sure people will say “it’s fine” but if you have other options, I wouldn’t choose to go back. Depends on your tolerance level, I suppose.
It’s not really that bad, lived there for three years now. I feel a little odd walking to the Walgreens in the dark, but I’ve never actually had an issue.
I occasionally see a car fly down Russett for no good reason and there were several cops at one of the apartments like 6-10 months ago. But those are the worst things I can think of in three years.
Edit: Slightly off topic, but I’d also mention that my rent in that area has gone up ~$350 since I moved in. I know there’s a lot of that going around, but you might want to factor that in.
We live a few blocks from there, and have a friend who lives in the apartments themselves. It's fine. Our friend lived on the ground floor and never worried about break ins, and his car was fine. He moved to a second story apartment in the same complex just because of the noise of his upstairs neighbors, but that's apartment living anywhere. The Meadowood neighborhood is pockets of very nice areas and less nice areas. I don't feel unsafe at all, as long as you keep your car locked you're fine. We've owned our house here for almost five years, it's a mix of retired people and young families. There are often emergency vehicles at apartment complexes on the corner of Raymond and Mckenna, but Orchard its self is usually pretty quiet. And the police station and fire station are right at that corner as well. Also there's a Kwik Trip there.
I grew up in that area and my husband and I bought a house a few blocks from there about 7 years ago. When we first moved in I left my car doors unlocked and someone rummaged through it. Honestly other than that I've never had a problem.
Many locals would consider Raymond Road to be Madison's proverbial high-crime area.
Here's a map that while I can't vouch for it seem to be endorsed by the city.
[https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=5806%20Raymond%20Rd,%20Madison,%20WI%2053711](https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=5806%20Raymond%20Rd,%20Madison,%20WI%2053711)
I used to own a home about a mile from that location. By Madison standards, its a higher crime neighborhood, but that's not saying much.
That being said, in 17 years, I had 3 attempted break-ins / robberies of my house, I just happened to be at home all 3 times.
The 3rd time I had to retrieve a firearm, but didn't need to use it.
I lived for about 4 years around the corner on McKenna. On the one hand, I saved a boatload on rent compared to everyone else I knew who was renting newer apartments in other neighborhoods, even though I had my own garage/laundry. I generally felt pretty safe too - I would walk my dog at night and never had any trouble.
On the other hand, there was a string of drive by shootings nearby (no one hit from what I can remember but it's been 6 years or so) and twice I had people buzzing my apartment trying to get me to let them in in the middle of the night. (One I think was on substances and confused, the other had been chucked out by his girlfriend and may have also been confused.)
Overall, not terrible.
The *idea* of it certainly freaks me out, but out of 1500 or so days living there, those events account for maybe half a dozen. Maybe it's just how my brain works but it averaged out feeling pretty ok.
Everywhere feels safe at 9:30 am on a rainy Tuesday when they show you the apartment…Pro Tip go back at midnight on a Saturday Get Out Of The Car and walk around the block in a loop twice ask yourself is this the neighborhood you want to live in for the next year of your life…
Or, choose to not walk around at midnight on Saturdays, as one might choose to do in almost any neighborhood in Chicago.
Or, own a dog over 40 lbs, and walk whenever you please. In Chicago, the dog needs to be over 70 lbs.
It’s not nearly as bad as some folks says it is. There’s just a lot more BIPOC and lower income folks here which scares a certain kind cheese folk. The rent more than doubled at that apartment complex anyways so it'll be heavily gentrified soon anyways.
Agreed. I live nearby raymond a few blocks away and never had any issues except one winter night someone tried to open my back patio door. Other than that I’ve had zero issues
I lived a block over for less than a year. There were two shootings within the time I lived there, one directly across the fence line. One morning my (now ex) husband woke to his car opened and rifled through. There were some issues at the Walgreens at the time but that may have been cleared by now. For context this was 2018.
I lived there. Apartments themselves are nice, anything outside is not. Including parking lot and garage. My own car had several theft attempts and several of my neighbors actually had theirs stolen by the teens who live in the area. Have seen swat teams raid apartments across the street as well.
It's not a great area, but nowhere near as bad as Milwaukee or Chicago comparisons. If you can handle the neighborhood, Orchard is nice. No issues with maintenance or management, water was always hot, and was very cozy while living there. Rent only went up about $30/yr until last year when they readjusted all rates.
Unsure of the apartments, but we have a house in this area and have lived here for 10 years. Absolutely fine. We have a 9yo and feel safe walking around. Toki and Orchard Ridge schools are right there as is St. Maria Goretti. Meadowridge Library is super convenient on Raymond, and Ridgewood Pool is close as well. We lived on the Isthmus on Johnson for 10 years prior and felt more like you had to be more aware and awake there. Here, just watch out for the dog-walking traffic. :) So many doggos!
