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Evanston, Illinois
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Evanston, Illinois is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois directly north of the City of Chicago, east of Skokie, and south of Wilmette, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan. Evanston is concurrently a city and township, according to state and municipal charters. It is the home of Northwestern University.
is now Evanston was once part of a larger area called "Grosse Pointe Territory" in the 1830s.
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Evanston, Illinois is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois directly north of the City of Chicago, east of Skokie, and south of Wilmette, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan. Evanston is concurrently a city and township, according to state and municipal charters. It is the home of Northwestern University.
History
What is now Evanston was once part of a larger area called "Grosse Pointe Territory" in the 1830s. The first non-native Americans settled in 1836, in an area that by 1850 was called Ridgeville. In 1851, a group of Methodists founded Northwestern University and chose the area as its new home. In 1854, the founders of Northwestern submitted to the county judge their plans for a city to be named Evanston after John Evans, one of their leaders. In 1857, the request was granted.
Evanston was formally incorporated as a town on Dec. 29, 1863, but declined in 1869 to become a city despite the Illinois legislature passing a bill for that purpose. Evanston expanded after the Civil War with the annexation of the village of North Evanston. Finally, in early 1892, following the annexation of the Village of South Evanston, voters elected to organize as a city.
The 1892 boundaries are largely those that exist today. During the 1960s Northwestern University changed the city's shoreline by adding a 74-acre (300,000 m²) lake-fill.
In 1939, Evanston hosted the first NCAA basketball championship final at Northwestern University's Patten Gymnasium.
In August, 1954, Evanston hosted the second assembly of the World Council of Churches, still the only WCC assembly to have been held in the United States. President Dwight Eisenhower welcomed the delegates and Dag Hammarskjöld, secretary-general of the United Nations, delivered an important address entitled "An instrument of faith."
Today, the city is home to Northwestern University and other educational institutions as well as headquarters of Alpha Phi International women's fraternity, Rotary International, the National Lekotek Center, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the Sigma Chi Fraternity and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
Evanston is also the birthplace of Tinkertoys and (along with many other cities such as Ithaca, New York and Two Rivers, Wisconsin) claims to have invented the ice cream sundae.
Geography
Evanston is located at (42.046380, -87.694608) and is at an elevation of 600 ft.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.8 square miles (20.1 km²), of which, 7.8 square miles (20.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.26%) is water.
In August 2004 there was some as to the size of Evanston. Evanston is often locally listed as being 8.4 sq mi, but this number appears to be incorrect. The 7.8 sq mi listed by the United States Census Bureau is more accurate.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 74,239 people, 29,651 households, and 15,952 families residing in the city. The population density was 9,584.1 people per square mile (3,698.6/km²). There were 30,817 housing units at an average density of 3,978.4/sq mi (1,535.3/km²). The 2000 census showed that Evanston is ethnically mixed with the following breakdown in population: 62.56% White, 22.50% Black or African-American, 6.11% Hispanic or Latino, 6.09% Asian, and 2.85% from other races.
There were 29,651 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.4% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.2% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was spread out with 20.2% under the age of 18, 16.4% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.
Evanston is economically diverse. According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $63,407, and the median income for a family was $99,667. Males had a median income of $51,726 versus $39,767 for females. The per capita income for the city was $33,645. About 5.1% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
Populations of the past
- 1900 - 19,259
- 1910 - 24,978
- 1920 - 37,215
- 1930 - 63,338
- 1940 - 65,389
Recent population trends
- 1970 - 80,113
- 1980 - 73,706
- 1990 - 73,233
- 2000 - 74,239
Government and Politics
Evanston has a council-manager system of government and is divided into nine wards, each of which is represented by an Alderman, or member of the Evanston City Council. Its current mayor is Lorraine H. Morton. The city government has often had a shaky relationship with Northwestern University, which is a not-for-profit institution and so does not pay property taxes to the city. In the founding charter of Northwestern University, signed in 1851, the state granted the school an exemption from paying property taxes, and unlike other well-off private universities with statutory exemptions, Northwestern does not make Payments in Lieu of Taxes for the real estate it removes from property tax rolls. They continues to buy properties in downtown Evanston without compensating the city for lost income in taxes. The university does, however, provide its own police services, although not firefighter/paramedic services.
