Talk:Evanston, Illinois

John Evans

"After being chosen as the home for Northwestern University, the city was incorporated in 1863, and named after John Evans."

By clicking on the last link one will find out that there are currently twelve men called John Evans listed on that disambiguation page. Which one gave Evanston its name? <KF> 23:00, Apr 18, 2005 (UTC)

I believe that the correct John Evans is John Evans (state governor), per the Northwestern website, and I will correct the article accordingly.NatusRoma 23:48, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Ridgeville

If it is going to be said that Evanston was once known as Ridgeville, it should be noted that that was forever and 6 years ago, when it consisted of a number of families I can count on my digits. I lived in Evanston for 12 years, and I had to look that up to make sure it was true. MikeNM 23:04, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't matter, that was the first name for the city. Besides, we still have an arts center with that name. Avalanche Knight 04:34, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

That's as may be. Ridgeville Arts Center doesn't really prove that the city was ever called Ridgeville; tons of places all over Chicago are called the Windy City something, but that doesn't mean the city was ever called Windy City. It's not that I doubt that it's true (I don't), I just think the statement should be sourced. ...The reason I'm bothered, though, is that at the beginning of the article, it says "Originally called Ridgeville", but later in the article it states that "the city was incorporated and named after John Evans", which rather seems to suggest that the city was named Evanston from the moment of its incorporation. If Ridgeville was the name pre-incorporation, that should be noted. Thor Rudebeck 15:31, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

See the section I added below. I moved the Ridgeville reference to the history section, added the name the area was called before that, and added a reference I found. Ridveville was way bigger than Evanston, so it is misleading and inaccurate to say that Evanston was once known as Ridgeville. So was all of the north side of Chicago. Edison 15:47, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

There was never a town called Ridgeville which corresponded with the present day boundaries of Evanston. That was the name of a much larger geographic unit which preceded the incorporation of Evanston, and it was not the first name for land north of Chicago. Per the official Evanston History written by the League of Women Voters, the land extending indefinitely north of what is now Graceland Cemetary in Chicago was first known as the Grosse Pointe Territory, and settlers were there before 1836. There were 330 residents of Grosse Pointe Territory in the 1840 census. In 1850 the then Grosse Pointe District was renamed Ridgeville and extended from what is now Central Street, Evanston south to Irving Park Road in Chicago, a vastly larger area than present day Evanston. Methodists led by Evans founded Northwestern and filed a survey plat in 1854. The intro could say something like "Evanston was created out of the larger geographic unit which was called "Grosse Pointe Territory" in the 1830's and retitled Ridgeville in 1850." See "This is Evanston," League of Women Voters of Evanston, 2000, ISBN 09676994-0-1[1] pp8-18 Edison 15:34, 28 November 2006 (UTC)Edison 15:45, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Edison 's commentary and history above, entered in 2006(!), is correct. It is incorrect to say that Evanston was ever called Ridgeville. The current text reflects the accurate history, with cites to supporting sources. I have also combined the two separate, duplicative sections called Ridgeville on this Talk page.LakeAtNight (talk) 12:47, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

Notable Evanstonians

The list seems to grow and grow... I removed two, Zach Braff who attended Northwestern University but appears to have no other connection to Evanston, and Kayden Healy, since Googling her name turns up nothing to establish notability. -- DS1953 ^talk 19:59, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Cleaning Up the Intro

I think the intro could use some cleanup. Specifically, the information on the city government should be moved to 'Politics' (or perhaps that section should be renamed 'Politics and Government'), information on Evanston-Northwestern relations could be moved to 'Education' (which itself could use some cleanup and subheadings), etc. I hope to get started on this later today. I don't think it's a big undertaking, just requires some rethinking. I'm not planning on removing any text (other than for clarity) just shifting some stuff around. --Trillian1138 14:46, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Done!--Trillian1138 15:59, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Moving 'Notable People'

So I reorganized the notable people section (which was one big blob of text) to appear more similar to Notable citizens of Chicago and I'm wondering if 'notable people of evanston' shouldn't be moved to its own page. It reads much cleaner in list format than as a single paragraph, but takes up much more space. If no one chimes in (I can't imagine there are tons of people watching the Evanston Talk page....) I'll just move it. --Trillian1138 16:17, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Cleaning up Trivia Stuff

I've moved People from Evanston and Evanston in Fiction and Film to the end, as most wikipedia pages seem to have 'trivia'-type information (subjectively defined, I know) at the end of articles. In adidition, I'm removing the following "notable people" as a google search turned up little or nothing: Liz Carroll (born in Chicago), John Nance (couldn't find anything on the first Google page or in Wikipedia), John Williams (not the one of Star Wars fame, who isn't from Chicago, and couldn't find another), Maeve Dixon (getting vandalism, also couldn't find anything elsewhere),and Emmanuel Egwu. If someone could do further research on the other less well-known people in the list, I'd appreciate it. I may later, but don't have the time/energy right now. It just concerns me that the list seems to be growing at an unreasonable pace...

