[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Mayor Dave Cieslewicz unveiled his “Imagine Madison” initiative, encouraging discussions of the city’s future, through a mid-term speech at a Downtown Rotary Club meeting at the Edgewater Hotel Wednesday.

Although a “Midterm Exam” record was sitting at the tables of the business and city leaders illustrating the status of the city since Cieslewicz took office more than two years ago, the mayor said he did not want to concentrate on the past.

“It is our challenge and our opportunity … to grow better, healthier, more fair and more welcoming to everyone,” Cieslewicz said in his speech.

The “smarter” development in the city, along with venues such as the Overture Center and “eclectic” local venues, attract young, educated people to the city, Cieslewicz said.

Madisonians’ high quality of life is based partly on the “manageable” size of the city, which attracts many people. However, attracting too many people could damage the quality of life, he added.

According to a release, 2,400 new housing units have been added to the downtown area alone, and the number of cars in Dane County has increased by 100,000 in the past 20 years. Deciding how to deal with this growth brings challenges to the city, the release said.

The mayor discussed his streetcar proposal, showing a photograph of 35 people in individual cars as opposed to 35 people on a streetcar, illustrating the amount of room a streetcar system would save the city.

“We need to accept a certain amount of congestion,” he said. “We’re not going to rule out cars. We’re talking about giving people more transportation options.”

The mayor welcomed Curt Brink’s 27-story Archipelago Village building-complex proposal and questioned “how tall” the city of Madison wants to be. Cieslewicz stressed the importance of density in the city, but said he could imagine eight- to10-story buildings downtown.

“That’s the way I think we should head,” he added.

Spokesperson George Twigg said in a phone interview after the speech that the city keeps in contact with the University of Wisconsin and its Campus Master Plan.

“The university is an incredibly important part of the city,” Twigg said. “The physical presence alone is a huge part, especially of what we do downtown.”

According to Twigg, the high-rise student buildings such as the Equinox, a 12-story apartment building proposed for construction on the corner of West Gorham and North Broom streets, that are being constructed downtown are consistent with what the mayor sees for the city’s future.

Cieslewicz also noted accomplishments such as the city’s public-school system ranking third in the nation, and the progress the city has made over the past 24 months on long-standing issues such as a community pool, a mid-State Street parking ramp and the creation of the Department of Civil Rights.

“Things are getting done. We are moving forward,” Cieslewicz said.

The mayor presented 12 projects he would like to see constructed in the next decade, including two community pools, a new central library, a streetcar system and 15 more neighborhood parks.