Spring 2025 is election time. The spring election is on April 1. All seats for the Madison Common Council are up for election. The results of those elections can have a great impact on biking, walking, transit, and housing. Madison Bikes, together with Madison is for People, Madison Area Community Land Trust, Madison Bikes, Affordable Housing Action Alliance (AHAA), and Strong Towns Madison, reached out to all candidates for common council to ask them about their positions on transportation, housing, and sustainability. We’ll publish their responses around March 5. Until then, read our questions below.
Madison Bikes is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and does not endorse or oppose any candidate. All responses are reproduced unedited and in their entirety.
Introduce Yourself
- Do you own or rent your primary residence?
- When was the last time you rode your bike or took the bus to work, to school, or for an errand?
- What is the primary way you move around the city?
Zoning and Land Use
- During the rest of this decade, Madison will produce 12 new Area Plans to guide development and transportation decisions throughout the city. The West and Northeast plans were approved in 2024. Do you think the Area Plans that cover your district will need substantial increases in density? How should that density be distributed? (If you are in the West or Northeast areas use the density in the newly adopted Area Plans as your reference point.)
- Municipalities across the country, including La Crosse, Portland, Minneapolis, and Charlotte have taken steps to reform zoning by eliminating parking minimums and allowing for small multi-family buildings by-right throughout the city. Mixed use, higher density neighborhoods also generate more property tax revenue per acre (see visual comparison above). Would you support similar reforms in Madison in order to grow the tax base, increase available homes, and avoid sprawl? Why or why not?
Housing Affordability
- Affordable housing projects that are subsidized by the City of Madison have typically been required to remain affordable for low-income residents for 40 years, but are not required to remain affordable after that. What are your thoughts on the length of time that City-funded housing developments should be required to stay affordable?
- As desirable, centrally-located neighborhoods in Madison quickly appreciate in value, it becomes more challenging for affordable housing developers to acquire land. What role should the City play in the acquisition of land for affordable housing development?
- How can the City promote housing stability and create permanent housing solutions for vulnerable communities in Madison, especially single unhoused individuals, seniors, and people with disabilities?
- Renters in Madison face significant challenges in accessing safe, fair, and affordable housing. What should the City be doing to better serve tenants and help them enforce their rights?
Transportation, Safety, Climate
- In 2023, Madison adopted a Complete Green Streets policy that prioritizes walking, biking, transit, and green infrastructure over driving and car parking when it comes to allocating our public right of way. Are you committed to supporting the implementation of this policy in your district and across the city, especially when a project requires the removal of car parking or general travel lanes? How would you respond to residents in your district concerned about converting on-street car parking or travel lanes to space for trees, sidewalks, or bike lanes?
- Madison committed to Vision Zero, that is, eliminating all fatalities and serious injuries from traffic crashes by 2035. Yet in 2022, 11 people were killed, including 1 person on a bike and 2 people on foot, and at least 90 people were seriously injured in traffic crashes. Which roadways and intersections in your district should be prioritized for safety design improvements, and what strategies do you support to achieve Vision Zero?
- The City has a goal to “Build out a safe, comfortable network of bike routes for people of all ages and abilities to increase [bicycle] mode share.” Where in your district do you see major gaps in this network and how would you propose to fix these gaps?
- In Madison in 2022, 27.5% of greenhouse gas emissions came from transportation. What measures do you think the city should take to reduce emissions from that sector over the next 5 years?
- A 2022 report (Legistar 72924) by city staff indicated that Madison subsidizes parking stalls at the Wilson Street garage at a rate of over $240/month per space, leading to a net loss of $1.5 million annually for a garage with 500 stalls, like the one on Wilson Street. Considering this expense, what do you see as Madison’s role in providing private vehicle storage?
