Madison Seeks Room to Grow
After decades of gobbling land like a ravenous Pac-Man, Madison is facing the reality of running out of real estate.
To share the region’s new jobs, housing and businesses, the city must push outward, which brings tension and conflict with neighbors.
Now, the city is negotiating with those neighbors on its final borders, which will decide who controls rules for private, undeveloped lands and who reaps tax money to pay for police, garbage collection, plowing streets and other services.
It will also dictate how and where growth happens.
Good article. This is the information of which we all need to be aware to understand needs, impacts and decisions.
I cannot speak to the growth on the east and north side of the city. I would like to say the newly dotted line in the far west is totally new; south west of my community. This was not included in the Smart Growth plans on display this summer. It will be something our neighborhood association will track. I would also like to simply point out that “city” boundaries do NOT equate to “MMSD” boundaries. These new areas may or may not affect Madison public schools. Many residents of Madison attend other school districts and visa versa.
I would recommend residents in these areas stay abreast of annexations within the district to HELP our school board and community evaluate future services.