A comprehensive review of the inner-ring suburb of Evanston, Illinois, outside Chicago, and a transformation Jane Jacobs would surely love. The proof is in the pudding: Evanston car ownership are far below regional averages.
"At first glance, downtown Evanston, Illinois, doesn’t look revolutionary—just another a gentrifying urban core with the obligatory Whole Foods, the local organic sustainable restaurants serving $14 cocktails, the towering new, high-end luxury apartments filled with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops," writes T.R. Goodman in a longread feature for Politico Magazine.
"It takes, in fact, a few extra minutes in the neighborhood to realize what’s different—and what’s missing. Downtown Evanston—a sturdy, tree-lined Victorian city wedged neatly between Lake Michigan and Chicago’s northern border—is missing cars. Or, more accurately, it’s missing a lot of cars. Thanks to concerted planning, these new developments are rising within a 10-minute walk of two rail lines and half-a-dozen bus routes. The local automobile ownership rate is nearly half that of the surrounding area."
Goodman traces the ideas upon which Evanston built that "concerted planning" to Jaime Lerner's example in Curitiba. Evanston adopted the Curitiba model, according to Goodman, in response to a decline that began in the 1950s as farther flung suburbs began to rack up successes. "Beginning in 1986, a new plan for Evanston embraced the idea of a '24/7' downtown, pouring resources into increasing the density of its downtown—a density that also meant decreasing residents’ reliance on automobiles. As a compact city, Evanston couldn’t compete with the vast sprawling parking spots of the Old Orchard Mall. It had to build a different sort of appeal," writes Goodman.
Explaining contemporary planning terms, inspired by Jane Jacobs and Jaime Lerner, like TOD, density, and mixed use Goodman notes that terms like those have become so mainstream. In fact, and cities all over the country have embraced these concepts:
"Today, more cities are embracing transit-oriented development and heralding it as an antidote to climate change, a cure for the anomie of our 'Bowling Alone' culture and an economic boon to cash-strapped local governments. From northeastern 'suburbs' like Arlington, Virginia, to western car-centric cities like Salt Lake to Dallas, local officials are pushing for mixed-use, high-density development within a few minutes walk of a transit line."
The article is a longread, so there is a lot more on the details of Evanston's zoning code, an explanation of the role of parking requirements in the creation of sprawl, the challenges facing a density-focused planning agenda, the still-powerful political support behind car-centric thinking, how Millennials figure into the whole redevelopment equation, and more.
FULL STORY: The Suburb That Tried To Kill the Car
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
Alaska Village Becomes Test Case for Climate Change Relocation
The Yup’ik village of Newtok is the first Alaska community to begin a full-scale relocation necessitated by the impacts of climate change. Another 31 Alaska communities remain vulnerable.
Amtrak Takes Lead on Texas Central Rail
The high-speed rail project isn’t a done deal, but if it moves forward, trains could begin operating in 2030.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.