The American Planning Association announced Friday Oct. 4 that the Central Street Neighborhood has been selected as one of the 10 Great Neighborhoods in the US in 2013.  Each year the APA selects 10 Great Neighborhoods, Streets and Public Spaces as part of "Great Places in America."  A press conference was held that afternoon in Independence Park to announce the award. Check out the City of Evanston video of the event here below:

Central Street, at 2.1 miles end to end, is the longest continuous east-west road in Evanston, Illinois, an important transportation route to the city. Except for a few blocks just east of Westmoreland Country Club, it is a busy thoroughfare from Gross Point Rd. on the west end to Sheridan Road at its eastern terminus, near the historic Grosse Point Lighthouse.

A state highway, Central Street was originally the main road through the Village of North Evanston before that municipality was annexed by Evanston shortly after the Civil War. That explains the name, which otherwise wouldn't make sense for a street so far north in Evanston.

Central Street is the principal route into Evanston for many visitors and employees of the city's two largest employers, Northwestern University and Evanston Hospital. It houses three distinct low-rise business districts. Nevertheless, it is surrounded almost entirely by residential neighborhoods, home to approximately a third of Evanston's population.

All of the Central Street Neighborhood is in the 60201 ZIP code. We have our own post office, the North Branch of the Evanston Post Office, plus two private shipping depots. All three will rent you a post box or sell you shipping materials. U.S. Postal Service: 1929 Central Street Evanston 60201-2287 Phone: 847-328-6288 Hours: M-F: 9 am-5:30 pm; Sat.: 9 am-2 pm Last pickup: 5:00 on weekdays; 4:30 pm Sat. The UPS Store 2859 Central Street Evanston, IL 60201-1234 Phone: (847) 475-5200 Fax: (847) 475-5226 Hours: M-F: 8:30 am-6 pm; Sat.: 10 am-5 pm Last pickup: 5:30 on weekdays for ground/air; 2 pm Sat. (air only) FedEx Office (formerly Kinko's) 2518 Green Bay Rd Evanston, IL 60201, Phone: (847) 475-8650 Fax: (847) 475-4364 E-mail: usa3605@fedex.com Hours: M-F: 8 am-8 pm; Sat.: 8 am-6 pm; Sun 12-6pm; Last pickup: 6 pm M-F; 3 pm Sat. (express only); no pickup Sundays.

The Central Street Neighborhood has been extremely well-served by frequent, reliable public transportation for decades. From Central Street, you can go almost anywhere — Old Orchard, the Loop, Northbrook Court, O'Hare or Midway — without a car. In the past 20 years, however, service cutbacks have made Sundays and evenings more of a challenge in that regard, so check before you set out.

CTA System Map (north section) Download entire CTA System Map

CTA Bus:

• CTA Route 201, connecting with Metra and CTA lines, runs the length of Central Street every 15 minutes in weekday rush hours, and every 20 minutes from 9:00-3:00, plus night owl and Saturday service. The comfy buses, well-heated in winter and air-conditioned in summer, usually have plenty of seats. The "northbound" buses go west on Central, out to Old Orchard shopping center. The "southbound" buses enter Central St. at Gross Point, proceed east all the way to the Lighthouse, then head south on Sheridan Road into downtown Evanston, then to Howard St., eventually turning around at Granville (6200 N.) & Broadway in Edgewater. When on schedule, it's only a 15-minute ride from north Evanston to Davis St. and connections to many area PACE and CTA buses. Click here to download a Route 201 map and schedule

• CTA Route 205 used to go along Golf Rd. from downtown Evanston, then up to Old Orchard and the Cook County Courthouse in Skokie, and back, and during peak hours used Grant Street to go to and from Evanston Township High School. Like 201, this route also went south from the Davis transportation center to Howard St. However, Route 205 was discontinued by the CTA and is no longer in service.

