April 1, 2025 Election Results

Submitted by jeffpsmith on Mon, 04/07/2025 - 14:14

Despite what seemed like some hot division over direction of both the City of Evanston and its elementary school system, a large majority of voters in Evanston last week elected to sit not just on the fence but on the couch. The Cook County Clerk counts over 52,000 registered Evanston voters on the county rolls. Only 33.5% of them voted. However, the results are interesting.

Ice Cream In Season Again at Parlor on Central

Submitted by jeffpsmith on Sun, 04/06/2025 - 21:16

For decades, Central Street has been home to ice cream,  fitting for a town that claims to have invented the sundae. Hartigan's at 2909 Central, a must-stop at least once a summer for every youth sports family, has been dishing it out since 1996, and old-timers will remember when it was a Baskin-Robbins before that.

It's Gardening Time in Evanston!

Submitted by CSNA on Sat, 04/05/2025 - 16:45

Say "CSNA" and many will think mainly of civic issues, but we've always been more than that. Of all the content posted here over the years, possibly the most-visited, with over 100,000 views of the various pages, has been Jeff Smith's 2008 collection of about two dozen native plant species suited to partial or very shady gardens in Evanston. These include, at last look, American bittersweet, Black snakeroot (a/k/a black cohosh; bugbane), bloodroot, Canadian wild ginger, cardinal flower, celandine poppy, Culver's root, false Solomon's-seal, foamflower, goatsbeard, great blue lobelia, jack-in-the-pulpit, Jacob's-ladder, May apple, meadow anemone, midland shooting star, ostrich ferns, prairie dropseed, prairie trillium, Solomon's-seal, spotted joe-pye weed, violets, and Virginia bluebells.

Check out our "book" here:

Videos of Mayoral and Aldermanic Forums

Submitted by jeffpsmith on Tue, 04/01/2025 - 10:40

For those who need an hour or two more of research before voting today, the last hour of the CSNA mayoral debate (sorry, cameraperson missed first 25 min.) is on YouTube here and the full 90 minutes of the CSNA 6th/7th aldermanic (Councilmember) forum, albeit from a side angle, is on YouTube here.

 

Trump is Not on the Ballot; Homes and Schools Are

Submitted by jeffpsmith on Mon, 03/31/2025 - 11:12

In Evanston, Illinois, running “against Trump” is an easy shot. Minimal risk for a candidate. Evanston voted overwhelmingly Democratic, and likely even most “Trump voters” aren’t even fans but voting on party basis. So if you can get most of the Harris voters, you win, right? Heck, on a nearby block the other day I counted more Harris-Walz signs up than for all municipal candidates combined. However, this easy shot in a deep blue town is also a cheap shot, because to campaign as if Trump is the opponent suggests that an opponent is in the Trump camp. In the April 1, 2025 election -- tomorrow, as I write this -- that’s just not true. Here's why.

Evanston 2025 Election CSNA Mayoral Questionnaires (Biss, Boarini)

Submitted by CSNA on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 08:54

Each candidate for mayor of Evanston returned a short questionnaire CSNA sent them in advance of tomorrow's forum (Tue., Mar. 4, 2025, 7-8:30 pm at 2715 Hurd). Click to view or download their responses.

PDF icon Daniel Biss

PDF icon Jeff Boarini

Election 2025 6th & 7th Ward Candidate Questionnaires

Submitted by CSNA on Tue, 02/25/2025 - 20:43

All four candidates for Councilmember in Evanston's two northernmost wards returned a short questionnaire CSNA sent in advance of tomorrow's forum (7-8:30 pm at Northminster Church). Click to view or download their responses.

Aldermanic, Mayoral Aspirants to Face Off at Central Street Neighbors Events

Submitted by CSNA on Wed, 02/26/2025 - 08:45

In a little less than five weeks, Evanston will hold municipal elections. The post of Mayor and most City Council seats, including north Evanston's 6th and 7th Ward Councilmembers, are heavily contested.

Over the past 18 years, CSNA has earned a reputation for some of the most provocative and well-attended candidate forums in Evanston, no softball questions, focusing on substance. In upcoming days we'll offer two chances to let our members and the public see and hear real differences between the 2025 candidates:

Is Evanston Growing or Shrinking?

Submitted by jeffpsmith on Sun, 02/23/2025 - 23:55

“In 2023, about 77,800 residents lived in Evanston, which is nearly 5% more than the population in 2000 … [and a] growth rate of 0.35% annually [from 2010 to 2023], with a projected population of about 84,175 by 2045.”
    City of Evanston, “Envision Evanston 2045” (Nov. 2024 draft), at 16

“Evanston’s total population decreased slightly between 2000 and 2020 (-2%) and the number of households decreased by 5%.”
    City of Evanston, “Draft FY 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and 2025 Action Plan” (Nov. 2024) at 81

Is Evanston growing so fast that it needs to build a lot more buildings to accommodate a projected additional 8,400 residents in the next 20 years,1 growth of more than 10%? This was a core tenet of the Envision Evanston 2045 process and the upzoning agenda that's been driving it for over a year, even before its launch. But for several reasons, this assumption was always so broken that just by itself it warranted a reset of the entire planning process. The good news?

Evanston Small Business District Upzoning Illustrated

Submitted by jeffpsmith on Sat, 01/11/2025 - 23:57

While focus in ongoing "Envision Evanston 2045"  debate has been on the proposed upzoning of current lower-height residential districts (R1, R2, and R3), eliminating all single-family, 2-flat, or 3-flat zoning to allow 3-story, 4-unit buildings as of right everywhere, all business districts are also quietly targeted for dramatic upzoning to turn our streets into "corridors." What would this look like?

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