Portraits of a Ward
A look into Evanston’s redistricting over time
Wards don’t define Evanston, but they are essential to its functioning.
When Evanston became a city in 1892, seven wards of roughly equal population were drawn in accordance with the Cities and Villages Act of 1872, which defined the structure of municipalities in Illinois. To represent each ward, an alderperson would be elected to City Council.
The wards — which increased to nine in 1951 — have been regularly reevaluated following the release of census data each decade. Frequently, the council redistricts to account for significant population shifts, a process that last occurred in 2023. The boundary changes were based on the 2020 census, which showed an imbalance in resident numbers between the wards.
Redrawing the lines can be complicated. The 1st Ward illustrates this best — it included all of Northwestern’s campus in 1982, then only the southern half in 1992, then only buildings west of Sheridan Road in 2003, then a different cut of the southern half in 2023. Students who thought their voices were being diluted protested at a City Council meeting during the 2003 redistricting process, which took more than three months.
But ultimately, the tedium serves to make Evanston’s governance both more manageable and more fair. The 1992 and 2003 updates divided downtown Evanston into three wards, splitting the significant administrative burden of the business district. Recent maps have been drawn to preserve multiple wards with substantial populations of residents of color, giving effective voting power to historically marginalized communities.
The Daily last profiled the wards — with their 2003 borders — nine years ago. Following the first election with updated boundaries this April, we felt they deserved another look.
From Marshall Field’s to Dave’s Italian Kitchen, the 1st Ward balances rising property taxes and local businesses
In 1972, Dave Glatt opened the first location of Dave’s Italian Kitchen in a small storefront on Davis Street. Since then, the restaurant has moved five times, each to a different location in the 1st Ward.
Throughout its relocations, the restaurant has remained a community staple and its owner a prominent community member.
“I am treated like an icon in many ways,” Glatt said. “Basically, I didn’t die. So I have had that kind of continuity, I have done outrageous things.”
The 1st Ward is composed of the Downtown Evanston business district as well as most of Northwestern’s campus. It’s also home to the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Charles Dawes House, portions of the lakefront path and the Evanston Public Library.
However, the library is currently exploring the potential of splitting from the city because the funding it receives from property taxes is not enough to make necessary building repairs — including a $1.9 million roof repair.
While the 1st Ward remains a vibrant downtown shopping mecca with bookstores, restaurants and retail stores, property owners are getting pushed out by increasing real estate prices, which also make it more difficult for new businesses to open.
A new 29-story high-rise at 605 Davis St., approved Monday, will only exacerbate these issues, Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) said.
“Normally, a building that size should offer some tax relief or it can be new funds that allow schools to do something new or to fund projects,” Kelly said. “But instead, (the contractor is) going to be receiving a tax break. They will not pay their full property taxes for 30 years.”
The 1st Ward also contains a large portion of the Lakeshore Historic District, including many large homes built in the 1890s by wealthy Chicago entrepreneurs. In the 19th century, as property values rose, the neighborhood shifted from a diverse mix of homes to smaller homes being demolished and replaced by larger ones.
Evanston became a North Shore shopping hub in the 1920s when the great economic boom encouraged large Chicago department stores, like Marshall Field’s, to branch out and build stores in the suburbs.
During the Great Depression, people tried to divide these large houses into boarding houses. However, the city didn’t want a dramatic increase in population density, so it created ordinances against dividing buildings into multifamily homes.
“Change is constant, so a lot of the issues that we face today have been faced throughout the past, and most of it has to do with settlement patterns and population growth,” Kris Hartzell, director of facilities, visitor services and collections at the Evanston History Center said.
In response to high property taxes, Kelly proposed a property tax circuit breaker program, which was revisited on Tuesday, to help financially strained people stay in Evanston.
Kelly said she believes one of the main reasons behind longtime Evanston residents moving out of the city is bloated budgets, which in turn creates high property taxes. Since much of the 1st Ward comprises properties off of the tax roll — such as the University, nonprofits and religious buildings — a higher tax burden falls on residents.
“The problem is, as is everywhere else, real estate here is becoming more and more unaffordable,” Glatt said. “This is why I live in Skokie — I can’t afford to live here.”
Despite these issues, the 1st Ward maintains a strong community through events such as the Evanston Folk Festival and businesses like Cafe au Lake, Kelly said.
