Madison Madness: Fill out a bracket to let us know what you want in your neighborhood

As we get closer to tournament time, the City of Madison is getting into the spirit with a new way for residents to share their perspectives during the ongoing Southwest and Southeast Area Plan process.

The “Madison Madness” bracket takes aspects of future planning – like housing, neighborhood amenities, transportation, and recreation – and puts them into a bracket format, allowing residents to think about their priorities and share them with the City in a fun and unique way.

The bracket is part of ongoing community engagement efforts as part of the Southwest and Southeast Area Plans, in addition to previous public engagement events and resident surveys.

The first page of the bracket will ask users to identify where they live, whether it’s in Madison’s Southwest or Southeast areas, in Madison but outside of the current planning areas, or somewhere else. Responses from those outside of the Southwest and Southeast areas will still be used to inform future planning studies.

How it Works

Each “team” in the bracket represents a component of what the future of the city could be. The bracket’s four “regions” represent a different area of focus: Neighborhood Destinations, Places to Live, Streets and Getting Around, and Open Spaces and Recreation. Each “region” is broken down into eight different aspects of those categories. There are 32 items in the bracket overall.

The survey will take you through each “matchup” individually. In each matchup, you’ll choose what the higher priority is for you. The survey will keep presenting you with matchups as you work your way through the bracket until you have your “champion” -- the biggest priority you’d like to see addressed.

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, Siggelkow 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 held public kickoff meetings in mid-November and early December to share what the Area Plan process entails, provided residents with the chance to speak one-on-one with representatives from multiple City departments, and gather initial ideas for the plans. This Spring and early summer, planning staff will be hosting pop-up meetings and attending several community events to share feedback from residents from our initial rounds of public meetings and surveys.

Those interested in staying updated on future meetings or filling out future public surveys 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.