Greater Sandburg Neighborhood Association formed to push for change

In a city that’s renowned for its level of civic participation, the Greater Sandburg area – which is bordered by major roads like East Washington Avenue, I-90/94, Hanson Road and Stoughton Road – contains three now-defunct neighborhood associations, each one having faded away due to lack of interest and involvement.

The area is a mix of businesses and residential properties, and the residential properties are a mix of homes, apartments and condominiums.  It is a diverse area with a variety of concerns, and it seemed that each time a neighborhood association got going, it only encompassed a small area and lost steam. 

Over a year ago people in this area began looking at their neighborhood were not pleased with what they saw.  They noticed heavier traffic, poor public safety and a distinct lack of resources such as a public library, community center and police station. The hotels in the area had a number of homeless individuals that frequented them; some residents hoped for affordable housing for the homeless, while others just wanted them gone.

They also noticed an uptick in the crime rate: a woman was hit over the head and nearly assaulted while out walking her dog, there were a handful of break-ins and robberies and some vandalism of private property such as mailboxes and cars.

“This area had the highest need for ways to come together as neighbors,” Sue Pastor said.

Pastor was instrumental in the formation of the Greater Sandburg Neighborhood Association. She reached out to members of her community, and Anne Dopp and Sue Thomas – among others – joined her advocating for the neighborhood.

The timing, however, just wasn’t right. 

“Life happened, as it usually does, and efforts were put on hold for several months,” Dopp said.

Thomas also said the interst was  "very low."

Then, in the spring of this year, when 5422 Portage Rd, LLC, submitted their plans to build a 250-apartment complex on the corner of Portage Road and Hayes Road. Residents believed it would add to the traffic problems that they had been experiencing since the construction of the new University of Wisconsin Hospital up the road.

“This increased our sense of urgency that we needed to have a collective voice in order to be heard by the city,” Dopp said.

Frustration over these plans prompted many neighborhood residents to attend city council and roundtable meetings.  It was at these meetings that they connected with the residents of the Churchill Heights neighborhood, which is a small subdivision on the opposite side of Portage Road.

Rachel Kelly, who lives in Churchill Heights, said if it weren’t for those meetings, the Greater Sandburg Neighborhood Association wouldn’t exist.  

“There wasn’t enough energy to sustain three [neighborhood associations], so we cast the net to a wider geographic area,” Pastor said.

In September, the first official meeting of the neighborhood association was attended by more than 60 people as well as Alder Samba Baldeh and Dane County Supervisor Paul Rusk.

The residents conveyed a number of concerns, and individuals from different areas of the neighborhood had differing priorities.

Kelly said that her three biggest concerns were making improvements to Reindahl Park, alleviating the traffic issues and preventing the construction of the apartments, and cleaning up the hotels.

“Sounds like there’s been a lot of drug dealing and prostitution problems, and they’re underreported in the news,” she said. “They used to be nice hotels, but now they’re looking a little more rundown.”

Thomas had a number of hopes for the future.

“I hope moving forward our association can get a library in our neighborhood and community center. I would like to see improvements to our parks and support Sandburg school anyway we can. I would like a relationship with the police. I think that would be good for our kids to know that they can trust the police,” she said.

Alder Baldeh later said in a blog post, “Residents in our district contribute to the city budget, but I believe we are underserved in these ways and deserve better.”

Though it was the traffic and construction that brought them all together, the members of the association have differing views on what will keep them together and how they will operate as they proceed.

Pastor imagines the association will operate in the same manner as the Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara Neighborhood Association, in which smaller pieces of a large neighborhood are represented by board members who advocate to the larger group at both neighborhood association meetings and city government meetings.

Though they will remain part of a larger whole, “I imagine each [area] will do their own thing,” she said.

Dopp, on the other hand, didn’t seem to see a need for this.

“This does create a very large area, but it seems we have more in common than we have differences.  And the issues that keep coming up affect all of our neighbors,” she said. 

One thing that has been clear to all members since the beginning is the importance of making sure that everyone has a forum and a voice in which to express their opinions.

“We don’t require dues; we’re premised on inclusion and making sure that everyone has representation,” Pastor said.

At their next meeting, they will be discussing their lack of access to a community center and a library with Library Director Greg Mickells and Director of the Policy, Planning and Evaluation Division of Public Health Madison & Dane County Mary Michaud. The meeting is on Monday, Nov. 16, at 6:30 PM, in Redwood Room 2 in the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel at 3841 E. Washington Ave.