“We’re sort of a big family of so many different people,” she said. “I think people feel very much connected and united in this ward.”
2nd Ward residents emphasize importance of community, collective spaces
For 2nd Ward resident Jill Gerber, her ward is a complex community that comes together at every corner.
“It is an important (place) because we stay supportive of each other in what have been very difficult times around here,” Gerber said.
The ward is the most socially, economically and racially diverse area in Evanston, according to Ald. Krissie Harris (2nd).
It covers a substantial amount of the city’s west-central area, spanning from north of Church Street to south of Main Street. Throughout the area, most blocks are residential, but there are also clusters of industrial and commercial buildings, most notably in the West End district off of Main Street. The ward is also home to the Robert Crown Community Center and the Evanston Public Library Robert Crown Center branch.
Resident Maya Santoso said she came to Evanston as an international student to attend Northwestern and never left, since she found a sense of community in the area.
“I’ve always felt very welcomed, and I’ve always found that this city is quite diverse,” she said.
Santoso said she frequents the Robert Crown Branch Library because her children hang out with friends and do schoolwork there.
“It’s a really accessible place for families to just get away if they need to have a quiet space to study or work,” Santoso said.
2nd Ward resident Matthew Hunter said the community center, which has amenities including two NHL rinks, two full-sized gymnasiums and an art and pottery studio, has been a staple of the ward for decades.
The center was renovated in early 2020, creating new amenities like the library and athletic field, changes which have been beneficial, Hunter said.
“The rebuilding of it has been great for the city and offers more updated, current things for kids,” he said.
The ward also has other important amenities, including a grocery store, fast food, auto mechanics, a health clinic and a car wash, Harris said.
Residents can get to these communal spaces easily, she said, since the ward is very walkable.
“We have a little bit of everything that a person could need without really having to step outside the ward,” Harris said.
There are a variety of communal spaces that bring ward residents together.
The ward has several parks, including a long strip of green area with a trail along the North Shore Channel.
Evanston Township High School is also central to the ward’s sense of community.
“It’s the hub of education,” Harris said. “We have a lot of opportunities for students to get engaged and be part of the Evanston community. I think that’s so important.”
Santoso said the high school is integrated into the surrounding neighborhood by using Robert Crown for sports practices and games. The community center is an extension of the high school’s facilities, she added.
The ward also contains the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary and Fine Arts School, the Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center and the district office of Evanston/Skokie School District 65.
Hunter, a lifelong Evanston resident and graduate of ETHS, finds the ward to be an ideal place for Evanstonians to raise a family.
“Evanston in general, but this ward in particular, is very family-friendly and we want things to be made available for children and families who are raising kids,” Hunter said. “We’re having issues with our school systems at this moment, so our priorities really are shifting towards the needs of our children in the area. In Evanston, just period, but in our ward, we care about the educational opportunities for kids.”
3rd Ward faces affordable housing, traffic issues
By the time just over 2,500 ballots rolled in to elect a new 3rd Ward councilmember in April, Ald. Shawn Iles (3rd) had knocked on every door in the ward to preach affordability as he vied for the seat in a monthslong campaign.
“One of the things that I’m the most concerned about is preserving the current naturally occurring affordable housing,” Iles said, referring to the two- and three-flats that make up much of the southern half of the ward.
Single-family homes that have direct access to lakefront parks and beaches are customary elsewhere across the ward. Ninety-four percent of those properties sit within the Lakeshore Historic District, an area that has had development restricted since its designation in 1980.
The issue of housing continues to define — and divide — the community.
Drafted zoning updates to Chicago Avenue, a thoroughfare in the ward connecting the Far North Side to downtown Evanston, would allow for the construction of buildings up to 100 feet in height in an attempt to support further affordable housing.
The proposition has been of particular concern to residents like former 3rd Ward candidate John Kennedy, the president of the Southeast Evanston Association, who ran against Iles for the seat in the April election.
“People on the west side (of Hinman Avenue) — their alley butts up against what would be 100-foot-tall monoliths,” Kennedy said.
Much of Chicago Avenue as it runs through the ward makes up the Main–Dempster Mile, a quaint business district that is home to dozens of local restaurants and shops.
Because of its role as a key connector between the North Shore and Chicago proper, the road has already been a focus for development in terms of bicycle and pedestrian accessibility. Plans have additionally been made to calm commuter car traffic, according to Iles.
