Hi Jen! My name is Laura. I am relatively new to the Madison area. We moved here in June of 2007. We moved from Alexandria, KY (about 2 hours away from here). My husband got a new job that was too far away from our old town, so we started looking. We had never been to this area, but people kept telling us this is where we should move. So we drove over here and really liked it. Of our options, it was a good choice, I think.
Its a fairly small town, but the people are very friendly and seem welcoming to newcomers. The biggest stores are Walmart and Lowes. If you want to do any real shopping, you'll have to drive over to Florence, KY or Clarksville, IN (or Louisville, KY) which is about an hour away. There isn't a lot to do in this area, however, especially for small children. We do have a library, with a story hours and we do have a really nice Gym that has classes for little ones (my oldest was 2 when we moved here and we started doing that). We also found a dance class that is held at the Catholic Elementary school. There is no official playgroups. There was one that I found, but I think everyone has dissipated. There isn't an easy way to meet people around here. I used cafemom.com (a site similar to this one) and met several people from the area. We arrange little playgroups among us every now and again and a few of the people I get together with regularly.
Regarding preschools, I'm in the midst of that myself. I had my oldest in a preschool this year. It was at the Catholic Elementary school (we're not catholic). It was Tue and THur 8-10:30 for the 3 year olds. It was pretty good, but I wanted something more structured. It was more about play and socialization for that age group. There is another one through a Presbyterian Church downtown that I've heard good things about, but I haven't checked it out myself yet. There is one at Hanover College (a nice college just a few miles away), but I haven't checked it out yet either. They are having an open house, I believe on April 14th (if you want more info, just message me and I can double check). Then, there are a couple preschools that are developmental, state type ones, based on developmental need and income. Thats about all for the preschools, from what I've found.
The parks/playgrounds aren't very nice, though I just found a super nice one in Hanover (few miles away) just this past summer. There are two pools you can use, one is downtown called Crystal Beach. Its pretty nice. It starts out about 1.5 ft deep and gets deeper, has multiple slides, etc. I think its about $2 a person. You can buy a season pass, too. The other one is in Clifty Falls State Park. I like it much better for small children because its zero entry (meaning it starts out at just an inch of water and very gradually gets deeper). There is also a separate wading pool. It has a couple slides for the older kids, too. The only downside to that is you have to pay to get in the park ($4 I think per car, or you can buy the season park pass for about $32) and then its like $4 per person over 3 or 4, I think. You can buy a multi visit pass that makes it a little cheaper, but its not a season pass, I guess they mark it each time and you only get in so many times. But, if you have small children, I think its much better for them. The state park itself has a little wildlife center and some programs for older kids. There are hiking trails that lead to apparently beautiful waterfalls (we haven't taken any trails yet). There is no lake in this park.
Lets see... the downtown are is pretty cute. We go down there every so often. There is a paint your own pottery place thats fun, a nature shop that has a "nature trail" in the basement.
I guess thats about it. It seems to be a pretty decent town to raise a family in, as far as safety. I wish there were more activities for the little ones, but I guess you give up some things to have the safety of a small town. If you move to the area, let me know and we'll get together. My kids are: Kimberly (she'll be 4 in May) and Madelyn (she's 15 months). |
