formerly citizens' greener Evanston
(as reported on the candidate's website)
Organizer and volunteer with the Producemobile
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 Goals and Policies:
• Remove barriers to universal access to affordable solar energy.
• Expedite Evanston’s leadline replacement schedule to ensure safe, clean water in every home.
• Pass a Lakefront Protection Ordinance to ensure our beaches are clean, beautiful, free, and open to Evanstonians forever.
• Pursue nature-based shoreline solutions like dune restoration, that minimize hard structures that often do as much damage as they are meant to mitigate.
• Invest in climate resilient infrastructure that relieves pressure on our aging drainage systems through green rooftops, rain gardens, and permeable pavement to reduce runoff and flood risks.
Reducing Building Emissions:
First, focus on all 60 of the City’s government-owned buildings, engage other government agencies, including Evanston schools, and partner with institutions like Northwestern, hospitals, and Rotary International to model the City’s approach to carbon neutrality. We should not pursue carbon neutrality unilaterally. Evanston is facing historically high retail leakage and storefront vacancies. Onerous building requirements can put us at an economic disadvantage against our neighbors. This must be a regional pursuit.
Phasing Out Natural Gas:
Natural gas is not a renewable resource and is a culprit in global warming. Twenty-five years is enough time to identify cost-effective, renewable, sustainable replacement resources for natural”
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?
I use multiple modes of transportation in my daily life. Both my wife and I are walkers. Wherever we go out downtown or along the Main-Dempster mile we walk. We walk around the cemetery near our house and along the Evanston Lakefront on a regular basis. I am also a fair-weather biker. I ride an old beach cruiser around town whenever I can for about 9 months of the year. I take it to work, the gym, tennis, downtown, for rides with my kids, and occasionally down the Lakefront Path in Chicago. I do this for convenience, fitness, and environmental reasons. I don’t have occasion to take the bus, but I usually take the CTA train whenever I go into Chicago. My kids take the bus to ETHS or they ride their bikes. I don’t enjoy driving. I avoid it whenever I can. I have a family of six including 4 teenagers and with the exception of a 4400-mile road trip through the Canadian Rockies in 2023, I average under 2700 miles per year on my vehicle.
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 believe the Chicago Ave. Multimodal Project will be a huge boon to the residents of the Third Ward. Protected bike lanes will help the businesses along the Main-Dempster Mile and the increased safety for bikers will make commuting by bike along that corridor much more attractive. When the City put bike lanes along Dodge Avenue, students commuting by bike to ETHS increased threefold. We need traffic calming measures along Sheridan Rd and South Blvd. I have heard from many constituents that these corridors are treacherous for pedestrians. I have experienced trying to cross Sheridan Rd as a jogger and as a father headed to South Beach with children. Traffic is too fast, and the flag system is inadequate for safety. I would like to see pedestrian lights and raised crosswalks along these two corridors.
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?
Here;s how I would improve and expand public transit in Evanston: Build cover stations for every bus stop in Evanston to protect riders from inclement weather. Increase bus route frequency, running more buses during peak hours, including weekends. Vastly improve the accessibility of CTA train stations for people with disabilities, particularly at the South Blvd. and Davis St. train stops. Evanston PunchGreen is my idea for resident green credits. It’s not new but I think it’d have a significant impact in Evanston. Essentially, PunchGreen is a card that would be hole-punched every time a resident undertakes a green activity, including riding the bus and composting. After so many credits, residents get a discount on wheel tax registration, water bill, parking and other city services/obligations.
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?
I strongly support transit-adjacent housing development for the express purpose of adding housing inventory, putting a downward pressure on price, expanding the tax base for budget relief, and reducing vehicle use and emissions to meet our climate action goals. Evanston’s 3rd Ward is already very dense with a wide variety of housing stock. There is certainly some room for development, but my housing density focus is more on the downtown mixed-use zoning district. The downtown area needs more residents to help combat economic stagnation and retail vacancies. Office workers are not returning in the numbers that existed before the pandemic. New residential developments should contain at least 20% affordable housing units. Parking minimums are easier to eliminate downtown because of excess space is available (if required) in the three large city parking garages. I am also a big supporter of the Lot 1 affordable housing project in my own neighborhood on South Blvd. This project is all electric and includes climate resilient design features. This five-story building has 30 one-bedroom units but also 30 two- and three-bedroom units that are suitable for families. The city has several underutilized properties, and I would like to see this project repeated as often as possible. Additionally, there are several faith communities in Evanston with dwindling congregations. Some of these faith communities have significant land and underutilized buildings that they are interested in using to build affordable housing. Zoning changes for these projects should
be streamlined.