“The thing that I’ve heard the most, during the campaign and since the campaign, is about the speed of traffic,” Iles said. “There’s a real feeling since the pandemic that drivers have gotten significantly worse.”
The corridor remains a hotspot for good food and entertainment in the area. For family dinners, Iles recommended Firehouse Grill, Cross-Rhodes and The Lucky Platter, all within a three-minute walk of the Main Street CTA Purple Line station. In terms of night spots, Kennedy and Iles both recommended live music hall SPACE.
Away from the bustle, five lakeshore parks containing two public beaches make up the mile of public coastline, the greatest amount of any ward.
Longtime resident Anne Burket sometimes looks out over Lee Street Beach and watches the sunrise from her home in the Historic District. She frequently walks up and down the lakefront, a routine she has held for years, she said.
“I found it a nice place to grow up, where people were pleasant,” Burket said.
Burket’s brick-and-column Colonial Revival home was built in 1919, and she has lived in it since her young adult years. Since then, the ward’s boundaries have changed considerably as populations came and went, but its simultaneous access to the lake and transportation to Chicago has remained constant.
The biggest change in recent years, she said, was the attitude of the ward’s residents as Evanston has continued its urbanization. Much of the Historic District preserves what she thinks Evanston should be: suburban.
“A lot of the friction is: Do you think you live in a sleepy suburb or an urban environment?” Iles said. “And if you think you live in a sleepy suburb, you don’t want anything to change.”
And things are changing, Iles said, albeit slowly.
A handful of construction projects and proposals line the agenda for the community’s future. Iles has concluded that such plans support the new generation of 3rd Ward residents.
“As I talk to people, anybody under the age of 45, pretty much, is pro-change,” he said. “They don’t see a path to home ownership. ... And they want to see a change.”
Evanston’s 4th Ward captures a diverse educational, religious community
For Dewey Elementary School Principal Anna Marie Newsome, her school is built upon a rich and long-lived community.
The school is one of two — along with Nichols Middle School — public schools in the 4th Ward.
“In Evanston, there’s a lot of generational families, and it’s not uncommon for me to talk to a parent that says ‘I went here, and my dad went here, and now my kid’s going here,” Newsome said.
She went on to explain how the 4th Ward’s economic diversity curates the community of Dewey and other schools within the ward.
Newsome described an experience with a family struggling with homelessness during the holiday season and how the community showed up for them. She said she found out a family at the school had recently been evicted and reached out to the community for help.
“By the next day, the PTA had made it known to certain families and anonymously donated money, and we had enough for that family to stay in the hotel for a few days,” Newsome said.
Beyond schools, the ward is home to the Evanston Police Department and the Chicago Transit Authority’s Davis Station, which helps connect Evanston to the rest of Chicago’s public transportation system.
For 4th Ward resident David Cater, Davis Street businesses are the community space that make the community special. He has lived in the ward for 11 years, he said.
“It’s very vibrant, very mixed,” he said. “It’s a good mix of community, town and business.”
The 4th Ward is in the center of Evanston and is bordered by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 9th wards.
Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), said the ward is also a hub for several community spaces.
“We’re all a part of one Evanston,” Nieuwsma said. “What makes the 4th Ward special is we have a little bit of everything. We have some of the downtown. We have the Main Street and the Dempster Street business districts. We have residential neighborhoods.”
The ward is also home to various organizations that aid in homelessness and food insecurity, such as the Lydia Home located on Washington Street, Connections for the Homeless located on Dewey Avenue and McGaw YMCA located on Grove Street.
Newsome said the ward’s diverse spirit bleeds into the classroom and leads to students building a more worldly view during their time at school.
“It’s kind of a unique place in that we have families who are facing extreme struggles and who need our help, and they’re going to school with families who are very well off,” Newsome said.
The 4th Ward is home to places of worship such as Beth Emet the Free Synagogue, Evanston Church of God and Baitul Huda mosque. Nieuwsma expressed pride in having a variety of worship places in the 4th Ward.
For Newsome, the diversity makes the Ward 4 community a warm place where members advocate for each other, she said.
“With everything that’s going on recently, they (the community) are very protective of each other, and they can really be counted on to be advocates for those in need,” Newsome said.
