Madison Development News

[araman0]

The Sun Prairie station would be about a 1 minute walk from my front door, and I would use it all the time just to commute to downtown Madison or the University. That being said, I don't think people traveling from Chicago to Minneapolis want to have to make so many stops along the way (4 stops between Milwaukee and Madison?). If each stop is even a few minutes, that would add quite a bit of time to the Chicago-Minneapolis travel time and travelers would be more likely to find alternate methods of transportation.

[mgk920]

Originally Posted by araman0

The Sun Prairie station would be about a 1 minute walk from my front door, and I would use it all the time just to commute to downtown Madison or the University. That being said, I don't think people traveling from Chicago to Minneapolis want to have to make so many stops along the way (4 stops between Milwaukee and Madison?). If each stop is even a few minutes, that would add quite a bit of time to the Chicago-Minneapolis travel time and travelers would be more likely to find alternate methods of transportation.

A true high-speed Chicago-MStP route would have to bypass everything, or at least have stations along its all-new 7000 meter curve radius track with outer siding tracks by the platforms for use by regional trains and full-speed through tracks in the middle for the express trains (like what the Chinese are building). An 'enhanced speed' line, what is being discussed here, would also have to have trains that run express, with very few intermediate stops, along with the locals.

Page through the 'China Railway Development News' subforvm in the 'Infrastructure and Mobility'/'Railways' forvm to see what they're all up to.

Mike

[araman0]

Funny you brought up China - I got a chance to visit the country last year as part of a study abroad program at Marquette University. Over the past decade, Shanghai and Beijing have created mass transit systems that can only rival that of NY's system in this country. I recall being in a bus on the freeway that connected Shanghai to the airport. We were going at a pretty good speed when the airport Maglev train roared passed us at 350 kmph. The train ran down the center of the freeway, and we may as well have been standing still as fast as the train passed us.

To connect this story back to Madison, my belief is that Wisconsin's HSR should have been built in the middle of I-94 from Milwaukee to Minneapolis. The freeways already have the proper curve radius to support true HSR, and for the most part the right-of-way is already there in the grass median. There would be places where the train would have to leave the freeway's median (for instance as it travels out of suburban Milwaukee) but overall this would have been a pretty economic and practical method of giving the train the right-of-way that it would require for true high speed travel.

[hybridy]

Originally Posted by MilwaukeeMax

for the record, i do like the design of the madison station-- but i think they shouldn't have any trouble getting the local government there to chip in some of the funding to make it as nice as the proposal is. the same isn't true for brookfield, though-- getting their locality to put any money into their station at all is going to be an uphill battle-- which is ridiculous, i know, but if we want them to see the value of passenger rail, we have to maybe appease them with a nicer station so they can see its advantages. this is just my opinion.

im not sure the design is so successful within its context. slapping a tall skinny glassy curvey white thing on the back of a sandstone colored chunky with aurora-green glass office block next to the low but wide now off-white monona terrace. not really doing it for me. wisconsin needs to get over the all-white or historicist prairie-style crap. im not sure what the solution is, but the proposed ain't it-

[EastSider]

Originally Posted by hybridy

im not sure the design is so successful within its context. slapping a tall skinny glassy curvey white thing on the back of a sandstone colored chunky with aurora-green glass office block next to the low but wide now off-white monona terrace. not really doing it for me. wisconsin needs to get over the all-white or historicist prairie-style crap. im not sure what the solution is, but the proposed ain't it-

I think that style is more a Madison thing. It can be done right (Target Field in Minneapolis), but I agree that lately it's been looking generic. I don't mind it in low-rise architecture though.

[hybridy]

Central Library Renovation
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/loc...tml?mode=story

Option 1


Option 2


Option 3


Option 4



Option 5


Option 6


Option 7

[araman0]

The Mayor released plans today to buy the Subaru property on East Washington near the Capitol, and sell it off in smaller chunks in hopes of another Hilldale-like developement. The existing Subaru dealership will relocate further east, but will stay in Madison. He's hoping that the existing buildings will be torn down by April 2011.

