Design professionals visions for downtown Madison

A group of design professionals – architects and planners mostly – met over the last year and a half to brainstorm and develop visions for a more vital and sustainable downtown Madison, WI. Created by Downtown Madison Inc. (DMI), the Downtown Design Professionals Work Group (DDPWG) recently released their report, Design Visions for City of Madison Downtown Plan (pdf 8mb link here). As the title implies, the visioning supplemented the City’s Downtown Master Plan process. The report cites the following goals:

• Create a bold and exciting vision.
• Build on Downtown’s historical and regional context.
• Promote sustainability through density, place-making, regional transportation connections, and pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly design.
• Identify catalytic opportunities that stimulate economic development and jobs growth.
• Promote density, place making and sustainable design.
• Celebrate downtown’s Isthmus location by creating new opportunities to access and interact with the lakes.

Local media coverage (here and here) about DDPWG focused on one of the recommendations: undergrounding John Nolen Drive as it leaves Monona Terrace Convention Center, continuing through the intersection  with E. Wilson Ave./Williamson Street, and emerging near East Washington Blvd. Burying John Nolen makes possible a waterfront park and access, enhances redevelopment opportunities, and calms traffic going through the Marquette neighborhood. The proposed waterfront park would create something Madison has always missed: a great downtown connection to Lake Monona. In fact, downtown lakefront access is downright poor. Monona Terrace offers a nice view. But except for fishing, waterfront park space and lake access could be described as pathetic for a capitol city.

What I find great about the Downtown Vision Report – full disclosure, I had the good fortune to participate for some of the efforts – is that it dreams big. It is rare to work together with creative designers on visions without the usual client,  political or financial constraints. But more than the positive collaboration, the Design Group interjected big picture ideas into the planning process. As I discussed in my first blog entry, we need to go beyond the usual solutions to bold approaches if we are to achieve sustainability within the next few generations. I hope to profile other downtown visions in future posts.