It's official!

We live in a Great Neighborhood -- Madison Magazine says so!

Marquette -- East/Isthmus

When outsiders think of Madison, the Marquette neighborhood is most likely what they have in mind.

Banners along Williamson Street trumpet the Isthmus neighborhood as "A Place for All People."

Bumper stickers push peace symbols and less-than-flattering impressions of the current administration. Traditional two-stories and bungalows are painted every color of the rainbow.

It's the best place in the city to spot an original Volkswagen Bug.

The Marquette Neighborhood Association has a special section on its web page just for festivals. Attend any one of them and you'll witness how residents here revel in the fleeting good weather, music, food and fun. Each September, the Willy Street Fair offers the best people- (and dog-) watching in the city, hands down.

New condominium developments are providing more housing options in the neighborhood, but even though (at press time) the city requires fifteen percent of new units to be lower cost, residents who take pride in the neighborhood's diversity worry that a booming real estate market will drive them toward homogeneity.

Bordered by East Washington Avenue and Lake Monona on either side, Marquette also includes an old railroad corridor that is the site of Madison's proposed Central Park. The plan calls for seventeen acres of green space including a public market, a skateboard park and an open lawn and picnic area.

Signs of Marquette's past are visible around the neighborhood, like the brick-wall advertisements from days gone by painted on the side of some buildings along Williamson Street. Orton Park, a popular spot for children because of its playground and for brides and grooms because of its picturesque gazebo, used to be the site of one of the city's first cemeteries (the bodies have since been relocated). In the late 990s, the Madison Ghostseekers Society discovered what it called "ectoplasmic mist" when it conducted an investigation of the park.

Schools: Lapham Elem., Marquette Elem., Lowell Elem., O'Keefe Middle, East High

Amenities: Orton Park, Yahara Place Park, Willy Street Fair, La Fete de Marquette, Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, Atwood Community Center

Neighborhood website: www.marquette-neighborhood.org

What will your neighborhood look like in 50 years? "Central Park will become a vibrant jewel linking downtown to the Yahara River Parkway ... A light rail/streetcar will stop at Baldwin Street, connecting Madisonians to the year-round public market in the renovated Marquip building and to the thriving green, sustainable employment district in the rail corridor. My fear is that a 1,400-square-foot house ill cost a million dollars, limiting the housing opportunities for young families. Neighborhood schools close as a result. The Willy Street business district gentrifies to satisfy the new residents, and long standing businesses providing basic goods and services leave because they can't afford the rent or taxes."
Marsha Rummel, Marquette Neighborhood Assoc.
president