Residents of Southwest and Southeast areas invited to share perspectives in community survey

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Maps showing Southwest and Southeast Planning Areas

The City of Madison’s Planning Division is mailing out postcards on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 to a group of randomly-selected people living in the Southwest and Southeast areas as part of the ongoing area plan process. The survey was developed in collaboration with UW-Madison Ph.D. Students in the Sociology Department.

Those who are selected will receive a postcard with instructions on how to participate in the voluntary survey. Survey results will inform and shape plan recommendations that will have a lasting impact on the future of our City’s neighborhoods and guide changes in the physical aspects of the community, including development from the private sector and infrastructure improvements from the public sector. Residents will have until February 10 to complete the survey.

The postcards will be sent out to one-third of the people living in both the Southwest and the Southeast Areas and should be arriving in mailboxes in the coming days.

These surveys will provide important information about residents’ experiences and what issues they see as important for the future of their neighborhood.

Meagan Tuttle, City of Madison Planning Director

Once the City has compiled the results of the first part of the survey, a second survey will be created based on the feedback received. The second survey will be circulated in the spring.

Survey results will be posted in a report on the Plan Project web pages later this spring.

The Planning Division will also be conducting a separate survey available to the general public for those who were not randomly selected in order to gather additional feedback.

If you receive a postcard, please use the link on it, and not the public link.

About the Southwest and Southeast Area Plans

The Southwest Planning Area is bounded by the Beltline to the north and northeast, the City of Fitchburg to the south and southeast, and S. High Point Road to the west. According to the 2020 Census, about 36,837 people live in this part of Madison, 37% of whom identify as BIPOC or Hispanic/Latinx.

The Southeast Planning Area is bounded by I-39/90 to the east, Sigglekow Road/the Village of McFarland to the south, Starkweather Creek/the City of Monona to the west and Highway 30 to the north. According to the 2020 Census, about 25,366 live in this part of Madison, 25.9% of whom identify as BIPOC or Hispanic/Latinx.

Each Area Plan will include recommendations for the categories covered in the City of Madison’s Comprehensive Plan: Land Use and Transportation, Neighborhoods and Housing, Economy and Opportunity, Culture and Character, Green and Resilient, Effective Government, and Health and Safety.

The Planning Division received authorization from the Common Council to begin work on the Southwest Area Plan and Southeast Area Plan in early October 2024, and public engagement kickoff events were held in mid-November and early December to share what the Area Plan process entails, provide residents with the chance to speak one-on-one with representatives from several departments across the City, and gather initial ideas for the plans. A second round of public meetings will be held in early 2025, during which City staff will share what they’ve heard from the community so far.

Those interested in staying updated on future meetings or filling out the public survey can find more information and sign up for e-mail newsletter updates by going to the individual project pages for the Southwest Area Plan and Southeast Area Plan.

Both pages also have an interactive commenting map available, allowing residents to flag locations they would like to see addressed in the area plans, and have archives of previous virtual meetings and meeting materials.

Additional Information and Resources

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