CURB PULSE 2022

THE BEST PLACE TO RAISE
Even as one of the best places in the nation to raise a family,
Wisconsin still has ground to cover
By Brooke Messaye
Houses similar in architecture
line the streets like a
town straight out of a dystopian
novel. The smells of a fresh
meal fill every crevice of the houses
as the chatter and laughter from
family, friends and neighbors echo
from wall to wall. Cars parked in the
driveways gather dust, as bikes are
sprawled across the front yard.
As you drive through Madison’s
Marshall Park neighborhood, three
minutes away from the house-lined
street is a park with a view from the
swings that overlook the water as the
sun sets and the orange-yellow rays
disappear into the distance. Across
town in the Greenbush neighborhood,
an elementary school is just
blocks from a hospital.
Without having to leave the comforts
of your neighborhood, it all
seems right at your fingertips.
This is Madison, Wisconsin.
Madison is the Best – Officially
In 2022, WalletHub ranked Madison
the ninth best city to raise a family
in the U.S., based on the criteria of
cost of family fun, health and safety,
education and child care, affordability
and socioeconomics.
But seeing how Madison measures
up reveals some hard truths about
the community. In areas where studies
are more likely to reveal gaps depending
on race and socioeconomic
status, such as the quality of education,
affordability of child care and
underemployment, Madison didn’t
fare as well.
Milwaukee sees a similar pattern
when it comes to measuring the
quality of life, and it adds up to a
Wisconsin paradox: While the state
may be a great place for some families,
others, especially those who are
Black, see real differences in how life
is lived here.
Really, there are two Wisconsins.
This idea stems from the work of
Sue Robinson, School of Journalism
and Mass Communication professor
at UW–Madison. Robinson wrote
a book in 2018 called “Networked
News, Racial Divides: How Power
and Privilege Shape Public Discourse
in Progressive Communities.”
In this book, she discussed the
idea of “two Madisons.” While she
raises her family in a neighborhood
where there are a plethora of resources,
Robinson recognizes her whiteness
and privilege and acknowledges
that just a few blocks away, the situation
may look different.
“There is another Madison, and in
this one, all of these metrics that are
so rosy for people who have white
skin instead show huge disparities
for Black and Brown people because
of basic opportunity debts, because
these systems were not built for them
to succeed — from graduation rates
to the school-to-prison pipeline to
access to affordable health care to
well-paying jobs,” Robinson says.
The Schools and the Views
Michelle Hellrood has spent her
entire life living in Madison, so
choosing to raise her two kids here
was a no-brainer.
“I love the Madison community
and everything it has to offer ... from
... the Geology Museum and [the]
Chazen and just walking around
campus,” Hellrood says.
Madison’s activities and school
systems were a draw for Hellrood
and her husband. Working in child
care, she recognizes the lack of
high-quality services, but as kids enter
the school system, it improves.
32 CURB