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Totally agree here. Evanston is a "suburb" only in the sense that it's a separate municipality. In all other respects, it might as well be just another neighb

by lafay 11y ago

Totally agree here. Evanston is a "suburb" only in the sense that it's a separate municipality. In all other respects, it might as well be just another neighborhood within the Chicago city limits. Which is not to say that Evanston shouldn't be applauded for a transit-focused development policy. But it's silly to suggest that it could / should be modeled by other suburban municipalities that don't have similar existing infrastructure and proximity to the urban core.

pessimizer 11y ago
This article must have been paid for by the Evanston Chamber of Commerce. There's no part of Evanston that is more than a 45 minute walk from Chicago, and it's been serviced by CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) buses and trains, PACE (Suburban Chicago) buses and trains, and Metra (Regional) trains long (decades) before the high rises and the property speculators moved in. There were exactly the same services as were there during the period in which the article insists that Evanston (known as a pleasant, generally affluent town wrapped around a major university at least since I was born there 40 years ago) was somehow failed or depressed as there are now, except night service was a little better then.
- alpineidyll3 11y ago
  I totally agree... Very few residents choose to live in Evanston for any reason other than proximity to Northwestern. It's unpleasant and overpriced to live in, and there's nothing magical about their development beyond affluence and train service... New fantastic development idea for communities! Build a famous university 100 years ago... profit.
mrchicity 11y ago
Evanston is definitely a suburb. There is a walkable area near the train and university, and some apartments, but there is a lot of single family housing on much larger lots than you'd find in the city. People have big yards, multi-car garages, 1000s of square feet in living space. It's denser than more rural suburbs like Lake Forest or Highland Park, but not very similar to Chicago proper. Even in well-off Chicago neighborhoods with a lot of large houses like Lincoln Park, most are townhouses or rowhomes, and there is a larger mix of condos/apartments.
- tptacek 11y ago
  It's a suburb, but nobody who's ever been to Elgin could say with a straight face that Evanston is the "archetypical" suburb. If Chicago were organized the same way NYC was, OP/RF/FP and Evanston would be boroughs. The better way to frame this, without getting into the special-case trouble of Philadelphia, NYC, and Chicago, is that the overwhelming majority of suburbs are not like Evanston, and are not hooked up to the arterial public transit connections of their major metro areas.

by lafay 11y ago

pessimizer 11y ago

This article must have been paid for by the Evanston Chamber of Commerce. There's no part of Evanston that is more than a 45 minute walk from Chicago, and it's been serviced by CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) buses and trains, PACE (Suburban Chicago) buses and trains, and Metra (Regional) trains long (decades) before the high rises and the property speculators moved in. There were exactly the same services as were there during the period in which the article insists that Evanston (known as a pleasant, generally affluent town wrapped around a major university at least since I was born there 40 years ago) was somehow failed or depressed as there are now, except night service was a little better then.

alpineidyll3 11y ago
I totally agree... Very few residents choose to live in Evanston for any reason other than proximity to Northwestern. It's unpleasant and overpriced to live in, and there's nothing magical about their development beyond affluence and train service... New fantastic development idea for communities! Build a famous university 100 years ago... profit.

mrchicity 11y ago

Evanston is definitely a suburb. There is a walkable area near the train and university, and some apartments, but there is a lot of single family housing on much larger lots than you'd find in the city. People have big yards, multi-car garages, 1000s of square feet in living space. It's denser than more rural suburbs like Lake Forest or Highland Park, but not very similar to Chicago proper. Even in well-off Chicago neighborhoods with a lot of large houses like Lincoln Park, most are townhouses or rowhomes, and there is a larger mix of condos/apartments.

tptacek 11y ago
It's a suburb, but nobody who's ever been to Elgin could say with a straight face that Evanston is the "archetypical" suburb. If Chicago were organized the same way NYC was, OP/RF/FP and Evanston would be boroughs. The better way to frame this, without getting into the special-case trouble of Philadelphia, NYC, and Chicago, is that the overwhelming majority of suburbs are not like Evanston, and are not hooked up to the arterial public transit connections of their major metro areas.