Madison South Photo Gallery | Sister City Banner Unveiling Part Of Big Picture Plans For Park Street

They might look like a simple banner, but the special meaning behind the Madison Sister City Banners that have been hung on light posts on Park Street are about much more for residents on the city's south side.

The area, which prides itself on being diverse, also is proud to say they have seen their neighborhoods flourish since the Madison Common Council approved the Park Street Streetscape Improvement Project in July 2010.

One of the design recommendations was to incorporate banners to create an identity for the street and express its international character. Madison's Sister City organizations worked with neighborhood residents, the city of Madison and local businesses to design and hang the banners that represent each of the international cities within the program.

"It's the diversity (in this neighborhood), that I always have seen as a badge of honor, but this really does lead to this becoming Madison's international gateway," said Alderman Tim Bruer.

Park Street has long served as an auto-oriented commercial district and a major arterial street that provides a direct connection between the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and Downtown Madison from the Beltline Highway. But the area hopes to become much more.

Bruer said there has been vast improvement services for seniors, additional businesses moving in, several remodeled buildings and lower vacancy rates are area apartments. He said young professionals and college students are now living in south side neighborhoods that they wouldn't have even considered in the past.

While residents are welcoming the new, they are still tied to their past.

"This is one of the last city neighborhoods that has four or five generations living in it all within a few blocks of each other," said Bruer.

Bruer and others said they hope to see more ethnic businesses join those that have been in the area for decades.

Madison has 10 Sister Cities: Ainaro, East Timor; Arcatao, El Salvador; Bac Giang, Vietnam; Camaguey, Cuba; Cusco, Peru; Freiburg, Germany; Managua, Nicaragua; Mantova, Italy; Obihiro, Japan and Vilnius, Lithuania. For more information or links to each Sister City website, go to www.cityofmadison.com/cityhall/sistercities.cfm.