5th Ward looks to ‘reestablish its roots’ by preserving institutions, promoting affordable housing
Fifteen years ago, after spending seven years on a waitlist and sharing a one-bedroom Melrose Park apartment with her three young children, now-5th Ward resident Theresa Kaufman received four affordable housing options from the Housing Authority of Cook County. From them, she chose to move to Evanston because of its schools.
The 5th Ward, largely bordered by the North Shore Channel to the north and west and stretching east to Sherman Avenue, has been shaped by housing policies like redlining that concentrated Evanston's Black residents in the neighborhood.
Reflecting on changes in the neighborhood, Kaufman pointed to the new Foster School nearing completion — the culmination of a decadeslong push by 5th Ward residents to restore a neighborhood school that originally closed in 1979 — and a large housing complex under construction nearby.
"It's going to be huge — a lot of (units). I hope there's parking in the back because if there isn't, the streets are going to get more congested with cars," Kaufman said. "But other than that, there's no problem."
She noted that under HACC rules, her rent is tied to her income, easing concerns some residents have about being priced out of the neighborhood.
Those concerns have been a central focus of Ald. Bobby Burns (5th), who explained that as a young African American "trying to form a cultural and racial identity" in north Evanston, he naturally gravitated to the 5th Ward's Black community.
"The biggest change is just people that I grew up with not being able to afford to stay here, wanting to stay here and not being able to stay here like past generations have," Burns said.
While the ward was once as much as 70% Black, according to Burns, that proportion has declined over the last few decades, a change he attributed to both gentrification and greater housing options for Black residents.
But he contrasted his experience with that of previous generations, who saw many prominent institutions close, including the old Foster School, Emerson Street Branch YMCA and many Black-owned businesses.
During his lifetime, the new Foster School was approved, and institutions like Family Focus, Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, Shorefront Legacy Center and the area's many Black churches have "sustained themselves," Burns explained.
"It's been really important to me to figure out how we can return these institutions to serve the community while not expediting or accelerating gentrification or displacement," Burns said. "I truly believe that we have to figure out how to do both."
He added that a thriving neighborhood must offer residents access to such institutions while remaining financially accessible.
Burns emphasized that affordable housing policies must address both rental units and homeownership, highlighting Black homeownership as a key strategy to help the community "reestablish its roots."
"The reason why affordable housing has always been and will continue to be my top priority is that if you no longer live in Evanston, none of the other stuff matters," Burns said. "If you've relocated to Waukegan, you're probably not going to Fleetwood. Your children are no longer within the school boundaries to go to Foster School."
He added that while his job as a councilmember is to continue improving residents' experiences, many young Black families are already "thriving" in the neighborhood.
Burns highlighted local businesses that support the community, including Ebony Barber Shop, which has hosted free haircut days for school children. Heather Bublick, CEO and sommelier of Soul & Smoke, said the ward's challenges present a unique opportunity for businesses like hers to give back.
"When we talk about Evanston being so diverse, it's diverse socioeconomically as it is racially, and that need is often found in this neighborhood," Bublick told The Daily in November.
As for Kaufman, Evanston might not be a forever home. With her son now applying to graduate school, she said she hopes to move away from Illinois to "somewhere warmer" with lower taxes and more affordable homes.
While Kaufman said she typically skips events like block parties due to her busy schedule, she hopes another family will soon benefit from all that the 5th Ward has to offer.
"There's nothing wrong with making friends. I just didn't move out here for that — I moved out here for my children. And now my children are happy and content," Kaufman said. "I feel like it's almost time to move on and get something I want and maybe give someone else this great opportunity that was given to me."
Clara B. Freeth contributed reporting.
In Evanston’s 6th Ward, community stands together as school closure unknowns loom
On a sunny Sunday morning, Evanston residents Dane Philipsen and Bridget Gongol sat at a bright orange table in the plaza sandwiched between downtown Central Street and Independence Park on the boundary of the city's 6th and 7th wards.
The 6th Ward natives fell into a peaceful silence as they looked toward the plaza's small, round stage — added as part of the park's June renovations — which sat empty in the early hours. Despite the absence of morning performers, Philpson and Gongol said the stage was anything but lifeless.
Throughout the morning, the pair said they had watched families drift through the plaza, young kids scrambling onto the platform to climb, dance, and run in circles. They laughed as they recalled an instance in which one child stopped to ask a stranger for permission to hug their dog.
"The community space and green space in the 6th Ward allow us to build connections we wouldn't have had otherwise," Gongol said.