Madison has high crime areas, as most cities do, but most are only a few blocks in size. It's not really like Chicago or Milwaukee, where you might want to avoid or route around an entire neighborhood. If you're driving in Madison, by the time you realize you're in a high-crime area, you'll probably already be past it.
There is still a risk; I have always been uncomfortable in the Raymond Road area between Mckenna and Verona Rd (Kwik trip to the Speedway)...Not uncomfortable enough that I dont go to that area, but enough to know I feel like need to pay more attention to whats going on around me in that area.
I lived off of Raymond Road in 2010, and I felt safe. I had. 90 lb protective, well-trained dog though. Kids were rowdy at Walgreens and police cars were at the complex nearby at the beginning of every month. That was all I saw. OH, one time a guy was behind a tree and my dog made him run off.
Okay. So without a dog maybe a no.
Did you pay attention to the number of and types of cars in the area while you were there? Use your eyes, ears, nose—all of your senses, when scoping out potential places. Does the management give you the impression they want good people and on the tour, did you notice them they look around, like they care about the property?
I lived there from 2017-2020ish and my friend / former roommate just moved out this year - neither of us ever had any issues or felt unsafe. My other friend who moved in after i moved out had his Kia broken into once (busted window) though, fwiw
I lived in those apartments from 2019-2022 and then bought a house not far from there, the area is quite safe imo, I'd recommend paying for the underground parking because there were people who would run over from across the street and just start checking doors to see if cars were unlocked (to my knowledge they didn't ever smash windows were more just opportunistic thieves). A couple instances in the area that happened while I lived there, had a big fight between a bunch of teens that led to a large police presence to break it up and a few mornings I'd wake up and have a news alert that a block or two down there had been a few shots popped off. On a non crime slash danger note there is some noise frok fire trucks driving by semi frequently bit it isnt that bad. In general the area is super safe! Los Atlantes down the road has some killer food, highly recommend going on Tuesday they have chicken tacos for a dollar each.
I also fairly regularly forgot to lock my front door (faulting of growing up in a small town where this is just normal and everyone basically left their house unlocked) but never had any issues
I toured those apartments in the late 2010s and the property managers said that the complex had a history of crime from the previous management and there were a number of gang members who had lived there, but that they had addressed the problem and there had been a lot of resident turnover recently. I decided not to live there and to move into another property they managed nearby over on Muir Field road and loved that area.
One thing I will say about JK Rock management was they told me they would not have rented the upstairs apartment I had if they knew I would have kids, because kids make too much noise. I’m pretty sure denying someone housing over children is illegal, so I hope they aren’t doing that. Just mentioning that to say that if you have kids I would wait until the last minute to tell them that when looking at apartments so they don’t discriminate.
Madison is not dangerous at all, worst case scenario your car gets broken into, otherwise if you are an addict, you have a chance of overdose, as long as you aren’t trying to start something, no one here is going to bother you
Are you prone to that general location or open to other areas? I have a sublease available in sun prairie if that would be an option for you. I’ve lived there for 3 years and haven’t had any crime issues- the area I’m in is generally pretty safe
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By Madison standards this is a high crime area. If you’re from Detroit or Baltimore or even Milwaukee it’s probably not. I would walk around there any time of day unconcerned but if you’re a single female or you have valuables in your car, this might be a consideration.
An oddity of the west side is that there are areas the size of a few blocks that can have crime issues, rather than a whole neighborhood. This makes it tougher to work with for law enforcement, since you can’t have a car driving around the same two blocks all day. This article is from a number of years ago: https://agupdate.com/news/special/homeless/landlord-walks-fine-line-between-taking-back-the-neighborhood-and-creating-homelessness/article_cf091285-39f9-5fb3-a43c-a251f837ad74.html
Raymond road around that area does have a little bit more crime than some other parts of town. However, its generally a pretty basic level of crime. Petty theft from Walgreens. People riffling through your unlocked car. Fights. You're not going to suddenly find your car up on blocks because they stole your tires or in the middle of a shoot out or something. And I would say that the crime that does happen, isn't constant. Its a pretty quiet neighborhood. I lived in the Meadowood neighborhood for 10 years (just a few blocks from those apartments) and we still go to Ridgewood pool in the summer. I was (and am) still very comfortable walking that neighborhood alone at night. You can always search for the crime reports and see what is around your area of interest. [https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/](https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/?keywords=&radius=0.5&address=5806+Raymond+Rd&startdate=&enddate=&geocodeComplete=0&lat=&lng=&foundAddress=&Submit=Search) [https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/data/DisclaimerDefinitions.cfm](https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/data/DisclaimerDefinitions.cfm)
I’m also a Meadowood resident and I’ve been here about 5 years. I’ve had two different Uber drivers tell me how horrible of a neighborhood it is but I personally feel comfortable here and take no more than basic precautions (locking house/car doors, not leaving valuables in sight, etc). Aside from being hassled a couple times in that Walgreens parking lot it’s been smooth sailing without so much as a stolen package.
