waa waa boo hoo gee maybe commie rye shut down because their food sucks? OR maybe it is because not everyone likes to support the owner, a convicted killer (re:sterling hall bomber)!

Beyond that, Starbucks tastes better than most of those "glorious independent" coffee shops.

-30-

OK, I bothered to read the rest of this crap. The author detests the nice new student-oriented housing, yet lives in it? LOL
Since when is "The Den" expensive or overpriced? Walgreens is expensive?
Get
a
Grip

Julie, the last time I checked, China and Cuba were still free of corporate greed. I suggest you move to one of those countries before Sony buys the building you live in.

Also, the desirability of MAdison is directly responsible for the new housing that you detest. If Madison sucked, no one would move there and there would be no development. The other option is to increase rents drastically. Now THAT would ruin Madison by driving out the mom and pop stores that remain successful, and inviting even more chains into downtown. Still want to curtail that development?

PS

Rad Rye made the worst Reuben sandwhich in the world, and as previously mentioned, the owner was a murderer.

Radical Rye was shut down because the city used its power of Eminent Domain to buy the property for the Overture center, just like it did with Dotty's, Madison Masala, etc etc.

They did have some tasty veggie chilli though...

Every social do-gooder in the world needs to understand 3 simple RULES of capitalism:
1. Money Rules over everything
2. Actions are a close second to money
3. Stupid editorials by hypocrites don't have any voice

Are you kidding me? I hope the next editorial is about how drug usage is horrible and we should end all illegal drugs... written by a drug dealer.

Or better yet... How alcohol is a terrible thing and we should go back to a dry country... written by an alcoholic

Or finally... How the environment is in terrible condition and we should save it... written by H2 owners!

You have an opinion on how my city should look... or how I should live, wonderful... But you first! Personally I think the Overture center is AMAZING. And I love how the sky line is growing!

Eye sore? Are you kidding me? Look at what exists in the lot you are referring to now. Ugly, old rabbit hutches. I looked at this apartments and there's no way in hell I'd be caught dead living there, even if I had to get a private loan just to pay rent. I would much rather look at apartments like Aberdeen or 420 West than those old, piece of shit houses. Get a life!

I'm sorry, but I'd rather tear down shit housing to replace it with nice apartments than leave that shit housing up and have Madison become more and more ghetto. How can you be such a dumbass?

History Lesson: Radical Rye shut down once before.

Someone's an east coaster. Yes, State St. is changing. It is changing to make Madison a bigger regional tourism destination. And they are building high rises because more and more people are living in apartments every year, and housing is at a premium. But Madison is not just State. St., as some of the east coasters seem to believe.

The Basset/Mifflin area will remain old houses. Move south of Regent St., and what do you get? Old houses. How about if you move down near the stadium? Old houses. What this is doing is providing an alternative for people who don't want to live in places where there is a lack of light, poor heating, etc. I've lived in both, and honestly, in a lot of ways I like the older houses and apartments better. However, my senior year I would have preferred to live in one of the nice apartments in La Ciel or La Ville.

She's too ugly to be east coast...well except for some of the long island ones.
LOL

Anyway, again, it's pretty lame to say " I want the crappy old houses to stay downtown so I can look at them and pity their poor poor residents."

"Please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic, and respectful."
I'll believe it when I see it.

The sad part is, all you corporation lovers are ultimately the corporations' biggest victims. No, I don't expect you to understand this.
It's not black and white. Columnists in general should try to bear this in mind, but, moreso, all you reactionary, thoughtless people should consider it as well, before you waste your energy spewing stupidity for others to read online.
Food for thought: Maybe, just maybe, the power conferred by Capitalism is not well placed. Greed and selfishness are our modern virtues. No view towards the future, no consideration for those who have a more benevolent view. Everything is competition, and that is why it will, eventually, destroy itself. Do yourself and the world a favor, detach yourself for a minute, as best you can, from your consumerist programming, and just consider whether on not this may be true.
Just try.

Destroy itself? You mean like communism? LOL

Seriously, your paternalistic attitude is sickening.

There's a ton of inaccuracies and poor comments made throughout the article and let me a touch on a few. She claims that shopping at chain stores is more expensive than mom-pop stores. This is a fallacy in most cases because due to economies of scale, larger companies due to volume can sell their products at a cheaper price. The fact is that consumers can get athletic shoes at a cheaper price in stores such as Footlocker or larger sports retailers.
(Scheel's) than the sport stores on State Street. Also, consumers can get cheaper food at Taco Bell or Subway than resturants like the Radical Rye or Kabul.
She also complains about the apartment buildings creating wind tunnels, becoming an eyesore, and an area of high decibels. While these notions may hold a little bit of truth, do you understand the laws of real estate and what benefit these apartments really do have to the downtown Madison housing market. These apartments not only provide housing close to campus, resturants, and jobs downtown for college students but also bring creative class members and other educated residents to downtown (if you don't know what creative class is check out Richard Florida's book). Your complaints are petty and most people don't care about a little wind, a little noise, and actually think the new corner skyline is cool (including me). Housing eventually goes up and we should be thankful that Madison has made an effort to increase housing downtown instead of building sprawl on the outskirts of the city.
Also how do a few old houses have more character than the new apartment buildings. The new apartments are aesthetically pleasing and stand out. For instance, the Aberdeen lives up to its name in looking old and Scottish.
You fail to understand progress and economics in your article. I understand the concern about State Street and downtown becoming too commercialized but Madison is a town of progressives and it is unlikely that people will let their town "sell out" if you will. State Street will continue to be a unique place and if it changes too drastically, there will be a huge backlash. Please take a few course like in real estate or economics so you can have a more objective perspective.

fist off, i am offended by the crassness of the anonymous comments posted above. they were all incredibly rude and mean-spirited. as far as julie's article goes, i understand exactly what she is saying. when the chocolate coyote went out of business a month after cold stone opened, i was saddened by the direction state street was going. when i first came to madison i fell in love with the independent shops and character of the town. while it is inevitable that more housing and apartments would be built to suit the city's needs, there is nothing wrong with noting the consequences of this.

As an anonymous poster, I am offended by people who write ignorant articles.

WHAT!?!

?!?!

I have nothing better to do than post comments.It is better than sex.