August 18, 2005

Madison, late summer.

The place is nearly deserted:

State Street

The "Stop the War"/"Stop the Lies" guy is just chatting with someone who's sitting on the ground and who already agrees with him:

State Street

There are no lines at the food carts, and the folksinger has stacks of Bibles, untaken though free:

State Street

In two weeks this place will flow with students:

State Street

Come on back!

State Street

Come on in!

State Street

Students, we vigilantly await your arrival. Every seat will be filled soon, on some crisp football Saturday:

State Street

2 comments:

Bruce Hayden said...

I commented before on how I thought that Boulder was terminally hip and you responded that it looked a lot like Madison with skinnier people. You are right. There is a distinct simularity.

It looks like a college town from these pictures. A very hip college town.

We own some apartment buildings in Golden, CO, and am struck by how different it is than either Boulder or Madison. It has the Colo. School of mines right across Clear Creek from one of our buildings. But, maybe because Mines is an engineering school, or maybe because the town also has real industry (last I knew, biggest brewery in the world), the town is so different. The school is neat and tidy. The downtown, within easy walking distance of the school, is too. No outside kiosks. No flyers stuck everywhere for whatever.

p.s. If you do read this, your Able Danger comment link has been broken since at least yesterday.

chuck b. said...

There's something specifically and uniquely sad (depressing? alienating?) about big, built-up public spaces clearly intended to accommodate lots of people when there are no, or very few, people to be found. Seeing lots of 'closed' signs has the same effect.