Evanston has a history of supporting candidates affiliated with the Democratic party in elections on all levels of government. In the 2004 presidential election, Democratic candidate John Kerry won 82% of Evanston's vote. His Republican opponent, George W. Bush, only won 17% of the vote in Evanston.
In 2008, Barack Obama won approximately 87% of the vote in Evanston Township.
Nicknames
- Early after its founding Evanston, because of its strong Methodist influence, and its attempt to impose moral rigor, was called "Heavenston."
- In the early 20th century Evanston was called "The City of Churches."
- The varied works of numerous prominent architects, and many prominent mansions, especially near the lakefront, gave the town by the 1920s the sobriquet "The City of Homes,", a fact often touted by local real estate agents. Use of the phrase has been attributed to a 1924 speech at the local Kiwanis club.
- Since the late 20th century, because of Evanston's usually-liberal politics, it is sometimes humorously (or sarcastically) referred to as "The People's Republic of Evanston."
Education
Public schools
High school
Most of Evanston (and part of the village of Skokie) is within the boundaries of Evanston Township High School District 202. The district has a single high school, Evanston Township High School (ETHS) with an enrollment of just over 3000, covering grades 9 through 12. The school's mascot is the Wildkit (a diminutive of Northwestern's Wildcats) and the school's colors are orange and blue. Its biggest rival is New Trier High School in Winnetka. Its superintendent is Dr. Eric Witherspoon.
Primary schools
Evanston-Skokie Community Consolidated School District 65, covering all of Evanston and part of Skokie, provides primary education from pre-kindergarten through grade 8. The district has ten elementary schools (through fifth grade), three middle schools (grades 6 through 8), two magnet schools (K through 8) and three special schools or centers. Total district enrollment in 2004 was 6,622 students.
The region of Skokie served by Evanston schools is referred to colloquially as Skevanston.
Elementary schools
- Dawes Elementary School
- Dewey Elementary School
- Kingsley Elementary School
- Lincoln Elementary School
- Lincolnwood Elementary School
- Oakton Elementary School
- Orrington Elementary School
- Walker Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School
- Willard Elementary School
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- Middle schools
- Magnet schools
- King Lab Magnet School
- Bessie Rhodes Magnet School
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Special schools and centers
- Early Childhood Center
- Park School
- Daniel & Ada Rice Children's Center
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In 2007, Willard Elementary School ranked 8th in the state overall on the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT).
Private and parochial schools
In addition to the public schools, Evanston offers a variety of other educational choices. Roycemore School (640 Lincoln Street) is an independent coeducational college preparatory day school providing a liberal arts education to students from junior kindergarten through grade 12. Since the closing of St. George High School in 1969, there is no Catholic high school in Evanston, but many Evanston residents attend co-educational Loyola Academy in Wilmette, all-boys Notre Dame High School for Boys in Niles, all-girls St. Scholastica Academy in Chicago or Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, and other area Catholic high schools.
There are also a variety of non-public primary schools in or near Evanston:
- The Barbereux School - independent; grades pre-k through 1
- Chiaravalle Montessori School - Montessori; grades pre-k through 8
- Midwest Montessori School - Montessori; grades pre-k through 3
- Pope John XXIII - Catholic; grades pre-k through 8
- St. Athanasius School - Catholic; grades pre-k through 8
- St. Joan of Arc School - Catholic; grades pre-k through 8
- Roycemore School - independent; grades pre-k through 12
- North Shore School - independent; grades K through 8
- Baker Demonstration School - independent; grades pre-k through 8
Transportation
Evanston's growth occurred largely because of its accessibility from Chicago by rail. The Northwestern founders did not finalize their commitment to siting the university there until they were assured the Chicago & Milwaukee railroad line would run there. C&M trains began stopping in Evanston in 1855. Evanston later experienced rapid growth as one of the first streetcar suburbs. The North Shore Line which gave the area its nickname started at Church Street in Evanston and continued up to Waukegan.
