I was thrilled to see your coverage of the Evanston Thrives report being discussed at a Fourth Ward meeting, and noted the irony in the adjacent story about the owner of Mt. Everest restaurant explaining how difficult it is to stay in business in the post-pandemic world.
Among the report’s findings are that people in Evanston want more to do and see in Evanston, and that business developers and brokers want compelling reasons to choose Evanston. The report lays out four ways to achieve this:
- Invest in events and programming that provide more to do to attract customers and bring residents together.
- Fund placemaking initiatives that strengthen and reinforce the identity of retail districts across Evanston.
- Shift toward a proactive economic development strategy to get ahead of local business needs and attract new businesses to Evanston.
- Forge a symbiotic relationship with Northwestern University that will benefit residents, students and businesses.
Of course, there’s a significant cost to all of this, and nobody wants higher taxes, so could there be a more opportune and important time for Northwestern University to want to invest $800 million in rebuilding Ryan Field and creating a world-class multiuse venue?
Yes, there’s opposition to different aspects of the Ryan Field project, which I totally understand and respect. But it feels like Evanston is at a crossroads, and when you step back and look at the city as a whole, the work required to shine like we used to, and the funds needed to do that, it feels like a no-brainer to embrace the investment NU wants to make.
Businesses and organizations in all eight business districts and residents from every neighborhood have an opportunity to benefit from this project directly though jobs and project contracts. The city will benefit directly from fees required for the project and incremental tax revenues. And we’ll all benefit indirectly from having a gold-standard, fully accessible, architectural gem in our backyard, drawing visitors from near and far who want to spend their money with us.
If you’re excited about the job and contract opportunities during construction, if you’re a business owner who would benefit from increased foot traffic in Evanston or if you’re like me, and simply want to see Evanston return to the vibrancy that brought many of us here in the first place, email your council member to communicate your support.
Lara Hamann,
stadium neighbor
One would think that after the devastating business closures Covid wrought on Evanston we would welcome the effort by NU to pump money into the community as a step towards revitalization. The benefits of jobs, increased business for the Evanston community and increased tax revenue outweigh the downside of increased traffic, parking and inconvenience, in my opinion. It’s a positive change for Evanston that should be embraced as a measure to reverse the bad effects of Covid.
Some food for thought:
NU should invest directly in Evanston (i.e. through a PILOT, as its peer institutions do), but rebuilding Ryan Field is just an investment that NU is making in itself. It’s an investment that makes sense for NU even without changing the way it’s zoned or expanding alcohol service: they will soon earn $80 to 100 million a year in football media rights alone. NU does not need to rezone its arena and stadium to allow 10 stadium-capacity concerts and unlimited 10,000-person private events to make a rebuild “viable.”
The Evanston restaurant owners who need support and relief need it now, not three years from now (the target completion date for the stadium). The good news is that Evanston will not be missing much if and when the Wildcats are playing somewhere else: NU’s own consultant, Tripp Umbach, estimates that the tax revenue to Evanston from all activity conceivably associated with its seven home games (ticket sales, restaurants, hotels, transit, parking, shopping, etc.) is only $230,000 a year. Hardly a boon to the community.
A tax-exempt for-profit commercial entertainment mega complex will not make Evanston thrive. Fortunately, that’s not what the Evanston Thrives report says, either.
Like Lara Hamann, I am a stadium neighbor and have NU alumni in my family. My concern is not the new stadium but the concerts for which NU wants to lease out the stadium. Unlike other universities, NU’s stadium is outside the campus boundaries, and it is in a mostly single family neighborhood with 2 lane — at the widest — streets. Our neighborhood also contains a fire station and a large hospital. I hope Johnson Consulting will consider the impact the large and frequent traffic increase caused by concert goers will have and how this change will affect the emergency vehicles’ effectiveness.
With all due respect Meredith Wall DiCarlo and Judy Berg: Most Livable City Association and others continually promote catastrophic results should the stadium be rebuilt. I find it strange that you can’t see the positive impact it will have on our city. As a taxpayer and a business partner, I know that NU is the economic engine ( Thrive Report) that drives this city. I appreciate that a donor is willing to gift us a new stadium, tax free, and in my my lifetime rather than shifting it as a tax burden to a future generation.
Yes to rezoning; no to NIMBYISM!
With all due respect to Kelly, financial investor in Comida, and Field of Opportunity Supporters – your NIMYISM name calling will not detrack from the very real concerns that many direct neighbors and others thorughout every ward in Evanston have about the negative financial impacts of the commercialization of the stadium. Supporting the stadium for football games does not have to equal support for a for-profit entertainment district that NU wishes to impose on the neighbors and city.
Well said, Lara, and nice to hear from one of the many stadium neighbors who support this investment in our city and aren’t fear-mongering to maintain the status quo. There have been many studies (and another one on the way) that show the positive economic impact a new stadium will have on our local business community. Now let’s focus on how to minimize the potential negative impact on neighbors and make this project a win for all.
Well said, Lara and Sally. Change can be hard but I believe this change has great positive potential that I embrace. I’m a nearby neighbor of Ryan Field.
Dear Lara,
Thank you for this thoughtful letter. I particularly appreciate the fact that you live close to the stadium and you have not succumbed to the alarmist and fear-mongering NIMBYism that has sprouted among some nearby residents. It’s so wonderful to hear from someone who cares about the broader community, and is not solely rooted in their own self interest. I am still stunned by so many of our neighbors who want all of the benefits of living in the warm balm of Northwestern, but they feel no obligation for the wellbeing of the University itself.
Thank you for standing up for everyone in Evanston!
I think it is strange to be concerned about the wellbeing of an organization that finished 2022 with a $138.7 million operating surplus.
With all due respect Lara, it’s premature to know what impact the stadium rebuild will have on the City. We need to wait for Evanston to complete their independent study of the economic impact. We also need to know what the environmental impact will be on Evanston and beyond.
Job creation will only be temporary as the stadium is being built.
Evanston and surrounding communities cannot support the infrastructure of large commercial events. These events will not impact success for our local businesses.
We already have an architectural gem in the current stadium. Going 100 feet higher is not conducive to a location in the middle of a neighborhood.
I’m a stadium neighbor too, within a 1/2 block from the stadium.
No new zoning changes!