Spring break has arrived for students of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and indeed spring is beginning to show itself.  While all those students are away at various destinations, join me for a tour of what many consider one of the most beautiful cities in the Midwest.

 

It is most convenient for me to begin near my home.  I live near this pleasant corner, only a block from Lake Mendota!

 

Heading west, we can see that in Madison, when there is a 10-foot high snow drift across the sidewalk, it only takes one month to clear.  Why yes, I think I shall indeed walk up this way now, thank you!

 

Here is an entrance to one of several small parks along the Lake Mendota shore, where you can enjoy a quiet moment in an attractive setting.

 

The streets of Madison's isthmus are lined with stately trees that lend a cozy atmosphere to neighborhoods.

 

Here's a look down such a street.

 

Now we're at the top of a small hill.  Just down there is lovely Lake Mendota!

 

Descending the hill provides access to James Madison park, a larger and popular park along the lake.

 

Enjoy some volleyball!

 

Or take the kids up this path to the playground!

 

Let's go check out the state capitol!

 

Walk walk walk...

 

On our way, note the apartments/condos across the street that have a nice view of the park.

 

Madison is a very bike-friendly town.  You can ride your bike just about anywhere, and rest assured that it won't go anywhere if you don't ride it during winter!

 

Madison is also an environmentally-friendly town with a strong respect for its flora.

 

Madison is furthermore a very progressive place.  The statue Forward represents Wisconsin's progressive ideals and especially honors women's achievements.

 

Urban enthusiasts may enjoy the good density seen in many parts of town.

 

A bit lost?  The city maintains helpful maps such as this one so that you can find your way.

 

Madison is perhaps best known as the home of the University of Wisconsin, of course.  As you move past State Street you are greeted by scenic Library Mall, a gateway of sorts to the university.

 

Feet tired?  Why not rest on a bench for a few minutes and enjoy the architecture of the Red Gym across the street?

 

There is, of course, other architecture to admire, too.

 

Don't worry, if there's a newspaper stand blocking your way, it'll be mostly removed.

 

At the heart of campus is the serene lawn of Bascom Hill, where you can relax during a break.

 

Madison reduces its resource consumption by employing naturally reproductive picnic tables rather than purchasing new ones all the time.

 

I hope you've enjoyed this tour!  Thank goodness we've finally left this kind of ugly winter behind:

:laugh:  hee haw larry us!  :laugh:

 

great thread.

 

hang on, winter will come to an end someday.

Great stuff!

I love Madison. Such a clean city with beautiful victorians.

I'd think it would be difficult to contemplate ever living anywhere else, after being surrounded by such beauty every day!

That was the most bestess thread ever!

And somewhere there is a cat stuck in a tree. Come on show some real grit!  :cool2:

Ugh...I HATE this part of winter.  The black sludge and plowed over signage are horribly ugly.  But just wait for that first rain.  Oh, what an awesome day that is. 

 

Okay PigBoy I'm curious.  Here in Milwaukee we've had the worst winter imaginable, not because of the record setting snow.  But because it was a continuous cycle of snow, then rain, then deep freeze.  This left a 4-10 inch thick layer of ice on EVERYTHING making the sidewalks unusable, the garbage unpickupable, and freeing many peoples bikes AND CARS in for two months.  Essentially we were trapped.  I'm wondering if you guys had it as bad.  I know you had the snow, but did you get the ICE?

Utter trash.

Okay PigBoy I'm curious.  Here in Milwaukee we've had the worst winter imaginable, not because of the record setting snow.  But because it was a continuous cycle of snow, then rain, then deep freeze.  This left a 4-10 inch thick layer of ice on EVERYTHING making the sidewalks unusable, the garbage unpickupable, and freeing many peoples bikes AND CARS in for two months.  Essentially we were trapped.  I'm wondering if you guys had it as bad.  I know you had the snow, but did you get the ICE?

We haven't really had ice, at least none as bad as you describe.  It only rained a couple of times that I can recall, so between that and the occasional warm-up/refreezing, ice has been relatively minor.  It's certainly caused me headaches in freeing my car (thankfully I rarely drive anywhere) and made my daily walking commute treacherous for weeks at a time, though.

 

And somewhere there is a cat stuck in a tree. Come on show some real grit!  :cool2:

Oh, you mean like the sand they've thrown all over the roads for traction? :-D

I grew up in Madison and loved it.  Undoubtedly this is the worst time of year with the snow melting and leaving the dirt and trash behind. The students trash everything.  Make sure to update the photos after classes end and all the contents of the apartments including furniture is just thrown onto the curb.

 

After that it gets beautiful again.

... and all the contents of the apartments including furniture is just thrown onto the curb ...

 

Sounds like a road trip for MTS, with a truck! :lol:

I grew up in Madison and loved it.  Undoubtedly this is the worst time of year with the snow melting and leaving the dirt and trash behind. The students trash everything.  Make sure to update the photos after classes end and all the contents of the apartments including furniture is just thrown onto the curb.

 

After that it gets beautiful again.