• CTA Route 206 is the "Evanston Circulator." It serves Central St. and connects to the "L" during rush hour; no service between ~9am and 2:30pm. Click here to download a Route 206 map and schedule

Pace Bus: PACE Route 213 runs in both directions along Green Bay Rd., from Northbrook Court to the Davis Street Station in downtown Evanston, with stops near New Trier High School, Ravinia Festival, and the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Click here for Route 213 schedules and info. Basic CTA bus fare is $1.75, which also gives you two transfers within two hours; PACE is $1.50 and transfers are 25¢. Discounts for students and seniors are available, as are monthly passes. The same farecard is good on both bus and the "L."

Metra Rail: The Union Pacific Railroad operates the former Chicago & Northwestern Railway line that parallels Green Bay Rd. The Central Street stop at Green Bay Rd. is extremely well-used by commuters into Evanston and Chicago; some express trains take only 24 minutes to the Loop. One-way fare to downtown Chicago is about $3, and ten-ride and monthly passes offer discounts to regular riders. Click here for a schedule of commuter trains stopping at Central St. • Click here to find a fare from Central St. on the Metra Union Pacific North Line (note: may need to disable popup blockers)

CTA Rail: The CTA elevated (or "L") Purple Line is a light-rail train that stops at Central Street between the canal and Ridge Rd., right at Evanston Hospital. You can take it north to Wilmette or south to 6 other Evanston stops and then on into Chicago. During peak hours, Purple Line express trains go all the way to downtown Chicago; at other times, you can transfer quickly at Howard Street. Basic rail fare is $2.50. This is the world's cheapest way to get to either O'Hare or Midway airport. Click here to download the schedule of CTA trains to/from Central St.

On January 28, 2008, the City Council unanimously passed two ordinances, 5-O-08 and 6-O-08, that, combined, change zoning in the 2-mile long "Central Street Corridor." Zoning is the City law that determines what can be built where. The passage of these important ordinances was the largest change ever applied to so long an expanse along a single thoroughfare in Evanston, and was the culmination of over a year of visioning, planning, hearings, and negotiation,

involving thousands of hours of meeting attendance, research, and just plain hard work by Central Street Neighbors Association members, other residents, consultants, City Council and Plan Commission members, and city staff. The Central Street Master Plan was adopted in June, 2007. As we stated then, the Plan contained many pages of feel-good text and attractive color illustrations, but a discrepancy between what was shown and what was zoned. We knew that the hard work in getting the Plan to function as intended would come in hammering out the zoning details. The ordinances implement zoning changes in two ways. First, certain areas along Central Street are rezoned altogether. Second, special requirements or constraints are "overlaid" over some or all of seven sub-areas (collectively, the "Overlay District"). The highlights of the changes accomplished in these ordinances are as follows:

• Unlimited Site Development Allowances Banned. One reason controversial past projects were approved is that Evanston code allows zoning to be ignored: significant extra height, mass, or other deviations from code, called "site development allowances" (SDAs), can be granted by the City Council if the project is a "planned development," i.e., over 24 units or 20,000 s.f. of true floor area. Many residents as well as City consultants have concluded that this loophole rendered zoning meaningless; we also believe it leads to speculative prices of land. In the ordinances just passed, SDAs are not permitted anywhere in the Central Street overlay district: the new zoning is intended to stick. This is a first for Evanston.

• Anti-Canyonization Provisions. Most business districts in Evanston allow or even require building up to the lot line, with sheer vertical walls. This, along with the height allowed, can create shadowed "canyons" along a street, blocking air and light and creating a cramped feeling as buildings loom over narrow sidewalks. Under the new zoning, all new buildings will have to maintain a minimum 14' "pedestrian area" from curb to building. Additionally, upper floors will have to be "stepped back," to reduce the perceived mass of the building – this move toward "form-based code" is also a first for Evanston in business districts. The maximum ratio of floor area to lot size (FAR) is also reduced, which limits the actual possible mass of the building. Unless a developer puts in special parking, FAR is capped at 1.4, meaning that on a 50x100 lot (5000 sf), the maximum retail/residential square footage that can be built (not counting parking or utility areas) is 7,000 sf. We believe these restrictions will not only result in an overall more pedestrian-friendly street, but will help preserve the existing feel of the district, and discourage speculative, thoughtless overdevelopment.

