Communist Mecca Falls To Capitalism

Today, The Girl and I visited State Street in Madison. It'd been about two years since we'd been there last, and it's a place we've always enjoyed visiting. And what a difference two years makes.

For those of you not in the know, State Street is the five block span between Memorial Library on the University of Wisconsin campus and the Wisconsin State Capitol building. It's a common tourist attraction, and the epic Halloween party held there has put UW-Madison on the top of The Princeton Review and Playboy's party school lists. It's closed to automobile traffic, and is usually filled with people.

The reason people go there isn't because of some historical significance (although you're a stones throw from the national landmark Capitol building); they go there for the businesses located along State Street. It used to be covered with trendy little boutiques and restaurants. The shops catered to the hippie/slacker/potheads that frequent State Street, and the restaurants feature little bar-and-grills and ethnic cooking ranging from Mexican to several different kinds of Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine. Headshops and patchouli-stinking shops were plentiful. Everything was perfectly geared to the liberal-bordering-on-communist sensibilities of Madison. But, that was two years ago.

Now, a good many of the little shops and bars are gone, replaced by corporate retail shops and chain restaurants. Oh sure, a lot of the old staples are still there, but they're few and far between now. Everything is new and improved, to go with the new, more "mainstream" image. (Even long-time, trendy vintage clothes retailer Ragstock, which, ironically, is itself a chain store, has a new facade that makes the Gap store next door look like an antique.) State Street is becoming more like The Magnificent Mile in Chicago (the Midwest's premiere shopping destination) than the hippie haven it once was.

Oh well; things have to change with the times, I guess. We still had fun. And as long as some of those long-time staples (like bathing supply store The Soap Opera, one of The Girl's faves) remain open, we'll keep going back. We'll probably even still go after they've all turned into Qbodas and Old Navys. Not as interesting, but something to do, nonetheless.