a prediction: the gentrification of west Evanston (Chicago: low income, real estate market)

[edsg25]

here's my guess about what will happen on the west side of Evanston; I'd be interested in seeing if others agree or disagree:

this is prime property for redevelopment that will take place. I'm not sure there is another tract of real estate anywhere in suburban Chicago that can compare with it in that respect. closer in areas to the city become more and more attractive as people reorient to the type of world where cars are an expensive and impractical detriment and public transportation becomes more and more important.

Evanston's location on the lakefront, in the North Shore, and close in the city is ideal. the Dodge corridor is just too valuable property not to be gentrified and redeveloped. Location, location, location....the words practically scream a need to redevelop this area. If you want to see where the west end of Evanston is heading, look at the expensive townhouse development that has gone up a mere block away from Dodge and Church and ETHS. If the city were smart, it would push for a yellow line station on Dodge (I think the current thinning is either Ridge or Asbury) that would plug in nicely to the developments that I think will happen.

Evanston has a challenge ahead for itself. Among its greatest strengths and the factors that make is so attractive are its racial and economic diversities. The hard part is going to be how to maintain these while the development that is bound to happen on the city's west side takes place.

[chet everett]

Somebody needs to look up the definition of "gentrification".

Start with these: gentrification - definition of gentrification by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. or What is gentrification? definition and meaning

See the fact is that nothing about west Evanston suggests it is overrun with any combination of low income / working class residents, high crime or deteriorated structures.

There is NO MONEY in the CTA budget to create a new station.

The folks that live in west Evanston are mostly pretty content, every once in a while they get fired up about issues at the schools, but there is not going to be any kind of mass shift toward more costly homes. Where would the sellers relocate to? The fact is that though mostly on the small side the cost/sq ft of those homes is already too high to really be attractive to the kind of builders that do tear downs. There is no reason to think that anyone would want greater density in west Evanston.

You really don't understand gentrification if you believe it would preserve racial / economic diversity...

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Somebody needs to look up the definition of "gentrification".

Start with these: gentrification - definition of gentrification by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. or What is gentrification? definition and meaning

See the fact is that nothing about west Evanston suggests it is overrun with any combination of low income / working class residents, high crime or deteriorated structures.

There is NO MONEY in the CTA budget to create a new station.

The folks that live in west Evanston are mostly pretty content, every once in a while they get fired up about issues at the schools, but there is not going to be any kind of mass shift toward more costly homes. Where would the sellers relocate to? The fact is that though mostly on the small side the cost/sq ft of those homes is already too high to really be attractive to the kind of builders that do tear downs. There is no reason to think that anyone would want greater density in west Evanston.

You really don't understand gentrification if you believe it would preserve racial / economic diversity...

I think people use the term "gentrification" very loosely these days, and I don't think the true technical definition would apply to any part of Evanston. I can see west Evanston improving though.

[urza216]

Good diversity - People talk about possible gentrification.

Bad diversity - People talk about possible white flight.

[reppin_the_847]

We'll have to see what comes of the possible Yellow Line stop that may be added in west Evanston first. Could be several years, but if & when that happens, I could see west Evanston seeing some additional gentrification.

[chet everett]

Would it be correct to call the tear down phenomna that hit most of the desirable western / northwest / northern suburbs "gentrification"? Of course not. And in the broad sense the reasons that tear downs have not been a big part of the west Evanston real estate market is not going to change -- the folks that have been OK with some of the smaller older homes likely do not have the means to buy / rebuild larger more upscale homes. Given the "vote for the status quo" that seems to have taken place in this most recent election I see no evidence of economic fundamentals shifting.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

We'll have to see what comes of the possible Yellow Line stop that may be added in west Evanston first. Could be several years, but if & when that happens, I could see west Evanston seeing some additional gentrification.

Now I see SW Evanston in a different light than W Evanston near Dodge and Church. I agree especially with a Yellow Line station, SW Evanston may see Gentrification. I doubt Dodge & Church will.

[Larry Siegel]

The area *east* of Dodge (but west of Asbury), between Dempster on the north and, say, Oakton on the south, has already experienced a lot of gentrification, with a rapidly rising white population (this is an increase in diversity because the area was mostly black) and lots of money going into fixing up old houses. West of Dodge, the housing stock is both less inherently attractive and less in need of fixing up - it's kind of a 50s area - so the prospects for gentrification are not as good, but who knows, anything can happen. It's certainly a convenient location.

[edsg25]

as the OP, I'll admit I used the term "gentrification" a bit too broadly. i realize that by strict definition, it is means to take existing building stock that is renovated and brought back to its old glory days. What I should have said was: is west Evanston prime property for redevelopment.

and, on that, I'll stick with what I originally said: yes, IMHO, it is.

the city itself has been working off a master plan for the west part of town for over a decade. the value of that land can not be underestimated and real estate is still mainly about location!, location!, location! We are in a less autocentric time, by necessity, and public transportation becomes more and more paramount. locations in inner ring suburbs are often more inciting for development than the outer fringe is, a radical difference from what we have experienced for years.

That's why you see so many tear downs in desirable inner ring suburbs, particularly in the north suburban area (which has an edge over other portions of the inner ring as being more desirable.....west and south suburban inner ring has traditionally been more industrial). Evanston alone of the inner ring suburbs is on the lakefront and on the North Shore. It gives the city advantages.

CTA has been, as I stated earlier, planning a new yellow line station in Evanston. I know that it would take time and money to get this going, but eventually it will happen.

I can't help but feeling that this property will be very attractive to developers. As I stated earlier, I hope Evanston can maintain its racial, cultural, and economic diversity in the process; this is one of the community's greatest strengths.

[middle-aged mom]

I prefer the term urban-suburban.