• Protection of Abutting Residential Neighborhoods. Under the ordinances, to prevent developments from looming over anyone's back yard, new construction on lots that back up to R1, R2, R3 or R4 districts must stay within a "transitional height plane," a diagonal extending forward and upward from a height of 35 feet above the rear wall of the building. Additionally, unless granted an exemption for special reasons, all new alleys must be 18' wide.

• New Restrictions on Mixed-Use B1a Business Districts. The B1a district, first used in Evanston for the area between Marcy and Bennett, is intended to preserve small-scale retail while allowing limited residential use above stores. Pre-existing code allowed heights of up to 40'. Under the new zoning, maximum height in B1a is 3 stories or 35', front upper-story stepbacks are required, and the rear transitional height plane applies.

• More Active Storefronts. A concern with new mixed-use retail-condo developments has been that the first floor is mainly used for parking, with only a veneer of retail space in front, making the streetfront unusable for most store types, and directing it toward a street-deadening office use. Under new zoning, a minimum depth of 50' "active use" is required, with such uses defined to prevent dull offices with closed blinds. There are also provisions to require minimum amounts of open window space, and architectural variation or detailing to avoid sheer or blank-looking vertical walls.

• "Central" Business District Downzoned. Prior to these ordinances, the stretch from Hartrey (Great Harvest) to Eastwood (Mustard's Last Stand) was zoned B2, and it could be redeveloped to four stories and 45' (or more with SDAs). Under the new ordinances, this stretch is downzoned to B1a and is subject to the restrictions above. In addition, the stretch from Great Harvest to Prairie Joe's requires even slightly greater upper-story stepbacks, to preserve the low-rise feel surrounding Independence Park.

• The maximum height in the R5 residential areas along Central has been reduced from 55 feet to the lesser of 4 stories or 45 feet.

• All new developments have bicycle rack requirements.

• The proposed rezoning of portions of the Dyche Stadium parking area to allow mixed-use development, seen in the Master Plan, has been eliminated.

• The ordinances build in incentives for providing public parking, currently at a premium in the shopping areas.

• The ordinances are transit-oriented: development is directed away from the low-rise business districts and instead toward (a) the stretch of Green Bay directly across from (and thus walkable to) the Metra station, and (b) the far west end of the street, where new residents could easily take a bus to the university, the hospital, or either train station. These two areas are "upzoned" by changing the base zoning from a "C" district ("commercial") to a B1a business district, although with the height limits of a B2 district. This would allow up to a 4-story building on, for instance, the Citgo station lot or the Domicile furniture property. While we preferred lower height, the changes are consistent with the Master Plan approved by the Plan Commission and the City Council. Both areas are controlled: any development at the intersection of Gross Point & Crawford must be set back 30' from the street and have stepbacks above the second floor. Redevelopment in the current commercial district on Green Bay between Lincoln and Central will require stepbacks beginning with the second story, to avoid canyonization of Green Bay and to promote pedestrian use.

The "purpose" section of the zoning implementation states that the overlay district seeks to

• Preserve existing character and scale.
• Encourage a healthy mix of uses along the corridor; preserve independent and unique uses.
• Sustain and enhance the corridor as a location for diverse, unique, small-scale, pedestrian-oriented retail shops, services, and restaurants.
• Encourage retail uses close to transit.
• Allow a wide, consistent sidewalk width.
• Ensure wider, landscaped parkways as a transition between retail frontages and residential side streets.
• Provide improved sight lines for motorists.
• Ensure consistent building placement and create a pedestrian-friendly and human-scaled “street wall.”
• Articulate buildings and reduce the perceived height and mass of new development by using building stepbacks at upper stories.
• Establish new sidewalk standards for improved sidewalk widths, sight lines, and streetscapes.
• Encourage buildings with clearly defined bases, middles, and tops.
• Allow the intuitive identification of storefronts through the use of appropriate store windows and fenestration for retail and mixed-use buildings.

