“Everyone wants to live in Madison.” At least that’s what the guy said as we were sipping drinks at a local bar.
I was on my first ever trip to Madison last week. Many cities are good enough to have people brag about them. Indeed, this is to be expected in most places. But Madison is one of those cities that always makes the lists of cool places to live and best places for young people.
But just because a city makes a list doesn’t guarantee its growth or prosperity. What’s hot today could very well be cold tomorrow. And this is what prompted me to ask the question that was answered with the proclamation that became the title of this post.
And so I asked people this question whenever I met them – at their office, at cool coffee shops, at trendy bars, and at dinner and unique restaurants. I asked it over lunch and when I met folks for the first time. What was it about Madison that made it work so well for so many people?
I wanted to know because whatever was in the water of the two big lakes up there I wanted to bring back to Nashville and then bottle it and sell it to every city that’s trying to make lists and attract and retain young talent. Because if it were something as simple as fabulous places to eat or fun things to do, than any city could become Madison overnight.
But that wasn’t quite it. After all, even if everyone wanted to live in Madison, not everyone could fit. It’s like they used to joke in the church world: If you think you’ve found the ‘perfect’ church, don’t join it – you might ruin it.
It didn’t take me long to realize that what makes a city attractive to young talent isn’t the things or the places, but the people who call it home. Restaurants come and go, bars open and close, and sports team start and leave. If a city lives and dies by its nightclubs or happy hours, a few unhappy customers or disinterested patrons can mean that what was once cool is now just plain ordinary.
Instead, what makes a city the kind of place ‘everyone wants to live in’ is the people who are able to discern the fine line between being a citizen and being a resident. As Jerry Abramson, the decorated mayor of Louisville told us at the YP Summit a few months ago, “Cities will be far better off if they make it easy for people to be citizens (who vote, support local business, volunteer) than residents (people who simply work or live somewhere and not much else).”
As far as I could tell in my very brief time, Madison is a place where people take citizenship quite seriously. While there, I met people who care about the city and want to see that Madison remains a place that young people want to move to and stay a while. They want to make it a community of citizens and not a place of residents.
If you want to make your city a place where everyone wants to live, you’ve got to build something. But if you just focus on places to go, you’re missing what can be built when you provide experiences for people to be citizens – to participate in events and happenings that make them better people - and in turn - your city a better place.
Night spots and great food are fun for a lot of people, but the next day, you’re always left wanting more. As much as I relished in the chance to eat at new places and visit new stores, what I took away most from my time in Madison were the chances I had to meet other people and engage in conversations about entrepreneurship, life/work balance, changing the world, and making a difference. These are all the kinds of things that citizens talk about.
Just because everyone wants to live in your city doesn’t mean they want to become a citizen. Residency is step one. Citizenship is every step after that in the very long journey towards being a remarkable city.