Gongol and Philpson moved to the 6th ward in June. They described the area as "adorable" and said they enjoyed the many local businesses and the ease of running, biking, and accessing public transportation.
The ward is a primarily residential neighborhood, home to many families and outdoor spaces, including Ackerman Park, Cartwright Park, Lovelace Park, and Bent Park. The area also includes Dwight Perkins Woods, a forest preserve, as well as many smaller neighborhood playgrounds.
Gongol said she thought the many outdoor event spaces in the 6th Ward contributed to the strong sense of community she has experienced since moving there.
"You pop by these events and there are all these little groups of people chatting with each other," Gongol said. "The ward does feel very community-oriented. People are forming real connections, and that's special."
The ward is also home to two schools — Willard Elementary School and Lincolnwood Elementary School. The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education has voted twice on scenarios including the two schools, failing to pass any of them.
Across the 6th Ward, many families have put up yard signs with the slogan "Invest in Neighborhood Schools," linking to a website that advocates for the board to consider an alternative to closing schools.
One of the 6th Ward residents who may be impacted by the District 65 school board's decision is Angélica Williams, a Willard parent.
"What is upsetting to me is knowing what brought the school district to this point, and knowing that action needed to be taken earlier, and it wasn't," Williams said.
Despite her frustration at the district, Williams echoed Gongol's description of the 6th Ward's close community and said that she enjoyed Willard Elementary's proximity to playgrounds and outdoor spaces.
Sixth Ward resident Mia Zifkin has been living in the ward for nine years. However, she decided to send her two children to private schools. One reason she made that decision was that her daughter needed extra support in school because she has dyslexia.
"People think of Evanston as downtown Evanston, so we are kind of a hidden gem," Zifkin said. "We have a nice combination of young families moving in and families who have been here for years, and then people in the middle, so you really get the best of both worlds."
Zifkin described the ward as very family-oriented and said she enjoys the local businesses the ward has to offer.
Despite their different school choices, both parents emphasized the strength of the community in which they lived.
"No matter what happens this week, the parents here are caregivers, and we are going to come together and we're going to work this out," Williams said.
Local businesses, lakeside views prevail in Evanston’s 7th Ward as community grapples with Ryan Field regulations
Reflecting on her childhood in the 7th Ward, Paula Danoff recalls fond memories of growing up by the lake in a neighborhood filled with small business owners and Northwestern community members. At Ryan Field football games, she even cheered on her student teacher, a member of NU’s cheerleading team.
“Even if you weren’t a part of Northwestern, the proximity to it made it fun to be close by,” Danoff said.
Located in Evanston’s northeast corner, the 7th Ward features Evanston Hospital and much of the Central Street business district. Attractions like Lighthouse Beach and the northern half of Northwestern’s campus, including its athletic facilities, are other prominent parts of the ward.
Danoff is the CEO of the Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit organization that relocated to Central Street from the Harley Clarke Mansion in 2015.
“Moving into the Central Street storefront has given Evanston Arts Center a huge presence,” Danoff said. “Everyone here wants to support each other.”
She added that Central Street visitors come from all over Evanston and the Chicago North Shore.
NU’s Ryan Field, set to re-open in fall 2026, is also located in the 7th Ward. With the football stadium’s recent renovation projects, residents have expressed varying degrees of satisfaction with the ongoing construction.
Ald. Parielle Davis (7th) works with Evanston’s Most Livable City Association, which is taking legal action against the city’s approval of the commercial rezoning of Ryan Field. City Council passed the rezoning measures with a tied vote broken by Mayor Daniel Biss in November 2023.
The MLCA complaint claims the rezoning allows NU to host up to six concerts a year in an open-air stadium unsuitably located in a residential neighborhood, disturbing residents’ daily routines.
7th Ward resident Brigette Petersen has not felt majorly impacted by the renovations on Ryan Field, but she said the University made empty promises surrounding the construction of its new softball stadium , which began this year.
“A project manager from Northwestern said there would be a flagger out at Isabella (Street) and Ridge (Avenue) directing the big semitrucks, but there hasn’t been,” Petersen said.
Just east of the ward’s residential streets lies Lake Michigan, and the ward’s lakefront territory stretches from NU’s Lakefill to Evanston’s northern Wilmette boundary, encompassing private residential beach access and Lighthouse Beach. The Grosse Point Lighthouse was constructed by the government in the late 19th century and served as a navigational aid for ships approaching Chicago’s harbor.
