I drove out into Dane County yesterday to see what I could see, to see beyond the boundaries of District 7 for which I am a candidate on the Dane County Board of Supervisors.
It’s a big county. District 7 is completely within the Madison City Limits and almost entirely comprised of long established neighborhoods, both single family and apartment unit dwellings. District 7 includes Odana Hills Golf Course, Lake Wingra, Vilas Zoo, Forest Hills Cemetery and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.
We are exceptionally fortunate in Dane County District 7.
The picture you see here is a glimpse of what I saw a few miles outside the City of Madison and well within Dane County, a few minutes commute from any supportive commercial development or source of employment.
In my opinion, this picture represents a Housing Crisis in answer to what has come to be known as an Affordable Housing Crisis.
Take a look.
A friend who rode along with me did take a look and mistook these identical structures for barracks. He lived in buildings like this when he served on various military bases with the U.S. Air Force.
A sign nearby in what had been a cornfield a few months ago declares these carbon copy cubes to be ‘Homes’ each about 1,800 square feet and available for prices ‘Staring at $325,000’.
That’s Starting and going Up.
Without any reference whatsoever to what has been done or who did it, I promise if elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors, I will demand what consideration has been given to anything but profit and haste in development of either commercial or residential property in Dane County, especially as it relates to the conversion of agricultural or farm land.
I want to know about durability, about materials and compliance with every applicable code and whether or not architecture and aesthetics were fully addressed in unison with environmental concerns.
The impatient developer, the hasty construction company need to be reminded here and now we build for the future. People will either thank us for what we do now or shake their heads and wonder what the heck we thought we were doing.
At the present rate, no tourists will ever come to Dane County to admire the view. Visiting families are not going to take pictures if we issue permits for housing that gives veterans flashbacks of boot camp.
Signs might help.
Big signs at the entrance that declare what we intend.
Fort Affordable.
Camp Diversity.
Equity Begins At Home At Home At Home At Home.