Annie Coakley, director of Downtown Evanston, remembers a “liveliness” about downtown, filled with people eating their lunches at Fountain Square. Now, that liveliness is gone, she said. “You...

As the Evanston School of Rock Band played in the background, a bustling crowd of residents, vendors and visitors enjoyed the Downtown Evanston Fall Fest on a sunny, 60-degree Sunday afternoon. From the...