Overall, CSNA feels that these purposes have been advanced by the ordinances. While planning is an ongoing, fluid process and there is room for future improvement, the new code will allow Central Street to "take a breather" and avoid the hasty overdevelopment seen in many other areas of Chicagoland, while still permitting growth in harmony with the street's existing character. We were honored that during the planning and zoning phases, residents were praised for unprecedented citizen involvement and input. We thank Ald. Tisdahl and Ald. Moran for their support of the ordinances. We are extraordinarily grateful for all the hard work of so many on this mammoth task, which could not have been accomplished without the support of CSNA members. -- Jeff Smith Click the highlighted link in this sentence to download the full 8.5MB PDF of the 33-page Draft B2 of the Zoning Implementation document, complete with maps.

The year 2008 marks 100 years of service between Central St. and Chicago on what is now the "L." In 1907, the Evanston City Council agreed to let the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Co., one of many entities backed by controversial transit magnate Charles Tyson Yerkes, come into Evanston. Evanston had been served since its inception by heavier rail; in fact, ensuring that the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway would extend its line up the lakefront at least to Evanston was a condition of Northwestern University deciding to locate here. Later, the Chicago & North Western Railway built a competing rail line a little to the west of the C.M.&St.P.

The Northwestern Elevated installed overhead electric trolley wires and ran electric trains from Chicago up to a stop at University Ave. over existing track owned by the C.M.&St.P. The C.M.&St.P. continued to run a steam commuter train on those tracks, but soon gave up trying to compete with the C&NW (which eventually became the still-existing U.P.R.R. North Line of the Metra system).

Back then, the tracks and platform were at ground-level (as they still are on parts of the Brown Line), and a condition of the franchise the City Council granted was that the company elevate the lines in south and downtown Evanston by 1910 (they did). Electrified light rail service was extended from University Ave. north to Central Street at the current location in May, 1908. However, that portion of the line was not elevated; the platform was at ground level. Passengers could also transfer to the Evanston Electric Railway trolley line that ran from downtown Evanston.

In 1912, the Linden stop opened in Wilmette. In 1920, the Evanston City Council ordered the tracks north of University raised; due to financing difficulties in the NERR's successors, that process was delayed 8 years.

Between 1928 and 1931, the existing marble-facade Beaux Arts ticket station (right), designed by Evanston's Arthur Gerber, was built, with the tracks elevated so that cars, buses, and other streetcars could pass underneath. After elevation, the line was converted to third-rail-type electrification rather than overhead wire.

CSNA attempts to maintains links to all mass transit maps and schedules -- Metra, CTA, and PACE -- on its Public Transportation page. -- Jeff Smith

Detailed information about your government representatives is available in the "Who represents me?" section at Ballotpedia:

https://ballotpedia.org/Who_represents_me

 

Federal

U.S. Senate
Tammy Duckworth

Washington, D.C.
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-2854

Chicago
230 South Dearborn Street, Suite 3900
Chicago, IL 60604
312-886-3506

Email: https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/connect/email-tammy

U.S. Senate
Dick Durbin

Washington, D.C
711 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202.224.2152
Fax: 202.228.0400
TTY: 202.224.8180

Chicago
230 S. Dearborn Street, Suite 3892
Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: 312.353.4952
Fax: 312.353.0150

Email: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/email

U.S. House Illinois District 9
Jan Shakowsky

Washington, D.C.
2367 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202- 225-2111

Chicago
5533 Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
773- 506-7100

Glenview
1852 Johns Drive
Glenview, IL 60025
847- 328-3409

Email: https://schakowsky.house.gov/zip-code-lookup?form=/contact/email-me

State

State Senate District 9
Laura Fine

Springfield Office:
M115 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-2119

District Office:
1812 Waukegan Road, Suite A
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 998-1717

Email: laura@senatorfine.com

State Representative 17th District
Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz

Springfield Office
265-S Stratton Building
Springfield Illinois 62706
217-782-4194

District Office
1812 Waukegan Road, Suite B
Glenview, IL 60025
847-486-8810

Email: info@gonggershowitz.com

State Representative 19th District
Robyn Gabel

District Office
820 Davis St Ste 103
Evanston, IL 60201
847-424-5401

Springfield Office
250-W Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
217-782-8052

Email: staterepgabel@robyngabel.com
Email: info@robyngabel.com