 

Hah, I remember being there two years ago on the day when temporary leases expired and EVERYONE had to clean all their furniture out for one night to have inspections done by landlords.  It was the strangest thing because had to set up their rooms in their front yards for that one night.  No one slept because they'd get raped or murdered sleeping on the street like that.  So everyone partied (as usual) near their pile of crap.  It was surreal.  I'm still not sure if that was some strange overlap in changing laws or if it's a yearly occurrence.  If it is yearly, I can't image what happens on years when it's raining.  That would be a nightmare.

Ah yes, Hippie Christmas.  Lots of left-behind crap to rummage through on the curb.  This past summer I moved but was fortunate enough to find a place with a lease beginning August 1 rather than August 15, the typical start for most places here.  It gave me a luxurious two weeks to move all my stuff (a mere .75 miles and the process still really sucked).  So on the night of August 14 I was comfortable in my new apartment while all the other suckers were sitting with their piles of furniture on the street!  Take THAT, hippies!

It was the strangest thing because had to set up their rooms in their front yards for that one night.  No one slept because they'd get raped or murdered sleeping on the street like that. 

 

Mean streets of Madison

 

Funny stuff...nice work Pigboy.

That is too funny.

It'd be much funnier if we actually had a normal Madison thread to compare this to as just hearing that the city is great-looking isn't the same. Just need to work on your timing. Maybe next time.  :wink2:

Bah, normal Madison is boring. :evil:

 

Actually if you do want to see it looking normal, search the forum (I've posted a number of threads in the past), or I've got all my pictures here: http://www.pbase.com/piggiston/madison

 

For the record, I'm not a firm believer in all the hype even when the town isn't covered in trash and mud.

Wow.. what a dump.  Haha, one of my buddies in college was from there, he never made it out to be that bad.

Madison is far from a dump. It's dense and there's virtually no blight. Architecture is a bit homogenous but it's a small city. Madison is an overprotective soccer mom's wet dream.

Bah, normal Madison is boring. :evil:

 

Actually if you do want to see it looking normal, search the forum (I've posted a number of threads in the past), or I've got all my pictures here: http://www.pbase.com/piggiston/madison

 

For the record, I'm not a firm believer in all the hype even when the town isn't covered in trash and mud.

 

No way. I searched for Madison before and came up empty. Either I messed up or you fabricated older threads for an unnecessarily complicated troll job just waiting for someone to call you out on it. I'm going with the latter.  :wink: I do like these neighborhoods.

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7166.0.html

giggles all around.

Madison is an overprotective soccer mom's wet dream.

 

Classic.

 

Bytheway, David, I just saw your comment on PigBoy's "Three Neighborhood's" thread from two years ago.  And while I'm certain you've made up your mind by now, I just wanted to throw out that while Madison is a much better school, UW-Milwaukee has a far better architecture program.  One of the best actually.

Yeah, the best Arch and Planning schools are often in universities you wouldn't expect. Look at UC, Kent State, UW Milwaukee, etc. From my knowledge, Madison is good for engineering and business. Overall you could consider it a public ivy like Michigan and some of the University of California system though.

 

My uncle and grandpa started a research program with NTT (largest telecommunications company in Japan) at UW-Platteville and I went up there around the time of the groundbreaking and the dean tried to convince me to transfer there. He said "we have our own brewery on campus!" I wouldn't live in that podunk town if they had all the beer in Germany. Wisconsinites are all alcoholics btw.

I won't deny that Wisconsinites are all alcoholics.  But we have to be, considering the weather.  In winter we drink because there's ABSOLUTELY nothing else to do, and in summer we drink because we're obligated to celebrate to 2.5 months we have that aren't winter. 

 

Just out of curiosity, where did you end up, David?  Are you in Architecture?

I wouldn't mind the fact that everyone in Wisconsin is an alcoholic if it weren't for how fat it makes everybody. It's seriously ridiculous around here. In Wisconsin, "sexy lingerie" is actually defined as an old, baggy Packers sweatshirt that hides the giant fat rolls that everybody gets during the ridiculously long winters while they get drunk every night to forget the nightmare of living through a winter in this godforsaken state. And I swear its contagious...I moved here from Cleveland and promptly put on 20 pounds!

Hah, so true.  Wisconsin is by far the fattest state, but ironically Men's Health put Milwaukee 5th on it's list of fittest cities.  It's because jogging in the morning has been added to the equation here.  It's unbelievable how many people are out jogging on the lakefront every morning.  It's a great way to work off a hangover too.  But outside MKE, there's no helping those people.  I grew up in Stevens Point (North-Central WI) and boy oh boy were there some heifers up there.  It's worse in the Wausau area.

Hah, so true.  Wisconsin is by far the fattest state, but ironically Men's Health put Milwaukee 5th on it's list of fittest cities.  It's because jogging in the morning has been added to the equation here.  It's unbelievable how many people are out jogging on the lakefront every morning.  It's a great way to work off a hangover too.  But outside MKE, there's no helping those people.  I grew up in Stevens Point (North-Central WI) and boy oh boy were there some heifers up there.  It's worse in the Wausau area.

 

This morning I so jogged along the lakefront here to get rid of the hangover blues.

Utterly fantastic thread!

 

This is really crazy and strange but,

 

A bug seriously walked on my screen right as I passed your photo of the statue "in the trash."  I didn't think about it until after I killed the bug.  I thought it was part of the images or some online advertisement.

Sorry to post on this thread so late but that sh!t was hilarious.  More sarcastic photo threads!