formerly citizens' greener Evanston
Evanston now has 25 years to achieve its carbon neutrality and zero waste goals as outlined in the Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP), and Sustainability and Resilience Manager Cara Pratt has said the city has already accomplished the “low-hanging fruit” in pursuing these targets.
What climate goals and policies would you prioritize in the coming term? How should the city pursue reduction of building emissions?
Do you support phasing out natural gas use in new construction, and requiring existing buildings work toward carbon neutrality over the next 25 years?
Climate change is both real and strategically critical, but I also believe that we have many competing priorities. One of my highest priorities will be to work with existing building owners and managers who now find themselves under the mandate to change legacy historic architecture in order to meet modern standards. I believe that some care needs to be taken to allow for structures where the burden of change would simply be untenable. As a government we should be resolved but practical in recognizing that a century old building designed with boiler heat cannot reasonably be converted to forced air at any acceptable cost extracted from the owner. I believe that the city should pursue building emission reduction that looks ahead toward new construction primarily while working with existing historic buildings to find solutions that are both meaningful and practical.
The Union of Concerned Scientists report that the ongoing development and use of gas resources will continue to pose threats to the health of local communities and their surrounding environment. While I believe in the right to personal choice in America, if the harm done is to a group or class, it is the government’s responsibility to protect the majority.
Nearly 2/3rds of all households in Evanston own one or no cars, and a majority of residents do not commute via car. Each year, more Evanstonians of all ages are walking, rolling, and using bus or train service for convenience, physical fitness, cost-savings, and environmental benefits.
How do you incorporate walking, biking and public transit into your everyday life?
While I am not much of a ‘walking’ guy, I will run almost anywhere and appreciate how easily I can do that in Evanston. I work from home so my commute is negligible, however my wife makes use of mass transit to get into the city and back and we’ve never understood how folks would rather spend hours stuck in their cars instead of 20 minutes on the train.
Academic research and case studies from cities like Paris, Amsterdam, and New York show that reducing car traffic and building protected bike lanes are necessary to meet climate and mobility goals. Plans such as the Chicago Ave Multimodal Project provide an example of how this can be implemented in Evanston.
Where would you want infrastructure improvements, such as traffic calming, pedestrianization/ street closures, and protected bike lanes, to encourage more walking and cycling?
I live on Sheridan Road and have a front row seat to the value that bike lanes bring to our community. My children were often using the lanes for biking to and from school and to downtown Evanston with friends. However, I have also witnessed cars mistakenly driving in the bike lane, or worse, outright ignoring the fact that it’s a bike lane! I would love to see a bit more safety protection for the existing bike lane along Sheridan, it always makes me a little uneasy to see kids riding. I think there could also be a little more signage as to how to pass courteously for those competitive riders who have a need for speed. I support reasonable infrastructure improvements that allow for residents to safely bike and know for a fact that we will need to work with the developer of the new Harley Clark project in order to guarantee pedestrian & cyclist safety.
Public transit has seen a major change in ridership trends, with 9-to-5 commuter services falling short of pre-COVID milestones while off-peak and weekend demand climbs despite infrequent and often unreliable schedules. CTA, PACE, and Metra are facing a ‘fiscal cliff’, as federal dollars to keep transit service operating run out by 2026.
While not in the position to solve this problem on its own, what can the City of Evanston do to support existing bus and train service, and how would you want to see public transportation expanded in our city in the future?
Given that Evanston is facing its own ‘fiscal cliff’ situation, it’s true that we won’t be able to solve the issue financially but I do feel that we can work more seamlessly to encourage residents to use mass transit where it makes sense to get to festivals, fairs and events including those happening in downtown Chicago. I think that the longest pole in the tent for lots of people is the research necessary to use mass transit ahead of time, perhaps whenever the City of Evanston advertises an event, we can also briefly list which bus lines or trains can service that particular event. I can also envision a City of Evanston facilitated online competition that challenges mass transit riders and cyclists to track how many emissions they’ve saved by the amount of non- vehicular activity that they do. Also now that City Hall has moved to its new location in downtown Evanston, we should encourage residents to use both the CTA and Metra to conduct city business. With so much out of our control, creative solutions might be all that we have to offer on this one.
With parallels to Envision Evanston 2045, Minneapolis has modified its zoning code in the past decade to eliminate minimum parking requirements, encourage transit-oriented development, and allow the construction of more “missing middle” housing city-wide. Together, these reforms lead to a stabilization of rent prices, a drop in homelessness, reduced displacement, and increased racial diversity. Environmental benefits were also realized, as more dense and mixed-use developments encourage lower rates of car ownership and generate less embodied carbon from construction.
What changes to Evanston’s zoning code, such as the ones listed above, would you support in response to the housing and climate crises?
This won’t make me popular but I think that we have to be careful of attempting to legislate morality. The fact of the matter is that owning a car is, and should remain, a personal choice. However! the City of Evanston’s role should be in doing the right thing for the greatest number of people. While the Pew Charitable Trust study of Minneapolis offers a useful case-study about impact, both intended &; unintended, I think that we as Evanstonians would do well to accept our special ‘Cinderella’ nature which will require a ‘Cinderella’ size solution. I have serious questions about the assertion that price can be impacted reliably through supply generally, but specifically as it relates to housing. In such a dynamic market impacted by so very many stakeholders (ie., developers, landlords, price fixing software, mortgage lenders etc.) I fear that an oversimplified solution will yield a undesirable result. Zoning reforms need to be addressed on a slow but steady, narrow and specific basis until we as a community better ensure that we will reach the destination we are all driving toward (pun intended).
