There is an all too common sight for Middleton residents to witness when peering out from the window of their cars, walking along the sidewalk or striding across the trails which criss-cross our town. Where a laundromat, an older home, a soccer field or, most often in recent years, an open field once stood, new apartments, single-family homes and construction sites now dot the landscape, often accompanied by a “Now Leasing” sign lining the street. These new apartments in particular typically follow the similarly boxy, modern, generic multifamily homes that have come to dominate Middleton’s post-COVID-19 landscape.
These recent developments do not come without precedent; contrary to the statewide trends that project Wisconsin to lose about 183,000 people, or roughly 3.1% of its population, Dane County as a whole is booming. According to the City of Madison, the Greater Madison Metropolitan area is expected to grow by approximately 35% by 2050, reaching a county-wide population of 780,000 people.
Naturally, this regional growth has spilled over into the neighboring city of Middleton, where the population has grown steadily in recent years, increasing from 21,827 residents in 2020 to an estimated 22,566 by mid-2024, the most recent available population estimate. This growth is even more striking over the past decade, with Middleton’s population increasing by roughly 4,000 people, a 21% increase compared to the previous decade, when only around 2,000 people moved in…