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Neighborhoods

University Avenue and Hilldale: Madison's west-side corridor and places to start

University Avenue runs west from the UW–Madison campus through Shorewood Hills and on toward Middleton. Hilldale, an open-air shopping center off Midvale Boulevard, is a short trip away, and the university hospital and a research park are on the west side too. This guide covers the corridor as the village, the city, Metro and the businesses themselves describe it. For the whole city, see our Madison neighborhoods guide; for stores across the area, see our shopping guide.

Checked against official sources · Updated November 11, 2026

Hilldale

Hilldale's website gives its address as 726 N. Midvale Blvd. It calls the center open-air and says it brings together "Bikes. Dogs. Family. Coffee. Workouts. Beer. Bucky." Its directory sorts tenants into fashion and style, food and drink, beauty and wellness, and services and specialties. Our shopping guide covers the center's stores.

Beyond shopping, the center's pages say:

  • Dogs: welcome at the center.
  • Farmers' market: the 2026 market ran Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., from May 2 through October 31, behind L.L. Bean off Segoe Road. Friendly, leashed dogs were welcome. Dates for 2027 weren't posted yet. See our farmers markets guide.

Shorewood Hills and the avenue

The Village of Shorewood Hills is a separate municipality that University Avenue runs through. Our Shorewood Hills guide covers its parks, pool and architecture.

The village's University Avenue Corridor Plan is described as an amendment to its 2021 comprehensive plan. It covers the type, mix and intensity of land uses along the corridor, redevelopment of key sites and design recommendations, looking 10 to 20 years ahead. Check the village's page for the plan's current status.

The city's neighborhood organizations list includes groups such as Sunset Village Community, Hill Farms and Westmorland. The city's page links to a map where you can enter an address to find the organization for a given block. The page doesn't describe each neighborhood, so we leave the boundaries to the city.

The hospital and research park

Briefly, because they are destinations rather than neighborhoods. UW Health University Hospital is at 600 Highland Ave. UW Health lists a 24-hour emergency department at 1565 Highland Ave. and a parking ramp at the hospital address. University Research Park, a technology park, is at Mineral Point Road and Whitney Way, and says it was founded in 1984. Our hospitals directory lists emergency and hospital care.

Bikes and walking

The City of Madison's University Avenue project reconstructed the avenue from Shorewood Boulevard and Hill Street to University Bay Drive and Farley Avenue, working jointly with the Village of Shorewood Hills. The city lists a pedestrian and bike overpass over University Bay Drive, a wider sidewalk along the south side of the avenue and green bike box markings at Farley Avenue, University Bay Drive and Hill Street. Its schedule ran from May 2022 to June 2024, and the page marks the project complete as of a February 2025 update.

The Southwest Commuter Path is a separate city path. A city lighting and signals project covers about 1.3 miles of it between Monroe Street and N. Shore Drive, with construction expected in 2027. It doesn't run along University Avenue, so check a current map when planning a ride. For routes and rules, see our biking guide.

Getting there

Metro's Route A is the city's east-west bus rapid transit line. Its text description says it runs on University Avenue between Segoe Road and Campus Drive, with stops that include Sheboygan and University before Johnson Street, State Street and the Capitol Square. Metro lists weekday midday service about every 15 minutes, with service from early morning until about midnight, and says it runs weekdays and weekends. Metro's trip planner finds the best bus to a specific address. Our getting around guide covers buses and bikes.

Parking at Hilldale and along the avenue varies by lot, and Hilldale's site doesn't list parking details, so check before you go.

Places to start

These are businesses in our directory at Hilldale or on University Avenue. Descriptions come from their directory listings. Hours and menus change, so check with each one.

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Sources

Rules and dates can change. Check the official source before you rely on them, and suggest a correction if something is out of date.