Emerald City

Capital city of the land of Oz, where everything in the city is green. Home of Oz's rulers: first the Wizard of Oz, then the Scarecrow, then Ozma.

1. Madison has an excess of trees and the most psychopathically green grass you've ever seen. It's a shock for natural residents (such as myself) to leave the area. Everything looks quite dull and brown, in comparison.
2. The liberal culture of this college town lends itself to a bit of idealism (I don't think that's such a bad thing, myself). It seems a sort of fairy tale land to the rest of Wisconsin. Thus the phrase Twenty square miles surrounded by reality.