Early explorer Jacques Marquette declared that the swampy land on which Evanston, Ill., now sits was “of no value.”

Today’s residents of this thriving north suburb, home to Northwestern University and a lovely lakefront, might disagree.

Situated about 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, Evanston got its start when Northwestern University located there in 1853, and in fact, the town was named for one of the university’s founders, John Evans.

The Chicago fire gave outlying areas like Evanston a population burst. Chicagoans left homeless by the fire looked north to see a gentler place they dubbed “the Athens of the Midwest.”

As the population boomed, so did business, and a beautiful downtown area blossomed into today’s array of chain stores, specialty shops, antique sellers, chic boutiques, art galleries and more.

The flourishing downtown area adds charisma of the city, which today is home to more than 75,000 residents and around 15,000 Northwestern students.

Evanston offers a diversity of housing types for residents in a wide range of income levels.

Here you will find single-family homes, condos, work/live dwellings, adaptive reuse buildings, apartments and town homes. In 2008, the average single family home sold for $642,000, up from $617,000 the previous year.

Evanston is an education mecca; aside from Northwestern, there are four other colleges and universities, 17 public schools and nine private schools.

The magnet schools and neighborhood cluster schools included in District 65 have shown an impressive multi-year improvement trend.

“Our schools and classrooms cultivate appreciation for language and literacy and the fine arts; develops scientific and mathematical thinking; create an awareness of our environment and healthy living; and that is enhanced by our commitment to classroom technologies that help us meet the expectations and challenges of a 21st century education,” said Pat Markham, District 65 Communication Manager and School Board Secretary.

Evanston Township High School,in District 202 has an enrollment of 2,970, and has been nationally recognized for its outstanding Advanced Placement program. Composite scores in 2007 were 22.6 on the ACT. On the SAT, students earned composite scores of 601 on verbal, 633 on math and 599 on writing.

The students at ETHS speak 35 different languages, which the school accommodates by seven languages.

“Students who attend ETHS daily rub elbows with people from different backgrounds, share ideas, and learn from each other…” said Kathy Miehls, director, public/alumni relations at Evanston Township High School. “The [students] carry this multicultural perspective into adulthood, and we hear from alumni how important this [is and how it has] has enriched their lives.”

Diversity is a trend in this north shore city, not only as it applies to the people, but also to Evanston culture.

“The city’s human capital and intellectual resources are among the best in the nation” says Jonathan Perman, director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce,”and provide a reservoir of talent for employers.”

City of Evanston
2100 Ridge Ave.
847-328-2100

Official Web site: http://cityofevanston.org/

Local newspaper: Evanston Review

Natural gas: Nicor, 888-642-6748
Electricity: ComEd, 800-334-7661
Water: Evanston Water Department, 847-866-2942
Cable: Comcast, 866-594-1234

Evanston Chamber of Commerce
www.evchamber.com
847-328-1500

Population: 74,239
Median household income: $56,140
Median house price: $229,500

Hispanic origin (any race): 6%
• 67%
• 23%
• 6%
• 3%

• White
• Black
• Asian
• Other

• 9%
• 17%
• 41%
• 33%

• No diploma
• High school
• Bachelor's
• Master's & above

• 2%
• 9%
• 13%
• 11%
• 8%
• 3%
• 11%
• 4%
• 6%
• 15%
• 10%
• 2%
• 6%

• <5
• 5-9
• 10-14
• 15-19
• 20-24
• 25-29
• 30-34
• 35-39
• 40-44
• 45-59
• 60-89
• 90+
• Work@home