Other natural features in the ward include Catharine Waugh McCulloch Park and Independence Park, both of which feature playgrounds that were recently renovated for community use.
In terms of racial diversity, the 7th Ward trails the rest of Evanston. According to the city’s 2025 Housing Gap Analysis and 2023 census, the 7th Ward is more than 80% white and contains the smallest Black and Latino population of all of Evanston’s wards.
With more than 60% of households annual earning above $120,000, high housing prices make moving into the 7th Ward inaccessible for many. Some city leaders hope to address this disparity through Housing4All, Evanston’s first dedicated housing strategy.
Despite the controversy around the ward’s infrastructure, 7th Ward resident Dick Ryan (Bienen ’63), said his favorite part of the area is the activity that comes with living near a university.
Ryan emphasized he continues to enjoy watching the NU Marching Band practice near his home and attending sports matches, so he anticipates the completion of the Ryan Field renovation.
“It’ll be an economic benefit for the town,” Ryan said. “It’ll be interesting to see what happens there once it’s done.”
In Evanston’s 8th Ward, a diverse community prioritizes family life and Howard Street development
In mid-November, 8th Ward resident Patrick Combs celebrated five years since moving to Evanston. Since the move, his family has lived in the 8th Ward.
He summed up their experience in four words: “We love it here.”
Evanston’s 8th Ward is the city’s southernmost area, stretching from its western border with Skokie to the Howard Street Chicago Transit Authority station in the east. Oakton Street marks the ward’s northern border, and Howard Street acts as the city’s southern border, adjacent to Chicago.
City Council redistricted the wards in 2023, and the changes went into effect in April 2025. The redistricting resulted in Oakton Elementary School moving to the 9th Ward and Dawes Elementary School standing completely in the 8th Ward.
The main features of the ward, including James Park, Howard Street and residential neighborhoods, however, didn’t change, according to Ald. Matt Rodgers (8th).
James Park, the largest park in the city, also just saw a renovation, converting its six tennis courts to 15 pickleball courts.
East of the park, a former 8th Ward neighborhood is now in the 9th Ward, and Rodgers said some residents have expressed unease about this transition.
“In those areas where they have smaller homes, people are concerned about what’s going to happen with new zoning,” Rodgers said. “They don’t want those neighborhoods to change, and they want the character of the neighborhood to be maintained.”
Having lived in the 8th Ward for over 20 years, Rodgers said he is well-acquainted with what the area has to offer.
Many of Rodgers’ favorite places are on Howard Street, in the 8th Ward’s commercial district. Evanston shares this area with Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, providing retail and restaurants to both communities.
“If you’re looking for a night out, I’m going to take you to someplace like Peckish Pig for dinner,” Rodgers said. “Go see a play at Theo and enjoy Evanston that way.”
Combs said he values the family-oriented lifestyle the ward provides.
His son attends Dawes Elementary School, and their family has enjoyed living in the neighborhood because of its “cohesive community,” he said.
“It’s very easy to have a family here. All the schools are nearby, there are dogs everywhere,” Combs said. “It is a very comfortable place to live.”
The one thing Combs said he would love to see for the 8th Ward is more development on Howard Street to increase the walkability of the neighborhood. Specifically, he said he wants to be able to walk to a coffee shop to get his morning cup.
Redeveloping Howard Street is not just on Combs’s mind. Rodgers said he has Howard Street high on his list of priorities.
“Howard Street is a place that we’re trying to create a destination space for people to come,” Rodgers said. “We have a couple of great restaurants, we have the theater and we’re really working on trying to strengthen it.”
In action, Evanston and the Rogers Park Business Alliance teamed up to create the One Howard Street Economic Recovery Plan, which details the cities’ strategies to improve the public spaces on the street.
Eric Oropeza, co-owner of Sweet Temptations Bake Shop, has run his Howard Street storefront for almost a decade. He said he has watched an influx of businesses come and go, but hopes the commercial district continues to grow.
“I think we need more funding for storefronts, because we see some businesses open, and then they close in a year or so,” Oropeza said. “It’s kind of tough to open a business here. You have to either have a lot of money to stay open for a while, or just hope it takes off.”