Transit continues to make Evanston attractive today. The CTA's Purple Line, part of the Chicago 'L' system, runs through Evanston. From its terminal at Howard in Chicago, the line heads north to the South Blvd, Main, Dempster, Davis, Foster, Noyes, and Central stations, before terminating at Linden in Wilmette. Metra's Union Pacific/North Line also serves Evanston, with stations at Main Street, Davis Street and Central Street, the first two being adjacent to Purple Line stations. The CTA's Yellow Line also runs through the city, though it only stops at Howard. Evanston also contains several I-GO cars.
Evanston is also served by six CTA bus routes as well as four Pace bus routes.
Commercial Districts
Once the home of one of the first Marshall Field's and Sears stores in suburbia, Evanston remains an important shopping destination for the north suburbs and North Side of Chicago, with numerous commercial centers throughout the city. The principal ones are as follows:
- Downtown - centered around the Davis St. Metra and "L" stops, Evanston's downtown adjoins Northwestern University. Over 300 businesses, several highrise office and residential buildings, three traditional low-rise shopping areas, an 18-screen movie theatre, and over 85 restaurants
- Central Street - actually several shopping districts linked along the northernmost of the city's principal east-west arteries, with the most active clustered around the Central Street Metra station and characterized by specialty shops and restaurants in a walkable environment with an eclectic, vintage "small-town feel" strongly protected by the community
- Dempster Street - just off the Dempster "L" stop; over 60 shops, many of them small and hip, including Bagel Art, the vegetarian Blind Faith Cafe, The Mexican Shop (affordable world women’s clothing and accessories), 2nd Hand Tunes, lollie (children’s boutique), and FolkWorks Gallery.
- Main Street - approximately 3 blocks of small, interesting shops abutting both a CTA and Metra stop, in a gentrifying neighborhood that also is home to the Evanston Arts Depot
- Howard Street - many small shops line the city's border with Chicago; at the west end of the avenue, near the border with Skokie, Howard Center, a small thriving shopping mall, was built in the 1990s after some controversy
- Chicago Avenue - not a separate shopping district per se, this extension of what is called Clark Street in Chicago runs parallel to the rail lines and is the principal north-south artery in Evanston from Howard Street north to its terminus at Northwestern University. Chicago Avenue connects the Main Street, Dempster Street, and Downtown shopping districts. Once home to numerous auto dealerships, it has attracted numerous restaurants and a growing number of multi-unit residential structures and is lined with interesting businesses.
Health Care
Two hospitals are located within Evanston's city limits:
Controversy
A perennial debate in Evanston is the issue of Northwestern University's status as a tax-exempt institution. Northwestern's critics allege that it consumes far more from the city than it contributes. However, its backers fire back that the benefits of having an elite research institution are worth it, even if the university does occupy prime real estate tax-free. This controversy was revived in 2003 when the university purchased an eight-story office building downtown, removing it from the tax rolls. A referendum was put on the April elections ballot dubbed by supporters as a "Fair Share Initiative," but was ultimately rejected.
Beginning in the late 1990s, there has been considerable controversy over an explosion in high-rise development, especially in the downtown district. Detractors contend that the development has taken away what they call a "unique Evanston identity." They cite a growing number of local businesses that have gone out of business to be replaced with chain stores as its worst offense. In contrast proponents claim that the high-rises have brought much-needed life to what was a dying suburban downtown, and much-needed revenues to chronically underfunded city coffers. Along with the high rise explosion, recently there have been talks of building a skyscraper in Fountain Square. Many people oppose it, putting up "SAVE EVANSTON, STOP THE TOWER" signs on their front yards.