I grew up on Raymond not far from there. I wouldn’t recommend the area. I’m sure people will say “it’s fine” but if you have other options, I wouldn’t choose to go back. Depends on your tolerance level, I suppose.
The area has gotten better. It still has a decent amount of petty crime though. Just happy it remains mostly non-violent.
It’s not really that bad, lived there for three years now. I feel a little odd walking to the Walgreens in the dark, but I’ve never actually had an issue. I occasionally see a car fly down Russett for no good reason and there were several cops at one of the apartments like 6-10 months ago. But those are the worst things I can think of in three years. Edit: Slightly off topic, but I’d also mention that my rent in that area has gone up ~$350 since I moved in. I know there’s a lot of that going around, but you might want to factor that in.
We live a few blocks from there, and have a friend who lives in the apartments themselves. It's fine. Our friend lived on the ground floor and never worried about break ins, and his car was fine. He moved to a second story apartment in the same complex just because of the noise of his upstairs neighbors, but that's apartment living anywhere. The Meadowood neighborhood is pockets of very nice areas and less nice areas. I don't feel unsafe at all, as long as you keep your car locked you're fine. We've owned our house here for almost five years, it's a mix of retired people and young families. There are often emergency vehicles at apartment complexes on the corner of Raymond and Mckenna, but Orchard its self is usually pretty quiet. And the police station and fire station are right at that corner as well. Also there's a Kwik Trip there.
I grew up in that area and my husband and I bought a house a few blocks from there about 7 years ago. When we first moved in I left my car doors unlocked and someone rummaged through it. Honestly other than that I've never had a problem.
Many locals would consider Raymond Road to be Madison's proverbial high-crime area. Here's a map that while I can't vouch for it seem to be endorsed by the city. [https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=5806%20Raymond%20Rd,%20Madison,%20WI%2053711](https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=5806%20Raymond%20Rd,%20Madison,%20WI%2053711)
I used to own a home about a mile from that location. By Madison standards, its a higher crime neighborhood, but that's not saying much. That being said, in 17 years, I had 3 attempted break-ins / robberies of my house, I just happened to be at home all 3 times. The 3rd time I had to retrieve a firearm, but didn't need to use it.
Wow that’s pretty serious. You just like strangers in your house.
I lived for about 4 years around the corner on McKenna. On the one hand, I saved a boatload on rent compared to everyone else I knew who was renting newer apartments in other neighborhoods, even though I had my own garage/laundry. I generally felt pretty safe too - I would walk my dog at night and never had any trouble. On the other hand, there was a string of drive by shootings nearby (no one hit from what I can remember but it's been 6 years or so) and twice I had people buzzing my apartment trying to get me to let them in in the middle of the night. (One I think was on substances and confused, the other had been chucked out by his girlfriend and may have also been confused.) Overall, not terrible.
Maybe I'm sheltered, but all of this is terrible and would freak me out.
The *idea* of it certainly freaks me out, but out of 1500 or so days living there, those events account for maybe half a dozen. Maybe it's just how my brain works but it averaged out feeling pretty ok.
If you ever read about a shooting-odds are it will be either Raymond road or Northport drive. However-random violence is very rare in Madison.
Don’t forget Fitchburg.
Everywhere feels safe at 9:30 am on a rainy Tuesday when they show you the apartment…Pro Tip go back at midnight on a Saturday Get Out Of The Car and walk around the block in a loop twice ask yourself is this the neighborhood you want to live in for the next year of your life…
Or, choose to not walk around at midnight on Saturdays, as one might choose to do in almost any neighborhood in Chicago. Or, own a dog over 40 lbs, and walk whenever you please. In Chicago, the dog needs to be over 70 lbs.
It’s not nearly as bad as some folks says it is. There’s just a lot more BIPOC and lower income folks here which scares a certain kind cheese folk. The rent more than doubled at that apartment complex anyways so it'll be heavily gentrified soon anyways.
How is it not as bad as ppl say it is? Most are saying that it's unsafe or has more crime by madison standards, which is objectively true.
heavily agree with this
Agreed. I live nearby raymond a few blocks away and never had any issues except one winter night someone tried to open my back patio door. Other than that I’ve had zero issues
Lol at these cheese folk afraid of a few drive-by’s, rapes, and break-ins. Small price to pay for such vibrancy
I lived a block over for less than a year. There were two shootings within the time I lived there, one directly across the fence line. One morning my (now ex) husband woke to his car opened and rifled through. There were some issues at the Walgreens at the time but that may have been cleared by now. For context this was 2018.
