Commercial real estate blog CommercialCafe compared the progress of revitalization efforts in cities across the Rust Belt region in a study that showed Madison is making great strides. The study used a multilayered approach using a combination of CommercialCafe’s own data and information from the U.S. Census Bureau. The study included metrics tracking changes in total population, household income and median home values, as well as housing and commercial real estate stock.
It also drew upon insights from experts — including Dr. Rex LaMore, director of Michigan State University’s Center for Community Economic Development and Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, professors of architecture and authors of Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs — studying urban renewal and community revitalization strategies to provide some context for these numbers, especially where trends don’t demonstrate straightforward progression:
Key highlights include:
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Madison displayed top performances across half of the 12 metrics included in this study;
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The city tied for first place with Buffalo, New York, for its population increase, growing by 7% from 2017–2022, adding roughly 18,000 new residents to its total and going from a city with less than 200,000 residents in the early 90s to its current 273,000;
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The city added the highest share of new housing units to its inventory from 2017–2022, with its stock increasing by 15.7% during this period;
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Madison boasted the highest median income per household across cities with more than 200,000 residents — $74,000 per year, outranking runner-up Chicago at a difference of more than $3,000; and
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By the end of the surveyed period in 2022, Madison’s unemployment rate had reached 2%, by far the lowest rate across Rust Belt cities on the list, and at roughly half of the unemployment levels in Fort Wayne, Buffalo, and Columbus.
Additional information about methodology and expert insights are available in the full study.
