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Evanston, Illinois

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Template:Chicagoland municipality

A part of downtown Evanston, as seen in October 2005.

Evanston is a suburban municipality on Lake Michigan in Cook County, Illinois directly north of Chicago, east of Skokie, and south of Wilmette. The city was first settled in 1836, and has a total population of 74,239[1]. Evanston is part of Chicago's affluent North Shore region.

History

Evanston was created out of the larger geographic unit which was called "Grosse Pointe Territory" in the 1830s and retitled Ridgeville in 1850.[2] After being chosen as the home for Northwestern University, the city was incorporated in 1863, and named after John Evans, the University's founder. During the 1960s Northwestern University changed the city's shoreline with a 74 acre (300,000 m²) lake-fill.

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 ice cream sundaes.

Evanston, along with many other cities such as Ithaca, New York and Two Rivers, Wisconsin, claims to have invented the ice cream sundae. The store that claimed this was at Dempster Street and Chicago Avenue, but has since been changed into a Homemade Pizza Co. location.

Geography

Evanston is located at 42°2′47″N 87°41′41″W / 42.04639°N 87.69472°W / 42.04639; -87.69472Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (42.046380, -87.694608)Template:GR and is at an elevation of 600 ft.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.1 km² (7.8 mi²). 20.0 km² (7.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.26%) is water.

In August 2004 there was some confusion as to the size of Evanston. Evanston is often locally listed as being 8.4 mi², but this number appears to be incorrect. The 7.8 mi² listed by the United States Census Bureau is more accurate.

Politics and Government

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 [citation needed] with statutory exemptions, Northwestern does not make Payments in Lieu of Taxes for the real estate it removes from property tax rolls. The university does, however, provide a contribution towards fire department services and also maintains its own security force.

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.

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 benefits of having an elite research institution is 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.

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.[citation needed] The city's Mayor Loraine 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.

Education

"The Arch," the main entrance to the Evanston campus of Northwestern University

Public schools

High school

All 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
Middle schools
Magnet schools
  • King Lab Magnet School
  • Rhodes Magnet School

Special schools and centers

  • Early Childhood Center
  • Park School
  • Daniel & Ada Rice Children's Center

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:

  • Baker Demonstration School (2840 Sheridan Road) - independent; grades pre-k through 8
  • The Barbereux School (3333 Culver St.) - independent; grades pre-k through 1
  • Chiaravalle Montessori School (425 Dempster Street) - Montessori; grades pre-k through 8
  • Midwest Montessori School (2408 Orrington Avenue) - Montessori; grades pre-k through 3
  • Pope John XXIII (1120 Washington Street) - Catholic; grades pre-k through 8
  • St. Athanasius School (2510 Ashland Avenue) - Catholic; grades pre-k through 8
  • St. Joan of Arc School - Catholic; grades pre-k through 8
  • Roycemore School (640 Lincoln Street) - independent; grades pre-k through 12
  • North Shore School - independent; grades K through 8

Transportation

Shops along Davis Street, looking West, August 2006. The Davis Street Metra stop is visible in the lower half of the photograph.

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 four CTA bus routes as well as four Pace bus routes.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 74,239 people, 29,651 households, and 15,952 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,698.6/km² (9,584.1/mi²). There were 30,817 housing units at an average density of 1,535.3/km² (3,978.4/mi²). 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.

According to a 2006 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $62,138, and the median income for a family was $98,553.[2] 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

Local Media

People from Evanston

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Evanston.

Entertainment figures

Sports figures

Writers, thinkers, artists, scientists, and cultural figures

Politicians and statesmen

Historical figures

Musicians

Evanston in fiction

Evanston in film

See also

References

  1. ^ as of the 2000 census
  2. ^ "This is Evanston," League of Women Voters of Evanston, 2000, ISBN 0-9676994-0-1[1] pp8-18

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