Du-plex the right thing, city officials urge

Madison’s housing stock, like that of most American cities, was shaped by the post-World War II economic boom.

Cars were becoming the transportation mode of choice and families were moving to the suburbs. Madison’s new neighborhoods reflected these changes — places like Hill Farms and Hoyt Park, both largely developed in the mid-1950s, had larger lot sizes, were more reliant on automobiles for transit and consisted predominantly of single-family homes.

In 1966, Madison’s city council — overseeing a population of 166,000 — enacted the city’s third zoning code. For the next 50 years it pushed city development toward single-family housing. 

“Our 1966 code was driven to orient more towards suburban growth,” says Matt Tucker, director of the city’s building inspection division and the city’s former zoning administrator. “Density was discouraged in many ways.”..