The Madison we have all come to know and love is changing before our very eyes. We are beginning to abandon our city that was full of character and uniqueness for the ideal of bigger and less individual. The city is spending an obscene amount of money to redevelop the downtown area.
The smaller mom-and-pop stores are being forced to leave State Street to make room for larger corporations. There was boisterous construction involved in tearing down an entire block of State Street for the new grandiose Overture Center. The entire street has been given a new, revamped look that is inconsistent with the feeling of downtown.
One of the staples of our community, Radical Rye, the one restaurant that I was told about before coming to Madison, was also recently shut down.
Due to convenience and many people’s lack of available transportation, State Street is where a major part of students’ shopping takes place. However, the stores now lining the street are more expensive and unaffordable on many students’ budgets.
And this is just the beginning.
The city of Madison is currently fixated on approving high-rise apartment buildings downtown. The new location picked to be renovated is the lot on West Gorham across from the new 420 West building and two doors down from the Aberdeen Apartments, LaVille and the Embassy, all also relatively new buildings.
This lot currently contains five very different houses with apartments inside and a small parking lot in back. What will go up is a 12-story high-rise with underground parking; just like 420 West, the Embassy, etc. The new Madison will lack what the old Madison had. This diversity in housing is part of what makes, or made, Madison so unique.
Madison was rated the Number 1 metropolitan area to live in before all these new over-priced apartment buildings. With these new structures being erected all over town, we are losing the character that makes our city so special.
Now, I live in one of these expensive high-rise apartment buildings, and sure, it is quite luxurious. However, I also know that I am very lucky to be able to afford housing like this. I realize that not all college students are as fortunate. These new buildings are not affordable for many students. Low-income housing, like what has been proposed for 15 percent of the new building, doesn’t even apply to most students. It is highly unlikely that a student not paying his or her own way by working in college would qualify. As great as low-income housing would be downtown, lower priced housing needs to be available for all students, including those whose parents can work to help pay for their higher education.
With high-rise apartment buildings on both sides of West Gorham, a large wind tunnel could be created, causing the walk to class in the winter months to be that much more unpleasant. There could also be an area created that echoes making more loud noises on top of an already loud, high-traffic area. This building will be nothing more than an expensive eyesore.
The city of Madison should focus on what is really needed downtown. Perhaps instead of building another large apartment building on West Gorham and a more extravagant State Street, we should spend some money to revamp the homeless shelter right across the street from said lot to make it larger and more efficient. Instead of contributing to a higher cost of living downtown for students as well as less fortunate people in the community, maybe we should try to lower these costs to make Madison a more all-encompassing area where more people can live comfortably together.
Julie Isen ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science.