If I've removed someone who *is* notable and/or I incorrectly said wasn't from evanston, please put him/her back up and make a note. I'm sorry if that's the case - I promise it was an accident. --Trillian1138 04:29, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Trivia item 4 U: when growing up there, we noted that EVanston, ILlinois spells EVIL. Jidanni 05:41, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Adding Graduation Info to People?

Someone(s) (I'm guessing a single person) has been adding graduation info, specifically about New Trier, to a couple of people in the 'people from Evanston' section. I don't think this is appropriate info, as common Wikipedia standards seem to just list the name and why they are noteworthy. The info should be on the page for that specific person and, if no page exists, one should be created or the person should be removed from the list. If no one objects, I think will remove the extra info. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Trillian1138 (talk • contribs) 19:59, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

E-Town and NU voting

So first, I think saying Evanston is referred to as 'E-Town' is fine because it's true. It's reasonable to mention that it's primarily called E-Town among youth, but it is often called E-Town.

Likewise, I was at the voting sessions on the redistricting and I'd certainly say that diluting NU students voting potential was an issue. I don't think the page should say it definitely happened, but that many people felt that way. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Trillian1138 (talk • contribs) 20:06, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Re: E-town - The criterion for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth. I know it's true. I heard somebody call it that last night. But has it been published?

You might be able to find a citation for the redistricting controversy in the Daily Northwestern archives... I seem to recall it was kind of a big deal. Thor Rudebeck — Preceding undated comment added 20:34, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

City of Churches

Histories of Evanston emphasize the importance of churches in the 19th century era of the town. With Northwestern founded by Methodists and a dry law enacted by them and Frances Willard as head of the WCTU, Evanston was labelled Heavenston" by Chicagoans. How about a section mentioning this, with a cite to the Evanston history mentioned in the previous section, and a listing of the churches and their web sites if any. First Methodist was founded in 1856. By 1864 it had been joined by First Baptist (1858), Presbyterian-Congregationalists(1866), St. Mary's Catholic Church (1866) and Episcopals (1864), Norwegian-Danish Methodist Episcopal(1870),Swedish Evangelical Lutheran(1888), Swedish Methodist(18??), and Swedish Baptist (18??). Early African-American congregations included Second Baptist (1880), Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal(1880) and Mt. Zion Baptist 1894). German Catholics established St. Nicholas (1887) (p15, p17 op cit)Edison 15:45, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

High School

One or more anonymous editors have changed the article to read that the enrollment is over 4000. The latest Illinois state report card (2006) for ETHS gives the enrollment as just over 3000. That is a public document. If you have other numbers, please provide support.

Also, the same editors state that the school's orange and blue colors were "copied" by Oak Park High School. Since the Chicago Bears and the University of Illinois also have orange and blue, please state how the mere fact that another school has the same colors means that the school "copied" from ETHS. Please cite your source. -- DS1953 ^talk 23:19, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Evanston.gif

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Controversy

I'm reading quite a bit of opinion in the real estate controvery section with not one reference to any fact or idea. Certainly no Neutral Point of View here. While some new homes in Evanston could be called McMansions, many of the current tear-downs were very small homes with no appeal to today's home buyers or older homes in severe disrepair.

