Am I Missing Something? (population, city)

[toast12]

For Irish You forgot Grey's tied house in Verona and for music crystal corner, mother fools, cardinal bar and way too many more to list and for the argument that Madison is proggresive take a look at a history book Bob LaFollite. And have you ever been to any festival or fair on the east side. But don't gent me wrong I love Millwaukee
raised in Brookfield it's just I like madison a whole lot more.

[TravelingDude]

Originally Posted by illwauk

I've visited Madison twice in the past few months and I have to say I'm extremely disapointed. It seems that for all the talk about Madison being "liberal" and "diverse" it sure is overwhelmingly white and middle-class. I also learned the hard way not to mention that you're from Milwaukee while you're there because (for whatever reason) Madison likes to think it has the market cornered on liberalism in the state of Wisconsin.

I was also disapointed that Downtown Madison consists of the state capitol, UW and nothing else.

So I guess what I'm asking is what exactly is the appeal of Madison. Because so far, none of the obvious answers have checked out for me.

Hah... liberals do NOT like diversity. Check out the Meccas of Liberalism: Madison, WI, Boulder, CO, Berkley, CA.... all with a "ruling class" that is pretty much all white and minorities live far, far away.

Really, liberals only like "diversity" because they think the minorities will remian poor forever and will forever depend in government entitlement programs, which the Democrats and liberals just love. It is their way of remaining relevant in America.

[ChairborneRanger]

Originally Posted by TravelingDude

Hah... liberals do NOT like diversity. Check out the Meccas of Liberalism: Madison, WI, Boulder, CO, Berkley, CA.... all with a "ruling class" that is pretty much all white and minorities live far, far away.

Really, liberals only like "diversity" because they think the minorities will remian poor forever and will forever depend in government entitlement programs, which the Democrats and liberals just love. It is their way of remaining relevant in America.

My impression is that Madison is mostly "liberal" and "diverse"----with some exceptions----in terms of the campus and state government folks. If it were not for them, I suspect that Madison wouldn't be all that different than the suburbs of Milwaukee.

I typically think of myself as being relatively moderate----neither liberal or conservative. That said, I do have to agree, in part, with TravelingDude---there certainly are many times when the "Liberal and Tolerance Crowd" are not exactly either liberal or tolerant. I suppose the same type of thing could be said relative to the far Right, though, as well.

[Fuse_5a]

huh

you want to come to wasuau ......... 99% of population in this city is white americans !! (with the exception of 5% hmong refugees !)

i have been to madison .. and i liked it ... it is not extremly diverse but at least they have some (comparing to wausau ... huge differece ) ... i have been to mke once for one day so i cant compare !!

[PurdueGirl]

I just started reading this thread, and I wanted to post a general response about my experience living in a suburb of Madison...

I am a minority, I was born across seas and came to the US when I was very young. For 24 years I have lived in the Stoughton area, with the exception of the 3.5 years I was away at college (in Indiana).

I think that growing up in Stoughton was the worst, but best experience of my life. The people are intolerant, most of the school administrators are racist, the people are racist and as diversity increases so does the amount of racism. I was fortunate that both of my parents, working in Madison, realized that Stoughton is a bedroom community and took my brother and I to events in Madison as often as possible.

I would definitely have suffered without Madison. Comparing Madison to most of the suburbs, Madison is VERY diverse and VERY tolerant. I cannot say that it is "liberal" because I feel that people tend to use that word arbitrarily, but it is open and accepting.

We cannot compare Madison to a city like DC or NYC, but comparing it to the surrounding areas it is a wonderful city.

Do I think Madison could be better? Without a doubt, yes, however, my opinion of Madison is higher than a lot of the "comparable" cities I have visited, and I consider myself pretty well traveled for being only 24.

All of the things that were said to be flaws in Madison are what I consider to be the most appealing aspects. I enjoy knowing that the independent bookshops do not jump out at you - nor do they attempt to appeal to everyone - if they did, they would begin to resemble Barnes and Noble or Borders. I enjoy that there are so many yummy little coffee shops. Monroe street is a FABULOUS place to be! It has so many locally owned shops, restaurants (Dardenelle's), and further west on Monroe Street you have a boat rental area, and the arboretum - great for biking/hiking/etc...This area is a brief walk to the zoo, and behind Edgewood College they are making it into a walking/biking only path - they closed it off to driving.

Monroe connects the Edgewood/Wingra area with the UW campus, which is great. Aside from the Memorial Union, you can walk down Johnson to the many parks and beaches. Do I think that the beaches are the cleanest? Absolutely not. Do I expect it to be the same quality I would be afforded at a beachfront resort? No. I have swam and boated in all of Madison's lakes. The neat thing about them is that they connect together - regardless of where you drop your boat you have access to more than one lake. This allows for very pleasant weekends in warm weather.

The other posts covered the cuisine and events. Our farmers market is renowned, and many of the vendors are minorities. My friend and I go because we want the fresh vegetables that are frequently called for in certain ethnic recipes. It is often hard to find this good quality produce in the mainstream grocery stores.

