UP: Public safety. The state's Office of Justice Assistance reports that violent crime dropped 6% in 2009 from 2008; property crime dropped 5% and arrests fell 3%. In 2009, 147 people were murdered, down one from the year before. Almost 90% of the homicides led to an arrest.
DOWN: Commuters. Although the number of motorists on Madison's roads dropped slightly last year, the number of accidents rose from 4,578 in 2008 to 4,753 last year. That includes 115 crashes involving bicycles, up from 95 the year before. Fourteen people died in accidents last year, up from six in 2008.