There are some interesting facets of Evanston that could be included in this article:

• That many small apartment building have been turned overnight into condos,
• Some history of the developers who have been building huge towers and wish to build more huge towers,
• Recent upgrades to the city's transportation infrastructure,
• Park Districts inside of the city proper, such as Ridgeville,
• Huge city park system and lakefront use/protection,
• Dog parks,
• Sanitary canal, bike paths along it, canoeing center,
• Main St. shopping area for Persian Rugs and Antiques,
• Central St. shopping area for independent stores, collectibles and interior design,
• Register of Historic Places: lists of houses by famous architects,
• Two-Way Immersion and African-Centered Curriculum, both experimental curriculum's designed by D65 to raise the academic achivement of minority populations,
• Percentage of minority and low-income populations in public schools,
• Surprising growth of Hispanic community
• Historic Districts such as the Oakton Historic District

Lots more to talk about in Evanston than "shaky" realtions with Northwestern University.I'm Nonpartisan 04:24, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

• Rivalry between north and south (southy) Evanston —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.89.187.155 (talk) 06:52, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Shannon PIckett

It is very sad and distressing that a young man from ETHS was murdered perhaps by another young man attending ETHS, but crime reporting is not appropriate on an encyclopedia page. If you are going to report one crime, then why not every crime. It is also important to know that the writers and editors on Wikipedia are not reporters. All facts and subjects should be supported by references. The story on the murder of Mr. Pickett is still unfolding. If you want to write about current events, then find the section on true crime on Wikipedia and do it there where you can reference trusted sources like the Chicago Tribune and the Evanston Review. You may not be your own reporter.--I'm Nonpartisan 02:29, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Images

Does anybody have any other images of Evanston? The current images are not very flattering (not that all images on Wikipedia have to be flattering...it's just that these really do not do Evanston justice). Wikipediarules2221 03:20, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Private Schools

The list of private schools could be much better. I noticed at least one school missing (St. Athanasius K-8) There could be more schools. Please check. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WSoxfan86 (talk • contribs) 18:07, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Local media; vandalism, section removal

I am hoping some responsible editors can add this article to their watchlist because it is susceptible to vandalism. At one time all the local papers and several of the more trafficked websites were listed under local media; they've all been disappeared so that only the college paper appears. Removing these references is a real disservice to readers who might be looking for information on Evanston, Illinois. I am going to try to restore. Please discuss before re-removing.

A fellow who seems to spend most of his time editing his father's web page removed the entire notable people section without any discussion here, apparently.

The film section seems to have been drastically abbreviated; again, whoever did it didn't leave a trial on this Talk page which would have been appropriate.

For such an active town this is a very spotty article. The "controversies" are mainly old and not up to date.Ouilmette (talk) 04:01, 30 October 2010 (UTC)Ouilmette

As I explained earlier, the local media links were removed because Wikipedia is not a linkfarm. The college paper was included because it is notable enough that it has it's own article. If any of the other papers/media sources have their own article, they can be included too. TNXMan 13:59, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

I agree that, if there's going to be a media section, papers besides the Daily Northwestern should be included. It's very misleading to only list the DN when the vast majority of Evanstonians get their local news from either the Review or Roundtable, not the DN. My preference would be to err on the side of overinclusion and list both those in addition to the DN, but if you insist on deleting them again, just incorporate the Daily Northwestern somewhere in the text and get rid of the media heading. Brindle21 (talk) 01:24, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Listing local newspapers is not a "linkfarm." Terribly inaccurate characterization. Such a list provides useful info to researchers incl. the wikipedia community. Having your own article is not the mark of notability. The Evanston Review, for example, is the successor to the Evanston Digest and has been around for more than a century; it and the other Pioneer papers have won many awards. Deleting more widely-read, more respected media and leaving only the Daily NU is at best misleading and more like vandalism.Ouilmette (talk) 18:23, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

I have restored the local media that User:Tnxman307 has once again deleted. Despite the fact that everyone except him thinks that the other local media are relevant to the article, he has taken it upon himself to impose his personal idiosyncratic view on the article. -- DS1953 ^talk 20:55, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Sustainability Section

What is the point of it? If Evanston truly is a leader in green building/sustainability, then a brief paragraph showing that would be appropriate. As it is, this just reads like bureaucratic platitudes. Who cares what Evanston (i.e. the city council, I assume) "vows" to do? And a paragraph on the fact that the city has issued a "Request for Information" on the feasibility of a wind farm? The only tangible accomplishments pointed to in this section are two buildings and bike lanes. The section is way too long and out of place in the article. I propose either compressing it and moving to the government and politics section, or starting a culture section that focuses on the progressiveness and unique racial/socioeconomic mix. Brindle21 (talk) 01:50, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Simply deleting this section without first marking it for possible deletion and/or informing the authors was inappropriate. Also, your reasons for doing so are opinion. Evanston's proposals and projects have gained national attention. Constructive editing may in fact be needed, but Evanston's sustainability efforts, right or wrong, have made front-page and even national news and are a large part of the current story about the city. Moreover, if a section is "too long" because it has so much content -- and much of this section was referenced -- it would be better to make it a separate article. I am undoing the deletion but will take a look at streamlining the section (which I did not create).Ouilmette (talk) 18:42, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

