On Friday, Mayor Lorraine Morton delivered her final State of the City address. Today, I will give my first:
Throughout her 16-year tenure, Morton has led Evanston effectively through progress and change. But as her term comes to an end, the city is at a crossroads.
With the Evanston City Council’s recent approval of the Downtown Plan, the community is now in a precarious position. The hotly contested central core district, which sets a 35-story limit on buildings, could allow for the proposed Fountain Square tower. A topic of ceaseless debate in Evanston, the skyscraper could lead to new development and an enhanced tax base. Or, as opponents argue, the tower could disrupt Evanston’s skyline and crowd out small local businesses that add to Evanston’s suburban appeal.
Either way, city officials need to start discussing the plan’s implications for downtown development. Aldermen refused to talk about the tower until the Downtown Plan passed, but the tower was the elephant in the room. Now that Evanston has a plan to grow and develop, city officials should start applying it, making sound judgments about the exact type and character of development that can improve the city. Presently, no one seems to know, or is willing to talk about, the tower’s fate. Until that question is answered, applying the Downtown Plan will be difficult. Big-time development doesn’t have to be detrimental to the city, as long as Evanston continues to grow responsibly, respecting the needs and visions of its residents and small business owners.
If nothing else, Evanston residents can agree that the council made a good move when it chose not to increase property taxes for the coming year. Evanstonians will benefit from the reprieve, since they are already fraught with their own, individual economic challenges. Council members were particularly efficient in planning the budget this year, asking for reasonable contributions from Northwestern, such as the university’s $100,000 donation to repair the city’s salt dome, which NU uses to store its road salt.
Compromise between NU and Evanston occurs sporadically at best, and under new administrations, both students and residents can and should hope town-gown relations will improve. The deep-rooted financial issues that divide the city and school will never completely disappear, but instead of being confrontational, NU and Evanston can set common goals and achieve through compromise. Within the next few months, Evanston will have a new council, led by a new mayor, and NU will have a new president. Perhaps with a fresh perspective, progress can be made.
Evanston’s longest-serving and arguably most well-liked mayor is leaving office at a time when Evanston is struggling to define itself in the face of uncertain times. Instead of being paralyzed by an existential crisis, the city can look favorably on the progress it’s made in the past year – even the past week, with the approval of the budget and Downtown Plan. But patting itself on the back won’t accomplish much until Evanston starts addressing how it will grow and adapt in the future.
