Chris Ernst lives in what he calls “the best of both worlds” – about a block away from downtown and a block away from Lake Michigan, too.
But lately he has noticed what he says is an alarming trend in downtown Evanston: overdevelopment.
“There’s a lot of people in Evanston who are concerned about how development is progressing, specifically on the fringe of downtown,” he said. “It appears that Evanston is turning into a high-rise city, which in some ways is good and in some ways is not.”
It is concern for the future of the city that motivated Ernst to create a Web site, www.evanstonzoningmatters.org, about a month and a half ago. There, residents can find development-related information such as meeting agendas and minutes without scouring the city’s Web pages.
“There’s a whole heck of a lot of Evanston residents out there who are either uninformed or just don’t know where to start getting a handle of what’s going on,” he said.
Recently he added a message board for people to discuss development in Evanston. He hopes it will become a place where developers and city officials will go to get an idea of what citizens are thinking.
Of about 120 comments on the Web site, more than half have been made by Ernst himself, but citizens – and even Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) – appear to be using the site more and more.
For someone who says he has “never been involved in any of the political processes,” his role in bringing together citizens may seem strange. But the Web developer, in his late 40s, is comfortable in the background – or at least behind his computer screen.
His activism began in opposition to the Mather LifeWays project planned for Hinman Avenue and Davis Street. He set up a Web site, www.matherneighbors.org, and found the Internet to be a great vehicle to reach citizens. His newer site has been catching on recently, and he wants it to experience even more success.
“My hope is some day it’s just natural that if someone wants information about a development, they can go to the site and find information about it,” he said. “Giving citizens a voice and listening to see what comes out of it (is) important.”
Ernst emphasizes that all views are welcome on his site, although so far it seems most developers and city officials are not aware of it. James Wolinski, Evanston’s community development director, hadn’t seen the site as of Monday afternoon, but said “zoning is a very critical aspect of how this city is developed” and that “more discussion” could be beneficial. Most posts are either informative or anti-development.
Ernst’s main issue is with what he calls “flaws with zoning in Evanston.”
“As a citizen, it concerns me a little bit to see developers come in when they do not have respect for what is around them,” he said. “Evanston is turning into a city that developers are saying ‘Wow, I can build something really big there.’
“Bigger is not always better. I would rather see a city of diversity with neighborhoods and a downtown and all different income levels.”
Ernst says there is such a thing as appropriate development, such as Sherman Plaza, now under construction on Davis Street between Sherman and Benson avenues.
“It’s a good use of the land,” he said, “(But) there are projects in Evanston that people look at and they go, ‘What happened? What were they thinking?'”
Reach Matt Presser at [email protected].