I discussed my rationale on the talk page and the edit stood for weeks without reversion, so I don't see how you can call it inappropriate. Be bold, right? I agree with you that a small fraction of the section is notable, but most of it is not. Fleeting media coverage doesn't justify a section that is out of all proportion to the main article. Evanston has received national attention in recent years for implementing an Afrocentric curriculum in some (one?) elementary schools and eliminating honors-only classes at the high school, among other things. That coverage doesn't justify a long discussion of those initiatives in this article, and this media coverage of the sustainability initiatives doesn't justify a long discussion here.

My main objection to the section still stands, which is that it reads like a press release by the city council and points to almost nothing that is both tangible and notable. Bureaucracies study proposals, issue platitudes, and form committees all the time. Doing those things with an eye on sustainability does not make them notable.

In my opinion, the main article is worse with the section present; therefore I deleted it. I'll try to find a way to incorporate the notable and relevant parts into the main article, but I plan on deleting the section again in a few days unless you propose a better idea.Brindle21 (talk) 17:26, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

Photo request

Now the List of RHPs in Evanston is fully illustrated. Thanks. Smallbones_(smalltalk) 13:38, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

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No numbered roads

Out of boredom, I was just scanning Google maps, only to notice: there are no state or federally numbered roads through Evanston. Anyone know why that is? Out of curiosity. KyuuA4 (Talk:キュウ) 20:08, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

Heavenston?

The reference given for this nickname (http://www.epl.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=216&Itemid=327) is ambiguous as to whether it is a historical or current nickname. Any evidence anybody still calls it that? Ace-o-aces2 (talk) 19:30, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

From ChicagoNow, 2012 I find"What The Hell's Going On In "Heavenston"? discussing gun violence in the minority area around the high school. There is no explanation of what the writer meant by "Heavenston" implying it is a wellknown nickname. A 2007 writing says "Evanston (or, as some dweebs would call it, Heavenston)" and also refer to it a "E-town," a nickname you removed as unreferenced. A Google search shown lots of use of "E-town" but I didn't find much by way of references for it, ironically. A 2014 publication of Chicago Scholarship online uses the term Heavenston for Evanston and notes "In the mid-nineteenth century a group of Methodist ministers founded Northwestern University infusing Evanston’s economic, political, and cultural life with a religious morality." A "Heavenston Eatery" restaurant opened in 2015 near the high school. An historical article at the Evanston Library site says "Evanston, Chicago's Godly neighbor, "Heavenston" as the good Frances E. Willard used to call it, was in those days at least rather Methodist minded." In the then-Methodist dominated town, Willard founded the Prohibition-oriented Women's Christian Temperance Union, and allegedly got the city to outlaw icecream sodas on Sunday, leading to the invention of the "Ice Cream Sundae." A Chicago Tribune article on Evanston's 150 year anniversity says that the Methodists who bought up land to establish Northwestern University set a high moral standard for the town, and by law forbade sale of alcohol within 4 miles of the college boundaries. The town stayed "dry" until the 1970's. The NU spokesman was quoted "At one time, in fact, Evanston was nicknamed "Heavenston," inspired by the town's strong base of faith and temperance, Cubbage said." The town was dry, religious, and moralistic. Neighboring towns' use of the nickname may not have been so much compliment as ridicule.That it was also an historical name is shown by a 1906 history of Northwestern which calls "Is this Heavenston" a "trite question" asked by tourists about Evanston. An 1890 publication by the NEA quoted a student as saying "This town is Evanston, and as we Methodists like to call it, Heavenston..." [Francis Willard herself used the term Heavenston" in her 1891 history of Evanston. Edison (talk) 21:19, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

addition of unsourced and apparently non-noteworthy content

Hey, IP! What we add to Wikipedia needs to have citations to reliable sources, and it needs to be worthy of noting. If none of these restaurants have articles, they aren't notable restaurants and likely aren't 'notable restaurants.' Ditto the student newspaper for a local high school. Let's discuss before you add this back in. --valereee (talk) 11:51, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

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