DOWNTOWN VISION: Residents, businesses say what they would like to see downtown

MADISON – Madison holds a lot of potential to become a bustling shopping, dining, entertainment, and business district. The city of Madison along with community volunteers have poured special attention and energy in recent years into activating spaces and encouraging economic development in the area.

In June, Main Street Madison’s (MSM) economic vitality committee polled the public on future businesses in downtown Madison in a market survey. MSM revealed the results of that survey in a public meeting last Wednesday.

“I want to thank our amazing Main Street Madison volunteers. In particular, our economic vitality committee has been leading the charge of this market survey,” said MSM Executive Director Jen DeLessio at the meeting.

The study launched with the goals of exploring opportunities to activate spaces, enhance walkability, and create a more complete downtown experience. It asked a series of questions that prompted participants to consider what businesses or services they currently have to leave Madison to access and what establishments they would patron if they were located in downtown.

“People want to see Madison as a live, work, play-type opportunity. They want to be able to come to Madison and just hang out. So, we want to see things that will draw people in,” said MSM economic vitality chairman Rod Matthews.

A total of 751 participants filled out the survey, outperforming MSM’s goal of 400, and 63% of survey participants agreed that MSM is already making progress in downtown.

“That is a really, truly out- standing response. More importantly, our goal going in was 400 responses, and the reason being, we know from people much smarter than me that ran the algorithms that a random sample of 400 would yield a confidence level of 95%, give or take 5%, and we nearly doubled that,” said Jay Schlinsog of Downtown Professionals Network, one of MSM’s partners in the survey. “That’s good foundational information to work from because it came from you.”

The survey showed a desire among Madison residents to prioritize aesthetics. In response to a question on the first thing you would do to downtown, 22% of participants said they would improve buildings.

Participants also responded that expanding eating & drinking places would make Madison more attractive. A bakery, coffee shop, butcher, specialty grocer, and craft store were among the specific businesses Madison residents want to see added to downtown.

A conference center was one the biggest wish-list items to come out of the survey along with the desire for a third place where community happens such as live music venues and spaces for cooking classes and crafting classes.

“One of the other things that was interesting, especially as you went through the open-ended comments and those other kinds of comments that you filled in yourself, there was a real interest or a want for kind of this third place, if you will. You have home. You have work as places one and two but where is that third place where community happens, where people gather,” explained Schlinsog.

With a conference center brings the potential for a boutique hotel to accommodate conference-goers and keep them in the downtown area, convenient to local shops and restaurants.

The survey also revealed a potential for housing in downtown with 11% of participants responding with a desire to live in downtown, including an interest in open lofts, townhomes, and live-work places. Responses like this one in the survey paved the way for MSM and its partners to get creative and brainstorm ideas for the future.

“So, that’s a foundation for us to be able to think strategically and think about how the market might respond to different ideas,” said Schlinsog.

Another of MSM’s partners in the market survey, Michael Schroeder, articulated a vision for a future downtown based on this foundation.

Schroeder described downtown Madison as “idiosyncratic” and encouraged embracing that as the downtown area looks for ways to maximize space and act on the market survey results.

“I’m going to use the term idiosyncratic. There’s no particular overriding pattern, and I think it’s interesting that way,” said Schroeder. “But after being here for a couple of hours and having the tour, it’s like this is a really interesting pattern, and we shouldn’t be trying to overcome it. We should build within that.”

As part of preserving the idiosyncratic nature of downtown’s layout but still adding businesses, Schroeder shared a vision for a future downtown that includes new parking, a food hall, and an ‘artisan street’ on Bradley Street, transforming Garner Street in a woonerf street that blends pedestrian and automobile traffic, and building a conference center in the field on Martin Street east of Old Black Bear Brewing.

“We don’t want to like try and make Madison look like every other place. We want to make Madison look like Madison, and there’s a hundred years of development here that we could be building upon,” he said.

Downtown Madison presents challenges with its small footprint, reflective of the town’s past as a small, rural town, and its layout that mixes residential with business areas. Still, there remains a number of unused or underused spaces in the area. MSM’s market study ultimately brainstormed ideas for utilizing those spaces and let the world know that downtown Madison is open business.

Pulling together a vast team of volunteers, Main Street Madison has rolled up their sleeves and wasted no time. With the development of a multi-year strategic plan, the organization is working with city leaders to help make downtown more cohesive through design enhancements that help bring more people to the area. They are planning new events to complement the existing handful of happenings downtown, looking into ways to help business owners increase their traffic on a regular basis by finding new ways to make the area more appealing and desirable as a premier shopping and dining destination.

The city designated downtown as its newest entertainment district in November, which will help boost the area’s nightlife.

Through branding, event planning, training, education, and access to various resources for local business owners, the program aims to encourage a place that has a thriving local economy, distinctive and rich in character, and features welcoming spaces and diverse businesses for residents and visitors alike.

Go to mainstreetmadison.org to learn more about Main Street Madison and to keep with upcoming events.