Granted I moved to Evanston from one of the geographically largest cities in America, El Paso, TX, where you could drive on a freeway for 35 minutes and still be "in town", the walkability of Evanston has been a massive treat. In fact, I quite frequently blog about all the places I can walk to, including Pete Millers Steakhouse for raw oysters.
And when we were researching our relocation project, Evanston got endless amounts of high marks for the mere fact that I can walk to everything from my doctor's office to my dentist's office to the library to a spice store not to mention a Native American Indian Museum.
And if anyone is worried that the demographics of Evanston will soon shift to a much younger and hipper crowd, you are right to worry! According this article, “People are very eager to create a life that blends the best features of the American suburb—schools still being the primary, although not the only, draw—and urbanity,” says Adam Ducker, a managing director at the real-estate consultancy RCLCO. These are places like Culver City, California, and Evanston, Illinois, where residents can stroll among shops and restaurants or hop on public transportation. Such small cities and town centers lend themselves to tighter, smaller housing developments, whether apartments in the middle of town, or small houses a five-minute drive away. An RCLCO survey from 2007 found that 43 percent of Gen‑Yers would prefer to live in a close-in suburb, where both the houses and the need for a car are smaller."
Does this mean a boom is coming for Evanston? Is America going to follow me here? I don't think Evanston could be ruined by gentrification but it could use more street traffic and stores, that's always fun!
Read the full article here and see for yourself. If you are an Evanstonian, you are hipper than you know!
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