What is Evanston IL like?

[Anonymous]

Heard it’s a college town, but sounds pretty urban. Is it kind of like Bethesda (if Bethesda had a university)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heard it’s a college town, but sounds pretty urban. Is it kind of like Bethesda (if Bethesda had a university)?

I think of it a more connected to the city than Bethesda. A lot of Chicago's downtown culture is on the near Northside and Northwestern/Evanston is right above that and sort of seamlessly blends into it. And then there's the college town culture around Northwestern too.

[Anonymous]

It’s more urban suburban than a college town IMHO. It’s an extension of the city of Chicago that happens to have a great university in it.

[Anonymous]

It's an absolutely lovely neighborhood. IMHO one of the best towns in the country offering a mix of suburban/urban, with beaches and views of the lake. Lot of young families, professors, students, normal townsfolk, diverse and liberal. Excellent access to the city, especially the north side.

[Anonymous]

Very similar to Bethesda of the 1990's/2000's...not the current Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Beautiful, authentic lake front college town.. more urban than suburban with gorgeous homes and great restaurants. Miss it.

[Anonymous]

It's got a relatively small Dowtown (much smaller than Bethesda) just south of campus and the the surrounding area and North of campus is mostly a very nice residential area. A bit north of campus is the Bahai temple. There are a couple El stops running basically parallel to the NU campus to the east. If the purple line isn't running express it can take forever to get downtown because you have to switch to the Red Line and there's a ton of stops on that stretch. But if the express is running it's a quick hop downtown.

Further north is crazy mansions (the Home Alone house is in Evanston and it's not out of place in its neighborhood, we biked up to see it once)

[Anonymous]

It is grittier than Bethesda.
I would argue it is farther from Chicago than “downtown” Bethesda is to DC.

[Anonymous]

Excellent dining options. So many great restaurants and cafes. Very charming. Heaven in the summer.

[Anonymous]

At Evanston,

women students must deal with the predatory culture. “Survey show that experiences of sexual harassment and violence overwhelmingly affect undergraduate females.”

https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/on-no...their-role-in-sexual-violence/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At Evanston,

women students must deal with the predatory culture. “Survey show that experiences of sexual harassment and violence overwhelmingly affect undergraduate females.”

https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/on-no...their-role-in-sexual-violence/

I can't open the link but as a former female NU student (class of 2010), I did not have issues with the campus culture. My friends and are were followed on the El once, but given I was actually groped on the DC metro once (while wearing a baby no less) I haven't found it worse than here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an absolutely lovely neighborhood. IMHO one of the best towns in the country offering a mix of suburban/urban, with beaches and views of the lake. Lot of young families, professors, students, normal townsfolk, diverse and liberal. Excellent access to the city, especially the north side.

This.

It’s one of the best places to live in America.

No I’m not from the Midwest nor do I care for it.

Evanston in the Boswash corridor would be so expensive to live in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is grittier than Bethesda.
I would argue it is farther from Chicago than “downtown” Bethesda is to DC.

I have to sort of agree. There are enough areas in Evanston that aren’t charming or particularly safe. But why the comparison with Bethesda? The comparison should be with College Park. Of course there is no comparison. Evanston>>>College Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is grittier than Bethesda.
I would argue it is farther from Chicago than “downtown” Bethesda is to DC.

I have to sort of agree. There are enough areas in Evanston that aren’t charming or particularly safe. But why the comparison with Bethesda? The comparison should be with College Park. Of course there is no comparison. Evanston>>>College Park.

This is OP. I knew Evanston was a bit nicer than CP (I mean it is lake front). Very familiar with CP (and love it).

[Anonymous]

It's a gorgeous town with a world-class university and a lot of history in its own right as well. Surprisingly a lot of movies/books that are set in Evanston (Home Alone, as someone mentioned above, but also Mean Girls, Cheaper by the Dozen, even, weirdly, The Princess Bride - and a whole ton of John Hughes movies if you're a child of the '80s).