Full Story

[i_am_hydrogen]

Originally Posted by hybridy

Central Library Renovation
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/loc...tml?mode=story

I thought a design had already been selected.

[araman0]

The plans that you're likely thinking of were private bids that fell through for razing and rebuilding the library. These new plans are for heavily renovating the existing structure.

[araman0]

New hope in getting this hotel finished and opened soon

[araman0]

I saw a picture of this building a long time ago, but had forgotten about it until I saw it biking on the SW bike trail today. It looks like the foundation is complete and has started rising above ground. The sign says move-in Fall 2011. This building is very close to the new Union South. Sorry for the poor cell phone photo.

[araman0]

I'm glad to see that this project is still moving forward (although very slowly). This will replace the existing facility on State Street and is expected to begin construction in 2-3 years. Link to Madison.com article



One comment that I have is that for the first time --ever-- the forumers on the Madison.com website did not have a single bad thing to say about this project, despite it's tremendous height. A developer can't so much as build a bike rack in downtown Madison without the forumers on the newspaper's website lashing out, leave alone a 14 story building. I'm glad to see everyone is able to agree on at least one development project in Madison.

[Fillmore]

Hey Y'all,
Sorry, I know you don't say y'all in Wisconsin! My wife and I are moving to Madison from VA and are looking for the "best" area to live. Generally speaking, we prefer public transportation and using our car as little as possible, walking to restaurants and grocery stores, and being close to bike paths. We will both be working in the central part of the city, but really don't want to live near the student population. We're going to rent before we buy. Anyone out there help us find the "best" place to live?

Thanks! Madison seems like a great place to live.

[yakob]

Fillmore, welcome to Madison! In my opinion, Madison's best neighborhoods are the Williamson Marquette and Schenk-Atwood areas. I grew up in Williamson Marquette and spent a lot of time in Schenk-Atwood. Both neighborhoods are close to downtown, have many bus lines running through them, and are extremely bike friendly. Both areas have plenty of nice rentals, and the student population is small enough that it isn't noticed. Here's a link to the Isthmus website where they profile several of Madison's neighborhoods including the two I mentioned above: http://www.thedailypage.com/neighborhoods/ Hope this helps!

[yakob]

Oh I almost forgot, the Tenny-Lapham neighborhood isn't listed in that link, but you should check it out also!

[araman0]

Check out the Monroe Neighborhood as well. Also downtown itself is great if that is an option for you. The East side (King Street area) has very few students and mainly young professionals living there.

[looksee]

Since you'll be renting first, let me put in a good word for the neighborhoods on either side of the Hilldale Mall.

They have a high concentration of pre-1970's apartment houses, are about a mile west of the University campus, so most of the students are either Graduate or Medical, are at the convergence of many bus lines, and have more than ample shopping and dining available.

I would say they are also a fairly neutral and convenient perch from which to sample and evaluate Madison's perhaps more "flavorful" nabs, including those already mentioned, as well as handsome residential old neighborhoods like University Heights, Nakoma, or Vilas.

A great thing about Madison is the genuine variety and quality of these differing areas, yet their real proximity and compact walkability to one another.

Best of luck. I think you'll do well with any of the choices mentioned.

[looksee]

OOPS--DOUBLE POST

[hybridy]

Originally Posted by araman0

I'm glad to see that this project is still moving forward (although very slowly). This will replace the existing facility on State Street and is expected to begin construction in 2-3 years. Link to Madison.com article



One comment that I have is that for the first time --ever-- the forumers on the Madison.com website did not have a single bad thing to say about this project, despite it's tremendous height. A developer can't so much as build a bike rack in downtown Madison without the forumers on the newspaper's website lashing out, leave alone a 14 story building. I'm glad to see everyone is able to agree on at least one development project in Madison.

while im annoyed they're building WAY out of scale and demolishing the existing chapel, i understand the need for this space and the demand for housing. as long as this historicist facade doesn't come off as cheap and/or cheesy, but i admit this is soooo much better than the previous rendering.

[Fillmore]

Thank you all for the posts. I look forward to monitoring Madison's progress in this forum and being an active participant in the community. Now, time for winter.