Central Street Neighbors Association

Picture says it all. These are updated units in a vintage building steps from Central Street shopping. About a dozen units left as of 3/18/2010.

Looking for something a little different this weekend? FamilyFarmed Expo, the midwest's largest event devoted to local, organic, and sustainable food, is ongoing this weekend at  University of Illinois - Chicago. Part trade show and part public fair, tonight's calendar features the popular Localicious party ($75). Saturday, March 13's workshop schedule includes presentations from 8 AM to 6 PM on numerous topics, from organic farming, to beekeeping, to backyard chickens and urban farming. There are also celebrity cooking workshops throughout the day, including Rick Bayless in the morning. The 20,000-sf exhibit hall includes a kid's corner with stories and other activities. Saturday admission is $15. Kids under 12 are free with an adult.

This Sunday, March 14, from 1-4 pm, Go Green Wilmette, the Village of Wilmette, District 39 schools, and the Wilmette Public Library are jointly presenting GOING GREEN MATTERS: Wilmette’s Green Fair, 2010. The local-sized environmental fair for the whole family will take place at the Woman’s Club of Wilmette, 930 Greenleaf Avenue, Wilmette, and offers a number of presentations, exhibitors, and booths to learn more about living sustainably.
 
An important bonus: almost every type of electronic product can be recycled at the event. How many old computers, monitors, fax machines, and obsolete phones are in your basement? Purge your closets and your guilt at the same time.

With a bit of a thaw in the air, residents looking for a musical interlude from the steady stream of governmental and political news can take advantage of a multitude of offerings in the area this weekend. Besides the dance marathon at NU, there are options from classical to jazz, from musicals to bluegrass, and even some gospel and rock. Click on any of the links below for more info.

At the CSNA meeting last night, I reported on the nascent effort to bring Google high speed internet investment to Evanston. Many people were concerned about a repeat of the ugly V-RAD boxes littering our parkways. The following is a response from another attendee to the first meeting held 2/23/10.
 
From Neal Daringer:

At the Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee [SPAARC] meeting on February 24, 2010, which will begin at 2:30 pm in Rm. 2404 of the Morton Civic Center, Granite Investment Properties, represented by Bob Kukor and Bob Burk, will present a proposal for the subdivision of the former Kendall College site (the block bounded by Sherman, Orrington, Colfax and Lincoln) into 19 lots intended for single-family residential use. The proposal, item No. 3, 10ZONA-0013 on the SPAARC calendar, is technically for "2408 Orrington" and is scheduled for 2:50 p.m.

In addition to the Kendall College site proposal (see story above), the Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee will hear on Feb. 24 about two other projects of interest to the Central Street community.
 
Item 4 on the agenda is the proposal of Presbyterian Homes to replace 51 1950s-era independent living cottages with 54 new cottages, and to construct a new apartment building consisting of 32 2-bedroom units.
 
The next item on the agenda is Com Ed's plans for installing new overhead equipment on the 2600 and 2700 blocks of Prairie Avenue, and to replace three existing 35' poles with taller poles. The pole at 2723 Prairie is proposed to be moved from the alley to the parkway.
 
These items are scheduled for 3:10 and 3:40, respectively, at Rm. 2404 in the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center.

A recent online story on Evanston libraries set up a divisive and inaccurate class/race argument by focusing on census tracts in which the north and south branch are "located." This is misleading rhetoric in several ways, including that the north and south branch are each at the very edge of a census tract, that census tracts are somewhat arbitrary and certainly not monolithic, and that the libraries were "located" long before most current residents. But more important, it misses the point that for most Evanstonians, there is no library at all in their "census tract." Since nearly everyone has to travel by foot, bike, car, or public transportation to use a library, a more practical analysis would instead ask, for every Evanstonian, "What library is closest?"
 
As simple geography and the map below (click Read More to see) demonstrate, the answer is that, for most Evanstonians, either the north or south branch is closer and more convenient than the main branch.