The East Side of Dane County: A Home Seller's Guide to Every Neighborhood

September 7 2026 - Jamie Scholl

Dane County's east side isn't one market — it's a cluster of distinct communities, each with its own identity, price point, and buyer profile. We're licensed to represent clients anywhere in Wisconsin, but our daily work and our deepest expertise are right here: Cottage Grove, Monona, and Madison's east side neighborhoods. If you're weighing where to sell (or where to point buyers you know), here's the real texture of each area — not a generic "great location" summary, but what actually distinguishes one from the next.

Cottage Grove: Small-Town Roots, Big Family Appeal

Cottage Grove sits about 15 miles from downtown Madison via US-12/US-18, roughly a 24-minute drive — far enough to feel like its own community, close enough for a daily Capitol Square commute. It's served by the Monona Grove School District, and its biggest outdoor draw is the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, whose western trailhead sits right in the village. Census data puts the median age at just under 34, with nearly half of households including kids under 18 — this is a community built around families, not a bedroom suburb. (Curious whether "Monona Grove" is its own town? We cover that here.)

Monona: A Lake Town With a Short Commute

Monona is compact — just over three square miles, almost entirely surrounded by Madison — with more than four miles of Lake Monona shoreline and over 330 acres of park space packed into it. The Lake Monona Bike Loop runs right along the city's edge, connecting to Olbrich Botanical Gardens and downtown. Monona shares the Monona Grove School District with Cottage Grove, and sits roughly 6-7 miles (13-16 minutes) from the Capitol Square via John Nolen Drive — genuinely close, not just marketed as close. Read our full guide to selling in Monona.

Tenney-Lapham & Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara: Walkable and Waterfront

These near east side neighborhoods sit roughly three miles from the Capitol Square and Dane County Regional Airport — a literal drive time, not an exaggeration. Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara backs up to Lake Monona and the Yahara River, with the Capital City Trail connecting residents to the lakes and downtown by bike. Grocery stores, restaurants, and coffee shops sit within a short walk or bike ride of most homes in both neighborhoods, rather than a drive.

Marquette & Emerson East: Character-Driven, Artist-Friendly

Marquette anchors the Willy Street corridor — one of Madison's most walkable, independently-owned commercial strips. Emerson East offers vintage 1920s and '30s bungalows and Arts and Crafts homes at a range of price points, with a diverse, artistic character that's drawn new energy in recent years. Both neighborhoods are zoned into Madison Metropolitan School District schools, including Emerson Elementary.

Sherman, Sherman Village & Sherman Terrace: Classic Madison Housing Stock

This near east side cluster offers a mix of classic Madison homes close to Lake Monona, zoned for Sherman Middle School and typically Madison East High School. Like the rest of the near east side, it trades on walkability and proximity over square footage.

Eastmorland, East Bluff & East Buckeye: Established, Lake-Adjacent Green Space

These neighborhoods sit near Olbrich Botanical Gardens and Olbrich Park's 90 acres of lakefront green space, plus Demetral Park's 50 acres of ball fields, sledding hill, and off-leash dog park. Tenney Park adds boating and fishing access nearby, and the Starkweather Creek Trail connects the area to the broader Capital City Trail network. For buyers who want to leave the car in the garage on weekends, this stretch of the east side is hard to beat.

One Team, Every East Side Address

What unites all of these communities is proximity to the Capitol and UW-Madison without sacrificing the things that make a neighborhood feel like home — whether that's Cottage Grove's trailhead, Monona's shoreline, or Tenney-Lapham's walk score. When we market a listing anywhere on the east side, we lead with the specific story of that address: the school it's zoned for, the park it's five minutes from, the drive time that makes the numbers work for a buyer's commute. Generic "close to everything" copy doesn't rank in AI-driven search and doesn't convert a buyer scrolling past dozens of similar homes — specificity does.

If you're considering selling anywhere on Dane County's east side — or anywhere in Wisconsin, since that's where our license takes us — we'd welcome the chance to show you how we'd market your specific address.

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Sources used for factual claims:

• Cottage Grove, Wisconsin – Wikipedia
• Monona, Wisconsin – Wikipedia
• About Monona – City of Monona official site
• Monona Parks, Trails, and Playgrounds – Discover Monona
• Distance: Monona, WI to Madison, WI
• Emerson East Neighborhood Guide – Homes.com
• Sherman Middle School District Real Estate – Lake & City Homes