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Along with the city and PACE Project, the University of Wisconsin has also become
involved in Madison’s alcohol issues, more specifically with bar license applications and
renewals. They have offered their support for any liquor license willing to follow a specific set
of conditions, termed Luther’s Conditions (named after the first bar agreeing to follow them).
The conditions do not allow for drink specials or the serving of intoxicated patrons, the training
of security staff must be approved by the city police department, and the bar must set aside two
nights per month in which it provides alcohol free entertainment.
Luther’s Conditions became an “unofficial” restriction for prospective liquor license
holders to adopt onto their license. Naturally, it was not very popular with the local tavern
league. The idea that a public university could step in and have an impact on the outcome of
private businesses was unheard of.
The excessive crime and overconsumption in the downtown/campus area was what
originally prompted the university to apply for the RWJF grant and for the city and university to
work together to pass Luther’s Conditions. However, the problem of what to do with existing
crime rates and existing liquor licenses with irresponsible serving practices remained. This study
will focus on these problems using GIS mapping.
In order to map information, the data must first be “geocoded” or linked to a base map.
This map contains specific addresses linked to city parcels of property and was attained from
Madison’s City Planning and Development Office. While all property in the city is represented
within the map, linking data to it can be problematic, as few institutions utilize the same
standards to record address data. For example, if a company purchases a parcel of property and
builds several apartment buildings on it, this would create several new addresses, but the parcel
map would show only one. Another example might be when police issue speeding tickets, or an
Convention