8 Best Neighborhoods in Madison, WI!

Madison Magazine is awesome. I found this article in the August 2009 issue and had to share it. For more Madison news visit http://www.madisonmagazine.com/.

Eight Great Neighborhoods

By Neil Heinen, Brennan Nardi, Shayna Miller, and Katie Vaughn

Home is where the heart is, as the saying goes. And you could definitely fall for these eight beautiful, friendly, charming, historic, quirky – and, yes, great – Madison ‘hoods.

1. Williamson-Marquette
   Year Established: 1857 – oldest home in the neighborhood
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Yahara River bridges, Marquette and O’Keeffe schools, Machinery Row, Orton Park. Brick wall advertisements: Gardner’s Purity Bread, King Midas Flour, Madison Candy Company. Festivals: Waterfront, La Fete de Marquette, Orton Park, Willy Street. Retail: The Kitchen Gallery, Rick’s Olde Gold, MadCat. Restaurants: Eldorado Grill, Weary Traveler, Jolly Bob’s, Lao Laan-Xang, Willy Street Co-Op.
   
   Why It’s So Special: Known affectionately as “Wil-Mar,” the Williamson-Marquette neighborhood is a “forever ‘60s” kind of place. With one sandal-clad foot firmly in the past and the other in the present, Wil-Mar has established itself as more than a crunchy ‘hood. Whether you’re a young, hip urbanite or an old hippie, festivals invite everyone to celebrate, and residents depend on them to support the community. While we all love Wil-Mar for its eccentricities worn as badges of honor, businesses you won’t find anywhere else – Hempen Goods, Grampa’s Gun Shop, A Woman’s Touch, and Ford’s Gym – are weathering a shaky economy, proving that funky or not Wil-Mar marches to a healthy, here-to-stay beat. –SM
   
   
   
2. Westmorland
   Year Established: 1916 – the first subdivision plat filed
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Beatty & Strang International Style House, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian House, Glenway Golf Course, J.H. Findorff & Sons’ “Lustron” steel-built homes, Midvale Community Lutheran Church, Midvale School and Community Gardens, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Sequoya Commons, Stone Pillars at Westmorland Blvd. and Mineral Point Rd., Otto Toepfer House, Village Bar, the annual “Weed Feed” invasive species recipe fest, Westmorland Park.
   
   Why It’s So Special: The new library at Sequoya Commons, a condo and retail complex that woke up the sleepy west-side neighborhood, is the busiest branch in the city, and residents are fully engaged in community, environmental stewardship and revitalization. With a neighborhood association that goes back almost seventy years, there’s a deep-rooted sense of appreciation and belonging that crosses generations whether it’s eco-volunteering, attending social events, enjoying the bike path, donating to the neighborhood health charity fund that raises $12,000 annually, or simply gathering with friends in the park or coffee shop. –BN
   
   
   
3. University Heights
   Year Established: 1893 – annexed by the city of Madison in 1903
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Olin House, home to the UW-Madison chancellor, the Gilmore House by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Bradley House by Louis Sillivan, the Elliott House by George Maher, Randall School, First Congregational Church.
   
   Why It’s So Special: Strolling through this neighborhood is literally a walk through Madison’s architectural heritage. Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, George Maher, Frank Riley, Alvan Small, and others made their mark here, popularizing the Prairie style and also furthering the Queen Anne, Georgian revival, Tudor and International traditions. And look no further than the street signs – marking roads such as Van Hise and Bascom – for proof that the neighborhood developed in tandem with UW-Madison in the early twentieth century. –KV
   
   
   
4. Dudgeon-Monroe
   Year Established: How about 1909 when Madison’s first gasoline filling station was built at Spooner and Monroe streets? The Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood Association was established in 1973.
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Budd’s Auto Repair, Edgewood College (and the Pleasure Drive that runs behind it), the Southwest Bike/Pedestrian Path (or Bicycle Beltline to the locals), the “mini-arboretum,” Blessed Sacrament, Temple Beth El and the Friends House, David Maraniss, the real Arboretum, Mallatt’s and Neuhauser’s pharmacies, Michael’s Frozen Custard and the Laurel, Orange Tree Imports, and Parman’s.
   