Recently (as of 2006) there was concern with Evanston's low-income population being able to find affordable housing. Evanston's west side, a formerly strong middle-class African American community, has been undergoing a redevelopment process, which has led to a steadily decreasing minority population in Evanston. The city's Mayor Lorraine H. Morton has tried to persuade builders to build less expensive medium sized homes under $350,000, but none of her attempts have been successful.
Local Media
- Daily Northwestern - the student newspaper at Northwestern University.
- Evanston Now - a locally-owned online newspaper.
- Evanston Review - a weekly newspaper published by the Sun-Times News Group.
- - a locally-owned semi-weekly newspaper.
- The Evanstonian- Evanston Township High School's student newspaper.
People from Evanston
The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Evanston.
Entertainment figures
- Carlos Bernard, actor
- Marlon Brando, actor
- William Christopher, actor, charity spokesperson
- Joan Cusack, actress
- John Cusack, actor
- Robert Falls, Tony Award winning director
- Zach Gilford, actor
- Alicia Goranson, actress
- Walter Kerr, drama critic
- Heidi Kettenring, actress
- Richard Long, actor
- John Lee Mahin, Oscar-nominated screenwriter
- Elizabeth McGovern, Oscar-nominated actress
- Josh Meyers, comedian
- Ajay Naidu, actor
- William Petersen, actor
- Jeremy Piven, actor
- Daniel Sunjata, actor
- Ruby Wax, comedienne
Sports figures
Writers, thinkers, artists, scientists, and cultural figures
- Jane Fulton Alt, photographer
- Algis Budrys, science fiction author
- Richard Buskin, New York Times bestselling author
- Allen G. Debus, historian of science and medicine
- Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond organ
- Charles R. Johnson, author, National Book Award Winner
- Joseph Epstein, author, essayist
- Carl Fick, author and film director
- Charles Gibson, news anchor
- Charles "Chuck" Hillinger, longtime journalist with the L.A. Times
- Eugene Montgomery, painter
- Roger Myerson, 2007 Nobel Prize winner in economics
- Drew Pearson, newspaper columnist
- Edmund Phelps, Nobel Prize winner in economics
- Mark Pinsky, Inventor of the Pinsky Phenomenon in mathematics
- Richard Powers, author and National Book Award winner
- Albert Tangora, holder of world speed record for typing on a manual typewriter
- Garry Wills, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/critic
- J. Allen Hynek, astronomer, professor, and ufologist
- Gahan Wilson, cartoonist for the New Yorker, Playboy
- Mildred L. Batchelder, Namesake of the ALA award given to the publisher of a translated childrens book was formerly a librarian at Haven Elementary School. One of her stated goals in her work, which was encouraging the translation of childrens books from around the world, was "to eliminate barriers to understanding between people of different cultures, races, nations, and languages."
- , successful entrepreneur, widely recognized marketing expert, speaker and adviser.
Politicians and statesmen
Historical figures
Musicians
In popular culture
Literature
Film and television
Evanston's variety of housing and commercial districts, combined with easy access to Chicago, make it a popular filming locale. Evanston as of December, 2008 is listed as a filming location for 65 different films, notably those of John Hughes. Additionally, the city is referenced as a setting in numerous other works.
- In the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen, the Baker family moves to Evanston, although the movie was filmed elsewhere with different schools.
- 1993's Dennis the Menace was nearly entirely filmed in Evanston.
- Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan references Evanston and ETHS as its setting, but the school shown in the movie is not ETHS, filming was done in Chicago as well, and Old Orchard Shopping Center is neither in Evanston nor an indoor mall.
- Although never explicitly stated, the real-life scenes in The Princess Bride take place in Evanston, according to the screenplay.
- The ABC series Once and Again was set in Evanston.
- Kevin Costner's character in Dragonfly lives in Evanston.
- Much of the 1984 movie Sixteen Candles was filmed in and around Evanston.. The Baker house is located on the 3000 block of Payne St.
- Home Alone 3 was filmed in Evanston.
Points of interest
External links
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