Howard Street businesses took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the area is still recovering from vacant storefronts and less traffic in those areas, according to Rodgers.
When Rodgers moved into the neighborhood, however, the street looked a little different. Since he’s lived in the area, he said he has witnessed the development of Howard Street with the addition of restaurants, retail and a theater that bring residents to the 8th Ward’s commercial district.
Another point of pride for Rodgers is the diversity in his ward. According to the Housing Gap Analysis conducted by the city using census data, the 8th Ward has some of the most diverse neighborhoods in Evanston in terms of housing types, racial makeup, socioeconomic status and age.
The diversity was another selling point for Combs and his family.
“It’s a diverse area of town, and I grew up in a diverse community,” he said. “We wanted our son to have that experience as well.”
Largely-residential 9th Ward builds support for families, challenges housing costs
A few residents dotted otherwise quiet streets — some walking dogs or returning from drop off at Oakton Elementary School — on a weekday morning in the 9th Ward.
Located in South Evanston, the ward is largely residential. Apart from a few big-box stores on the ward’s east side, its blocks are filled with houses, apartments and parks, rather than bustling business districts.
“I’m a little biased, but I think the 9th Ward is really special,” Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th) said. “It is probably one of the most residential of all of the wards … and I think it’s one of the most economically and racially diverse parts of town.”
Prior to the April redistricting, city data shows that the 9th Ward was the least populous, with 7,920 residents. Now, with 8,796 residents, it is the most populated ward. However, redistricting shrunk the overall disparity between ward populations from more than 20% to less than 3%, according to the city.
Nestled between the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 8th Wards, the 9th Ward falls inside the Ridgeville Park district, an independent park district serving South Evanston. The district provides a variety of services for residents, from maintaining green spaces across the district to hosting recreational programs and events, including an annual summer concert series.
“We’re small, but we’re mighty,” said Natalie Sallee, Ridge Park District director of recreation and special events. “We do a lot of stuff. We’ve got a ton of special events throughout the year.”
On the corner of Ridge Avenue and South Boulevard lies the namesake Ridgeville Park, a public green space scattered with brightly-painted benches and a new, community-built playground.
The park also houses the Ridgeville Community House along with a garage art studio. Monday morning a sign affixed to the garage door read “Gone Adventuring,” directing residents to come another time.
The 9th Ward is home to Oakton and Chute Middle School. Significant parts of the ward are also zoned for Washington and Dawes Elementary Schools. Geracaris praised the ward for its “strong school communities.”
Ridgeville Park District prioritizes programming that doubles as childcare when school is out of session by working in accordance with the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 academic calendar to host events on half days and during vacations, Sallee said.
She added that the district prioritized programs for children of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to offer scholarship programs for families who may need assistance paying for programs.
Renamed over the summer, the ward’s Dr. Jorge and Luz Maria Prieto Community Center also offers many services aimed toward families with children, such as drop-in playtime and day-off school camps according to the center’s website.
The racial demographic breakdown of the ward is roughly equivalent to that before new ward boundaries went into effect in April.
According to information compiled by the city based on census data, the 9th Ward’s largest demographic groups were white, Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino. Fifty-seven percent of 9th Ward residents identified as white, 19% identified as Black or African American, and 13% identified as Hispanic or Latino.
The ward is far from monolithic, according to Geracaris.
“There are distinct pockets and neighborhoods that have different properties and concerns and experiences than even someone half a mile away,” he said.
Geracaris added that fighting housing costs and displacement is a key priority, citing the desire for Evanston to be “a place where regular people can afford to live.”
Ninth Ward residents echoed this sentiment at a September ward meeting. Community members expressed concern over housing costs at a meeting centered on the city’s Housing4All draft plan.
At the meeting, 9th Ward resident Lorraine Williams said she worried residents are being “squeezed out” of their properties due to rising costs. She added that those who hope to “age in place” may be forced to move because of the financial burden.
9th Ward resident and Land Use Commission member Luke Harris-Ferree made a similar point at the meeting. “My apartment is too small right now for my family, and we’re cost-burdened,” Harris-Ferree said in September. “There are four of us in two bedrooms.”
Geracaris said he is proud of the 9th Ward’s mix of housing types that allows for socioeconomic diversity. “That’s something that has to be preserved, and it’s something I think can be kind of an example of possibilities for other wards,” he said.
Siddarth Sivaraman contributed reporting.