I think that everyone is right. If you come here with expectations you will hate it. How can you expect anything from a city that you have never been to? You have no idea what it has to offer to expect anything out of it. The university is a monument, and the 40,000 drunk students are what are keeping Madison abreast as far as cultural tolerance and diversity. The great thing about the 40,000 drunkards is that they want badly to stay in the Madison area (to continue to be drunks, of course), which will only benefit Madison in the future.

I lived in West Lafayette, IN while I completed my undergrad, and I had no expectations for the area despite it being just another "large college town" (and very comparable to Madison!), and I really grew to appreciate Madison.
I do believe this is only because I lived there. Alone (no family) for 3.5 years. I began to see that Madison all that Madison had to offer.

As far as Wisconsin residents being unfriendly, the Purdue community, a Big10 rival, RAVED about Wisconsin fans during athletic events. There were articles in the Purdue student newspaper about how Wisconsin has some of the best fans out there, and they are so nice! Every time I travel and I am asked where I am from, people say, "Wisconsin! Oh, they have such friendly people" When I interact with certain types of negative people, I tend to avoid them. This may be what is considered unfriendly. Why would I want negative minded people bringing down the place I live? When I interact with people who are visiting who have a bona fide interest in learning what Madison has to offer, I welcome them with open arms - this is exactly what we like and want. We understand that Madison is great, but it can be excellent and take the time to try to make changes rather than expect others to do it for us. Incremental change!

If you were from Ann Arbor would you like it if someone came up to you with a negative attitude/vibe/hostility about your residence? I do not like it when people do that in Madison.

I agree with the others - perhaps the approach is all wrong. Perhaps visitors (in general) come with the wrong attitude, which evokes negative responses from residents and negative experiences for visitors. I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that Madison IS a fabulous city in its class if you let yourself enjoy it. It seems that the people posting negative responses are looking for a "diverse" area in that it has more to offer to THEIR desired group than others, this is not diversity. This is still segregated and exclusive. When you realize that you are able to return to "refuge" after visiting some place you will not see the beauty in a city because you will not have to.

[CADRMNDANES]

Originally Posted by Drover

It seems like you were determined to miss what Madison has to offer, especially based on your comment that the downtown area has nothing but the capitol and the UW campus. Oh yeah, and all those pubs, restaurants serving a huge variety of cuisines, a museum or two, a massive cultural arts center, book stores, hotels and inns, ice cream shops, a couple of tattoo parlors, a couple of movie theaters, a head shop or two, coffee shops, music stores, et cetera.

I will grant that Madison's so-called diversity is more of a contrivance than an organic, authentic state of affairs.

I agree and I'm from CA. I think Madison is really nice. There are some really nice neighborhoods on the westside. When I was there it was far from all white ???. I love the downtown area. We have a family member that has an Fine Art Gallery across the street from the cultural art center on state street. I like the Ice Cream shop at the UW.

We are have been looking at homes in Madison, Middleton and Monona.

[WestRoPaJay]

I lived in south madison (beltline/todd drive) and we weren't exactly hurting for diversity there. just remember, the isthmus does not equal the whole of the city. (though technically we weren't in the city proper. long story.)

[LML]

Strangely enough I was thinking about this old posting as I looked out the window of my home on Madison's west side yesterday afternoon. I live on a corner lot in one of the newer subdivision's. Directly across from me and directly to my left are families of asian origin. Across the street and one house to the left is a family with one spouse caucasion and one spouse African-American. Directly behind me is a family with one spouse hispanic and one spouse caucasion. To the right and across the street are two families that are African-American. Further down that side of the street is a family that is from India and another family of asian origin. Now, while there may not be a lot of economic diversity in my middle class neighborhood, I would say that it is far from "lily white" as portrayed by some of those writing on this subject. In point of fact, the neighborhood school, which myh grandchildren attend, has children from 63 different countries enrolled. Pretty darned diverse I would say.

[genome45]

You want diversity? Maybe a heavier percentage of the African-American population? Maybe more latino's? Move south; I would highly recommend either South Carolina around the Charlston area, or Georgia in Augusta, Savannah or Atlanta.

Once you have experienced what TRUE diversity and multiculturism really is, then you can appreciate from whence you came.

What is your comfort zone??

[GreatplaceFonddulac]

I grew up in Madison and went to UW-Madison. I think it is a very special place. I would describe as a "small" big city. There aren't any tall buildings, and the traffic isn't horrible like a big city either. Most of the people in the city have liberal ideals. The campus, as I found out later, is my favorite part. It is spread out accross the center of the city between the two lakes. It really gives you a sense of freedom and maturity instead of being locked up on a small campus. There can be a lot of walking though, which I liked still, but they give you a free unlimited bus pass for students if it's a little too far from one class to the next. Unfortunately, Madison has become so well liked that the house prices have become inflated and it is a little hard to afford owning a house.