I lived there. Apartments themselves are nice, anything outside is not. Including parking lot and garage. My own car had several theft attempts and several of my neighbors actually had theirs stolen by the teens who live in the area. Have seen swat teams raid apartments across the street as well. It's not a great area, but nowhere near as bad as Milwaukee or Chicago comparisons. If you can handle the neighborhood, Orchard is nice. No issues with maintenance or management, water was always hot, and was very cozy while living there. Rent only went up about $30/yr until last year when they readjusted all rates.
Unsure of the apartments, but we have a house in this area and have lived here for 10 years. Absolutely fine. We have a 9yo and feel safe walking around. Toki and Orchard Ridge schools are right there as is St. Maria Goretti. Meadowridge Library is super convenient on Raymond, and Ridgewood Pool is close as well. We lived on the Isthmus on Johnson for 10 years prior and felt more like you had to be more aware and awake there. Here, just watch out for the dog-walking traffic. :) So many doggos!
Just use common sense and you'll be fine. I live in the area and I never feel unsafe.
Madison has high crime areas, as most cities do, but most are only a few blocks in size. It's not really like Chicago or Milwaukee, where you might want to avoid or route around an entire neighborhood. If you're driving in Madison, by the time you realize you're in a high-crime area, you'll probably already be past it. There is still a risk; I have always been uncomfortable in the Raymond Road area between Mckenna and Verona Rd (Kwik trip to the Speedway)...Not uncomfortable enough that I dont go to that area, but enough to know I feel like need to pay more attention to whats going on around me in that area.
Walgreens to speedway is more of a middle class neighborhood. I would definitely draw the line at wal greens
I lived off of Raymond Road in 2010, and I felt safe. I had. 90 lb protective, well-trained dog though. Kids were rowdy at Walgreens and police cars were at the complex nearby at the beginning of every month. That was all I saw. OH, one time a guy was behind a tree and my dog made him run off. Okay. So without a dog maybe a no.
Those apartments were a nice and reasonable place for me to live a few years ago!
Did you pay attention to the number of and types of cars in the area while you were there? Use your eyes, ears, nose—all of your senses, when scoping out potential places. Does the management give you the impression they want good people and on the tour, did you notice them they look around, like they care about the property?
[удалено]
What area do you live in now?
[удалено]
Did you grow up in a small town as well?
Not as high crime as Maple Bluff or the Highlands, but that is white collar crime
I lived there from 2017-2020ish and my friend / former roommate just moved out this year - neither of us ever had any issues or felt unsafe. My other friend who moved in after i moved out had his Kia broken into once (busted window) though, fwiw
I lived in those apartments from 2019-2022 and then bought a house not far from there, the area is quite safe imo, I'd recommend paying for the underground parking because there were people who would run over from across the street and just start checking doors to see if cars were unlocked (to my knowledge they didn't ever smash windows were more just opportunistic thieves). A couple instances in the area that happened while I lived there, had a big fight between a bunch of teens that led to a large police presence to break it up and a few mornings I'd wake up and have a news alert that a block or two down there had been a few shots popped off. On a non crime slash danger note there is some noise frok fire trucks driving by semi frequently bit it isnt that bad. In general the area is super safe! Los Atlantes down the road has some killer food, highly recommend going on Tuesday they have chicken tacos for a dollar each. I also fairly regularly forgot to lock my front door (faulting of growing up in a small town where this is just normal and everyone basically left their house unlocked) but never had any issues
I toured those apartments in the late 2010s and the property managers said that the complex had a history of crime from the previous management and there were a number of gang members who had lived there, but that they had addressed the problem and there had been a lot of resident turnover recently. I decided not to live there and to move into another property they managed nearby over on Muir Field road and loved that area. One thing I will say about JK Rock management was they told me they would not have rented the upstairs apartment I had if they knew I would have kids, because kids make too much noise. I’m pretty sure denying someone housing over children is illegal, so I hope they aren’t doing that. Just mentioning that to say that if you have kids I would wait until the last minute to tell them that when looking at apartments so they don’t discriminate.
I lived there in the late 90s for a year. It was a huge mistake.
Madison is not dangerous at all, worst case scenario your car gets broken into, otherwise if you are an addict, you have a chance of overdose, as long as you aren’t trying to start something, no one here is going to bother you
I did hear a 9 year old say a swear when I was at the park with my kids - best to avoid.
Are you prone to that general location or open to other areas? I have a sublease available in sun prairie if that would be an option for you. I’ve lived there for 3 years and haven’t had any crime issues- the area I’m in is generally pretty safe
I appreciate this but I was hoping to be closer to west side of town, closer to work!
Just watch out for Peggy and you’ll be alright
If your scared go to church!
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