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City of Madison

“Madison Madness” results continue conversation on neighborhood priorities

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A couple walking their dogs in a southwest side neighborhood

The City of Madison Planning Division’s “Madison Madness” bracket-style community engagement survey wrapped up on Monday, April 7, 2025, after receiving more than a thousand responses over the last few weeks.

Planning Division staff have spent some time in the days since the survey closed tabulating the results and reading through the feedback before preparing a summary of their findings, which his now publicly available on the web pages for the Southeast Area Plan and the Southwest Area Plan.

The summary report includes percentages of how many people voted for the various aspects of future planning in every round that made up the bracket, but it’s important to note that there is no “winner.” Every aspect of future growth included in the bracket is important and will be included in future plans, and nothing will be excluded or de-prioritized based on the results of the survey.  

The bracket survey was designed to encourage people to think about aspects of future planning they may not have considered in the past as a way to facilitate discussion about priorities in the planning areas and in the city as a whole. The unique format also provided a fun and easy point of entry into providing feedback about their neighborhoods for those who may not typically engage in the process to make sure they heard from as many people as possible.

In the end, with nearly 1,400 total responses, “Madison Madness” was able to capture significantly more feedback than the Planning Division has typically received from other outreach efforts in the past. The results of this survey will be added to the feedback City staff collects through other formats in the coming months.

Summary of Comments Received

In addition to providing the final voting percentages, the results report also includes a full list of the more than 250 comments that were left by those who took the survey, allowing them to explain how they voted or to highlight the priorities they also support, but may not have voted for. The report breaks the comments down into responses from the Southeast planning area, the Southwest planning area, and the rest of the City.

Some of the comments included:

I hope that Madison can continue to grow thoughtfully - with attention to both environmental sustainability, as well as sustaining the human communities that allow the city to thrive. Affordable housing is a pressing need, but so is livable housing. Low-income individuals and families deserve to live in places they can afford, but those places should also offer a good quality of life, with accessible amenities, good schools, and greenery.

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Southeast Area resident

Currently, we are car dependent for almost every scenario, but I would love to see a focus on walkable options. In an ideal world, I would live above a business, have nearby venues for food/groceries/events, and public transit to reach other areas of the city without the high prices and industrial architecture associated with downtown. If I can ask anything, please think about the day to day experience of individuals rather than corporate interests - small businesses and homes rather than only rental living.

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Southwest Area resident

One of the biggest frustrations for me is that, as I’m approaching my mid-30s, I really don’t want to live in a small apartment anymore... but there are so few “missing middle” housing options that I can afford without being in adjacent cities (Fitchburg, Verona, Sun Prairie, etc). These locations would force me back into a car-first lifestyle. Most of the places I want to be are downtown, but most of downtown feels like it’s for students or the ultra-wealthy. I make good money, but even I can’t afford nearly $3,000/mo in rent when you consider parking and water/trash/sewer costs, not to mention gas and electricity. I wish there were more townhomes and condos, places where I can still have a little more space for hobbies (and a garage for projects), without having to own a low-density cookie-cutter house with a tiny yard. I want to be able to walk to the important things in daily life: grocery store, pharmacy, dentist, barber, etc. I think Madison is doing great things, but ultimately I’m starting to feel like I will be forced to move away entirely if the housing costs (and options) do not improve.

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Madison resident

You can find the full list of comments and voting percentages in the full report.

Future engagement opportunities will be announced on the web pages and e-mail newsletters for the Southwest Area Plan and the Southeast Area Plan.

Additional Information and Resources

Departments:
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