Downtown Madison has grown tremendously since the current Downtown Plan was adopted in 2012.  The City of Madison has added over 9,000 new neighbors, 7,500 homes, and a rapid transit system, which are changing the face of downtown.  As Madison anticipates welcoming over 100,000 new residents in the next 25 years, far more will be required of its existing spaces, places, and the built environment.  How does the downtown stay vibrant and navigate housing demand, need for commercial services and open spaces and mobility?  Envision Downtown Madison is a public-private partnership to guide the future of downtown and is seeking answers to these questions.

Presenter Bios

Dan McAuliffe is a planner with the City of Madison whose work focuses on creating great places through planning for walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods and main streets. He’s currently co-leading the Downtown Area Plan as well as the Mifflin and Carroll Plaza redesign project. Notable past projects include the redevelopment plan for Oscar Mayer area as well as the Voit farm area on Milwaukee Street. He has master’s degrees in architecture and urban planning from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and is a LEED accredited professional. In his 20 years of experience as a planner, he’s received multiple awards for innovative projects from the Wisconsin and Oregon chapters of the American Planning Association.

Rebecca Cnare, PLA, is a Principal Planner in the City of Madison Planning Division leading the Neighborhoods, Planning, Preservation and Design Section. Her team specializes in Public Art, Preservation, land use planning, implementation, and placemaking for Madison’s great places and spaces. Rebecca specializes in leading complex multi-layered and multi-agency policy initiatives and experiments that require collaboration and co-creation among our City’s diverse communities.

Jessica Vaughn has a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Colorado – Denver. She has over two decades of professional experience in current planning project management that she has obtained working in a variety of unique communities across the county, including Boulder, Colorado, the Town of Los Gatos, California, and currently, the City of Madison. In her current role as the Urban Design Commission Secretary, she continues to further her goals of providing high-quality, innovative urban design that inspires and promotes healthy and diverse communities.

Sponsored by

The upcoming Frautschi Center is designed to be a doorway to UW–Madison’s 300-acre Lakeshore Nature Preserve. Hanson will trace its design evolution from TKWA’s pattern-writing process through community-driven site selection, threshold design, and the Living Building Challenge certification process. Attendees will learn how “the health of the land” became the measure for every decision, from floodplain avoidance and native plant communities to solar, battery, and rainwater systems.

Therese Hanson is a project architect who brings a poetic sensitivity to place—crafting vibrant, human‑centered environments that breathe in rhythm with their surrounding ecosystems. Her portfolio spans some of Wisconsin’s most meaningful work, from the Bayview Redevelopment in Madison to the revival of Milwaukee’s beloved Oriental Theatre and transformative visioning for the Milwaukee Downtown Plan Update 2040. Hanson has been celebrated with honors such as 2026 AIA Wisconsin Young Architect Award and BizTimes Notable Women in Construction and Design.

Paula Verboomen is an award-winning architect whose practice spans a range of project types over her 30-year career. A vice president at HGA Architects and Engineers, she leads the community, workplace and government studio and practices as a design principal. She has served as the Milwaukee office director and on the HGA Board of Directors.

Verboomen will explore how curiosity, deep listening, and iteration reveals clients’ true needs. With this understanding, and a holistic approach to design, architectural solutions are a natural extension of the client and offer delight in unexpected ways. Her presentation will focus on a range of projects spanning her career, bringing to life her client-centric and collaborative approach.

This free program is presented in partnership with American Institute of Architects Wisconsin. Continuing education credits are available for AIA members.

In-person at Monona Terrace (onsite registration)

Virtually on Zoom

Sponsored by