Summary of Feedback on Issues and Goals Survey (in progress)

Lots of people have taken our Issues and Goals SurveyTake a look at a sample of the responses we’ve received at the meetings in December and the online survey. What do you think? Do you agree or do you want a different direction for our City? Let us know by taking the survey.
 


Housing

“How about a new vision for senior living that involves incorporating young children and college students. Our culture segments age groups way too much.

“Homeless shelters & transitional housing. Low-income housing. Downtown and campus area housing that isn't astronomically expensive or falling apart.

“The City needs to loosen development restrictions to allow developers to add the supply necessary to meet demand. The current Downtown Plan is too restrictive, and the current comprehensive plan doesn't allow for the sort of density needed in many outlying neighborhoods to make projects financially feasible."

 

 

Land Use

“There's a lot of urban space that's not very well used. Some of it is industrial space than needs to be re-purposed and revitalized. Some of it is old housing that needs to be remodeled or torn down and replaced with denser, more appealing living space. And some of it is businesses that just aren't a good fit and spaces that turn over a crazy amount of space to little-used parking lots. These are things that could really be moved and replaced with mixed-use zones accommodating new, affordable housing, more (non-luxury) dense housing, and more community centers and neighborhood-anchoring businesses.”

“The neighborhoods do have a good sense of character, although this is in danger of being minimized by the mixed use developments that are all clones.”

“I wish neighborhood associations were stronger. I think the influx of out-of-state students and wealthy young professionals is diluting the character of Madison.”

 


Transportation

“All new development should put people ahead of cars.  [The] transportation plan could retroactively fix [places built for cars] and ensure that these types of development errors are prevented from occurring in the future.”

“Intercity Bus Station; Park & rides at the edge of the city.”

“With higher density comes the need for more public transportation. More mixed use allowing residential uses in or near employment centers/zones. Too many zoning areas don't allow this.”

“Madison has its head in the sand and foolishly  believes everyone will take transit or bike.   That is not how people travel, the automobile is not going away. Deal with it.”

 
 

Economic Development

“Better education for all is where economic development and diversity begins. All races need good and impactful education. It is impossible to drive an economy with a non educated population.”

“The workforce is not diverse enough to reflect the community in which we live. One way to change the poverty in our state is though an increase in minimum wage. We need to increase jobs that are paying people a wage they can support their families with.”


Parks

“Should the City do its own planning of activities at parks, instead of depending upon the School Board funding?”

“Madison needs to raise the bar with their landscape architecture...it really is lacking and could be amazing!”

“Improve connectivity between parks with off-street bicycle and pedestrian trails, and even off-pavement trails for mountain bikers and hikers.  The City should explore acquiring easements to establish these linkages.”

 


Natural Resources

“We need a community composting facility where people can bring their compostable materials and then buy compost for a small fee.”

“More options to reduce landfill waste and more efforts to reduce waste creation at business and reduce littering by the general public.”

“Renewable energy”

“Water quality of lakes needs to continue to be improved: this should be a top priority.  Madison's lakes are the major natural feature defining the city.”


Agricultural Resources

“With a community so able to support grocery stores, markets and gardens, it would be great to see more good food options move away from downtown. Particularly the food carts, that have been able to make such good use of readily available local food supplies, would be welcome in more areas of town.”

“Madison's focus on local agriculture and food economy, long winter season, and underutilized industrial sites make it a perfect candidate for vertical farming.  The city should actively solicit vertical farming operators to establish a site within the city.”

 


Cultural/Historical Resources

“It would be great to have tax incentives for landlords/owners to perform upkeep on the beautiful old houses around the Capitol that are falling into disrepair.  “

“Madison needs to attract more diverse audiences to [its cultural institutions] and/or create new gathering spaces that reflect changing demographics and cultures.”


 

Utilities & Community Facilities

“I hope that as the planning gets more detailed, that Education and the facilities for education become more of a focal piece, since they can be neighborhood/community hubs.”

“[The] transition from coal to natural gas [is] an improvement but not actually a clean energy source. The city should continue to work with partners to increase clean electrical generation and begin investment in energy storage infrastructure. Heating via natural gas should also be improved. As energy generation moves to cleaner sources, the city should invest in district heating for the downtown area.”

“We need more community centers because the demand for their services has far outstripped the supply.”


 
Intergovernmental Cooperation

“Public transit seems to be a good way to foster regional collaboration.”

“Could be better about open data for public to use.”

“Create a real Regional Transport Association for better cooperation on transit and to receive federal funding.”

 
 


What Goals Did We Miss?

“Education and aging population. Goals should be established for the performance of the public education system and incorporating urban design considerations for elderly residents.”

“Education/schools and community”

“It seems like health care facilities/access to health care is an important topic. They are mostly private companies, but also crucial for people to access. Considering where to site future clinics, hospitals, urgent care centers, and ERs related to growth of the city seems important.”