Why Madison?

November 12, 2007

Welcome to the first column dedicated to the Pax Americana Institute's home, Madison, Wisconsin!

When the Pax Americana Institute was in its formative stages, we decided that we wanted to locate it in Madison, Wisconsin. We did this for a number of reasons, but the biggest one was that we believed it would make a statement. We were right. A conservative think tank located in Madison Wisconsin is the equivalent of a democratic movement set in Red Square during the height of the Cold War.

That wasn't the only reason, however. I am a life-long Madison resident, having been here for nearly 40 years. That's actually kind of a scary thing to write as I come to think of it. The thing is, for all the trouble that we at the Institute give the city of Madison, we still care about it very deeply. Growing up in Madison was a unique experience, and for those of you who have never been here, you will find a unique mixture of culture, leisure activities and natural beauty. Growing up in Madison meant biking through the Arboretum, spending the day at the Vilas Zoo, and, when I was older, taking walks from the Memorial Union to Picnic Point.

I was a west-sider growing up, and my parent's house was about as far west as Madison even existed in the 1970s. Within five minutes on my bicycle, I would be out among farmers' corn fields. There was never a concern for safety, as the neighbors would look out for me and keep me from getting into much trouble. Madison was a very liberal community during all this time, that's true. And yet I and other conservatives loved it nonetheless. Madison has been called 70 square miles surrounded by reality, but that is something that is said by conservative residents as good-natured ribbing as much as anything else.

In the last few years, much of this has changed. Reality, it seems has decided to come a calling for Madison. The neighborhood in which I grew up has gotten much worse. I have driven by my elementary school to see open-air drug sales going on. My car has been broken into. My old neighbors had their home robbed in broad daylight. A little over a year ago, my father, one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet, was mugged as he filled up his car with gas within sight of the police station on Gammon Road. You can't imagine how hard it is to accept the fact that absolutely nothing was done by the police about the mugging of a 78 year-old man. The officer I spoke with asked me what I expected him to do about it.

Sigh.

Madison has started to change, but perhaps that is a good thing for the liberals that live here. For a long time it seemed like Madison was immune to the troubles that came along with urban growth, and it is still heralded as a shining beacon of what is good in the feel-good ideas common to liberalism. Many Madisonians are discovering that you can't have the sweet without the sour.

So welcome to Mad City! In this column we'll take a look at Madison, including both the sour and the sweet. We'll end each column with an article or two on Madison from outside the Institute. Hopefully this will give those of you from outside of the area a little taste of what it is like to live here.

Don't Tase Me...Err...Me?

A cautionary tale to let you know that weapon safety isn't just about firearms.

I'm Rooting For "Mayoral Get Some Work Done Day"

Want your own day? In Madison we have 365 of them available for you!

Mad City: 70 Square Miles, Surrounded by Reality is an ongoing column the antics occuring in Madison, Wisconsin. It is created by PAI's CEO. © PAI 2007.