   Why It’s So Special: Are you kidding? Frozen custard, trustworthy car care, walkable, bikeable, pretty, practical, and politically active with a football stadium on one end and the home of the Madison Opera on the other. You’re surrounded by Vilas, Nakoma, and a cemetery with your own golf course. (Okay, you share the golf course.) You’ve got a good mix of businesses, outdoor recreation, restaurants, coffee shops, property tax bills and little red flags to help you get across Monroe Street. Life is good in Dudgeon –Monroe. –NH
   
   
   
5. First Settlement
   
   
   Year Established: 1837 – Madison’s first residential settlement
   
   Icons & Landmarks: The Progressive magazine, the Isthmus newspaper, Essen Haus, Lake Monona, the State Capitol building, Café Continental, the Great Dane Pub and Brewing Co. (formerly the Fess Hotel), the Majestic Theatre, Marina condo building.
   
   Why It’s So Special: Whether it’s at the top of the Marina condos, a sidewalk table at Café Continental, or even the Capitol rotunda, the First Settlement ‘hood has some of the most amazing views in the city – all different, all special. Cosmopolitan in some parts and residential in others, this downtown neighborhood has one of the most urban slices of the city within its confines. Walking down King Street, it’s a bustling cityscape with high-end men’s shop Context, live band venue the Majestic Theatre, stellar sushi place Muramoto, cheeky gay sports bar Woof’s, and chic cocktail haven Opus. Walk a block or two east and find peaceful, tree-lined residential streets with lake views and a beautiful bike path thrown in. –SM
   
   
   
6. Tenny-Lapham
   Year Established: 1850 – the year the first building was constructed in the area
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Annual Art Walk, Avenue Bar, Christ Presbyterian Church, 1909 Prairie-style City Market converted into apartments, East Johnson business district, Gate of Heaven public meeting house, James Madison Park, Lapham School and Community Gardens, Reynolds Park, Tenny Park and Locks, Tour de Coops, Yahara River Parkway.
   
   Why It’s So Special: From mansions on Lake Mendota to two- and three-story flats along the busy Johnson and Gorham thoroughfares, you’ll find historic and contemporary housing stock of all kinds and people of all ages living in this close-knit community that organized its first annual neighborhood festival this summer. Residents are also raising $1.6 million for a beautiful new Tenny Park Shelter that hopes to open in time for the 2010 ice-skating season. –BN
   
   
   
7. Vilas
   Year Estabilished: 1889 and 1896 – annexed by the city of Madison in 1903
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Vilas Park, Henry Vilas Zoo, Bear Mound Park (also known as Vilas Circle), Lake Wingra, Edgewood College and Monroe Street lie along the neighborhood’s borders
   
   Why It’s So Special: What kid wouldn’t want to grow up amid forests, houses painted in a rainbow of colors, a lake, parks, and a zoo? Indeed, Vilas has been a family-friendly neighborhood since developing as one of the city’s original “suburbs” as the electric streetcar line extended out from the isthmus at the turn of the century. Nestled in between the Edgewood and UW campuses, the neighborhood often finds students commuting by food or bike through the tree-lined streets. But an even more common sight is residents walking dogs, pushing strollers, or toting kids past tidy bungalows and lovingly tended gardens to Vilas Park or the adjacent zoo. –KV
   
   
   
8. Schenk-Atwood
   Year Established: 1999 – Give or take a hundred years. The Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara Neighborhood Association was established ten years ago. Fred Schenk opened his general store at the intersection of Atwood and Winnebago about ninety years before that.
   
   Icons & Landmarks: Becky Steinhoff and the Goodman Atwood Community Center, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, The Harmony Bar, community gardens, Absolutely Art, United Way of Dane county headquarters, public murals and sculptures, Circle Park, the bike path, the Starkweather Solstice Celebration, Studio Paran, Bad Dog Frida, the Barrymore Theatre.
   
   Why It’s So Special: When a young woman sustained a serious injury that restricted her mobility, her neighbors, including some she barely knew, simply stepped up and built a ramp to her home. This is a special place, aptly described in the neighborhood association brochure as a “diverse, friendly, and human scale village.” Schenk-Atwood has a chic urban hipness with a friendly, inviting warmth, punctuated by gardens, little parks, and one well-known river. And the mix works because people care, plain and simple. -NH