Given the recent hubbub over Regent Street development, we find it is time to weigh in on the future of the corridor that links Camp Randall and the Kohl Center, that great back alley of campus.

Development along Regent Street and the neighborhood just north of it, we are told by local officials, is coming soon. In the face of this seemingly inevitable change, we applaud the efforts of some City Council representatives to reach out to residents of the neighborhood, garnering input about the future direction of the area. While setting basic ground rules is crucial, we hope the City of Madison will largely keep its hands out of the development, as independent private developers meeting market demand are the proper cornerstones of any private property upgrade.

Regent Street and its environs, though studded with historic and interesting buildings, are certainly in need of some cosmetic surgery. The street has seen better days. A plan that calls for the preservation of key cultural institutions and the enhancement of vacant or shoddy structures seems appropriate.

Planning should not be a license for fiscal irresponsibility on the part of the city, however. The City Council, through the efforts of alders like Austin King, has earmarked a sum of $20,000 for planning. Even if a private company ultimately does the planning for this project, we hope city officials do not get carried away and overestimate the extent to which planning is helpful.

A neighborhood with character is great. A neighborhood with a forced, blasé feel can be worse than the hodgepodge creature it replaces.

In the end, development on Regent Street and in the neighborhood immediately to its north should be approached with balance. Some planning and input through city channels is necessary, but so too is a willingness to let private interests create the final functional, affordable result for a largely student populace, one we earnestly hope students will make their thoughts known as the project progresses.

Regent Street is the red carpet this campus rolls out every home football Saturday to the people of Wisconsin. We hope the development of the street and its surrounding neighborhoods will eliminate a few stains, add some new trim and patch a couple of tears — all while preserving the best the venerable thoroughfare has to offer.