Businesses in downtown Evanston have long been represented by the non-profit Downtown Evanston, but some of the area’s residents are working to form their own community organization for the area.
The new group, called the Downtown Evanston Residents Association, has gathered around 50 charter members and aims to advocate for the needs of downtown residents, founder Bruce Baumberger said.
“There’s a lot of people (living downtown),” Baumberger said. “And those people have a variety of issues and concerns, which, by sharing with one another, we can look at what our common interests are and figure out how to deal with those concerns.”
Baumberger said Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) originally pitched the idea for the organization, saying there was a need for a space representing the joint interests of those who live across the three wards overlapping downtown Evanston.
Co-founder Steven Miszkowicz, who is also the president of the Residences of Sherman Plaza, added that a function of the organization will be to host town halls with the councilmembers from the 1st, 2nd and 4th wards.
“The intention behind DERA is to try to give the residents of downtown Evanston one central voice,” Miszkowicz said. “What we’re looking for is a little more engaging conversation than just the public forums when they come up.”
DERA began its community outreach by encouraging residents in select buildings to sign up for a charter membership, which will be free until Oct. 1. After that point, participants will be expected to pay a small fee to account for administrative costs, Baumberger said.
There are two other similar community associations in Evanston: the Central Street Neighbors Association and the Southeast Evanston Association, which serve their respective districts.
While Baumberger said DERA fashioned its preliminary bylaws after those of the other two groups, he emphasized that there are unique circumstances downtown that DERA will aim to address by monitoring the long-term growth of the area.
“All of us want to see downtown thrive and be vibrant,” Baumberger said.
Currently, businesses in the area are served by Downtown Evanston, which provides marketing and special programming for those in the district.
DERA would complement the business-oriented organization, Baumberger said, by serving as a conduit between residents and business owners, an idea to which Downtown Evanston Executive Director Andy Vick was receptive.
“It sounds like it’s a good opportunity for residents to get together to discuss what issues there are around living in downtown,” Vick said. “In some ways, it’ll make it easier for us to communicate with the residents who are living in these apartments and condominiums because there would be one entry point to be able to share information.”
In addition to long-term residents, DERA is also eager to reach Northwestern students, whom both Baumberger and Miszkowicz identified as a major part of the downtown population.
As the organization moves forward, DERA aims to adapt to resident feedback. Miszkowicz, for one, was “curious” to see what residents thought of the idea.
“It’s a work in progress,” Miszkowicz said. “You kind of have a vision and then you learn from your constituents how close your vision was to the reality of what they want.”
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