Yet nature, according to several conference participants, can offer another draw for life in the city. One Thousand Friends sought to encourage this view. The group asked state students for essays describing natural wonders in urban communities for possible inclusion as a part of their forthcoming book on Wisconsin city life. The response was disappointing, if not shocking. Nearly all of the student essays chronicled a visit to the country or a wilderness experience, despite clear instructions soliciting accounts from the urban world.
Some cities already emphasize their natural attractions.
Chicago has brought together dozens of organizations in an effort to identify and promote the city's wilderness and wild environs. The corridor, which begins at the UW, has an urban and rural mix with portions of it crossing by State Street and the Convention Center and then towards the Beltline, Nine Springs, Fish Hatchery, Fitchburg, Dunn's Marsh and the Arboretum before returning to the campus. Phil Lewis was intimately involved with the creation of Madison's E-way. Lewis is a landscape architect, former UW professor and current director of the Marshall Erdman Academy of Sustainable Design. He says 40 museums or institutions can be found along or near the E-way's path.