Evanston and Northwestern students

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>Do most NU students venture into Evanston often? If so, why or why not? Is it any advantage to live nearer the downtown area (I assume that means south campus)?</p>

<p>Are local businesses generally welcoming toward NU students? Are there particular places where lots of students hang out that one might want to visit during a campus tour?</p>

<p>I've heard of periodic spats, like the recent Brothell Law flap, but having grown up in a college town I know those things are normal. Do Evanston and NU generally enjoy peaceful coexistence? Do the school and community share any events... festivals, sporting events or... ?</p>

<p>Any comments on how Evanston compares to other small college towns? Specific comparisons to Ann Arbor would be most interesting as D is familiar with it from a recent summer program she attended.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any thoughts!</p>

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<p>Hi MomCares,</p>

<p>This was something I wondered about a lot before I got to campus – North or South Campus, downtown Evanston, etc. As a freshman who lives on North Campus I would say that I went into Evanston very frequently fall quarter (and probably will spring quarter as well) but not winter quarter. The walk from North Campus to downtown Evanston feels very long and very cold in the winter. I think that there are advantages and disadvantages to living on either side of campus, but personally, I would have preferred to live near the downtown area purely for convenience during winter quarter! People who live on South Campus tend to go into town much more often (unfortunately that also probably means they spend a lot more money! haha).</p>

<p>Most local businesses are welcoming to NU students because they make so much money off of us. CVS, coffee shops, the grocery store (Whole Foods), and particularly local restaurants are very accepting of student business and many restaurants offer student discounts. As for visiting downtown on a campus tour, I would guess that students don’t tend to hang out downtown much during the day, so that’s hard to say. A popular student hangout is Kafein coffee shop, which also has great desserts. Burger King is probably the other main hangout spot, but I don’t know if you’d want to take a chance on the food there!</p>

<p>Town-gown relations in Evanston are iffy. I guess I haven’t been here long enough to have really experienced much of that, but the Brothel Law issue was a big one that has since been (mostly) resolved and explained away. Most of the issues between Evanston and Northwestern revolve around students in off-campus housing. Many Evanston residents attend Northwestern sporting events or benefit from Northwestern students tutoring their children (as I do on the weekends). This weekend is Dance Marathon, which benefits the Evanston community and features a Kids’ Fair for Evanston-area children. So there are some activities that bring the community together.</p>

<p>I can’t speak to how Evanston compares to Ann Arbor, but on the whole I would say that it compares favorably to other college towns. I just wish there was a grocery store other than Whole Foods (tasty but so expensive!) near campus.</p>

<p>Sorry for the word vomit here. Hope this helped!</p>

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<p>@illinoisgirl324 – THANK you so much – that’s exactly the type of info I was hoping for!</p>

<p>I’d say the Kafein coffee shop sounds more like our cup of tea (or latte) than Burger King. ;-D Are there any special restaurants that parents tend to take kids when we’re in town – assuming tuition doesn’t leave us utterly destitute? D will have to learn NOT to eat at Whole Paycheck often, as her bank account won’t support that habit for long. </p>

<p>Any favorite hotels or B&Bs for families to stay in during campus visits… or do many visiting families stay in Chicago?</p>

<p>It’s great to hear that the famed Dance Marathon benefits Evanston. I hadn’t realized that! </p>

<p>Glad to hear that folks from Evanston partake of sporting events. I assume that’s also true of all the theatre and music on campus? We have friends in Chicago that always try to see NU shows, so I assume folks closer to home come as well?</p>

<p>I think I read that Evanston has no bowling alleys, but are there movie theatres and concert venues in town that students frequent? Do students shop for clothing in Evanston, or do most head to Chicago for that?</p>

<p>Sorry for so many questions, but I’m having fun trying to imagine D’s future life as a Wildcat!</p>

<p>Hope everyone has big fun at the Dance Marathon this weekend, and that your fundraiser is a grand success!!</p>

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<p>Hi MomCares.</p>

<p>Let me try to add on to the info that illinoisgirl gave you.</p>

<p>NU runs various shuttle services. One is between NU-Evanston and NU-Chicago campus (law and med schools.) There’s a special Frost Bite shuttle when weather conditions call for it. They also run weekend service shuttles to areas in and around Evanston that students use to go shopping, so the students are not stuck just with the Whole Foods option. The El runs right along the west border of campus and the CTA runs buses as well. Finally, a number of students ride bicycles for transportation. Even at it’s snowiest (and this winter was a doozy) NU plows the campus area very quickly, as does Evanston for the main commercial core.</p>

<p>Check online for some of the back issues of the Northwestern U newspaper. One of them had a fairly recent listing of restuarants in town.</p>

<p>When we went to drop off my son in September, I had booked a room at the Best Western, which is within an easy walking distance of the south campus dorms, and right through the main commercial core of Evanston. It’s seviceable and more reasonably priced than others. Except for when we needed the car to transport his stuff to 1835 Hinman (the southern most residence hall) we didn’t use the car IN Evanson. (I did use the car to drive to the nearest BB & B in Wilmet to pick up a few more items for him and his roommate.)</p>

<p>On our return trips to the area, we stay with my SIL who lives in Oak Park, 17 miles from Evanston. My S has easily used the El to get back and forth from her place, downtown Chicago for events, O’Hare and Midway airports.</p>

<p>I have some friends who lived in Evanston for many year. illinoisgirl has pretty well described the Town and Gown situations. Mostly, it’s angst by the local town officials that they don’t get much revenue from the university, since it was exempted from most tax long ago. On the otherhand, I’m pretty sure the commerical core thrives due to the existence of the university. </p>

<p>You can also do a Google search on what happened with the “Brothel Law” issue. It wasn’t really anything new. However, given the costs in the area and the lack of adequate (in numbers) on campus housing, and the desire of some upperclassmen to live off campus, it just highlighted student’s concerns. To me, the city could be addressing it’s concerns over off campus parties and garbage by better enforcement of existing noise and sanitation ordinances.</p>

<p>Having the lake mere footsteps away make it a great resource for students interested in those water sports.</p>

<p>I don’t know how familiar you are with the area. I was not, except for the brief walk we made to and from the El when we took S on the college visit. What I did was use Google Earth, which will take you down to street level views of things. This ended up being a huge help to me when we were driving the little around that we did because the main street along campus (Sheridan) was under construction during move it, with all kinds of detours. Thanks to Google Earth, I knew exactly what I needed to do, without fumbling around with the GPS (which probably wasn’t going to be telling me which streets were blocked off anyway.)</p>

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<p>@FindAPlace - GREAT information, thank you!!</p>

<p>It sounds like I’ve seen about as much of the area as you had! We did a quick tour this summer, before we knew it would become D’s top choice school, so I admit I wasn’t as thorough about scoping out the town as I now wish I’d been, and DH has never been at all. We’re hoping to make another trip this spring, where we’ll all look with a different focus now that she knows she’ll be living there for awhile. She’d also love to do an overnight, though I’m not sure if that’s an option in April. </p>

<p>I LOVE your idea of exploring the area via Google Earth! Apparently I’m too old to think of these things on my own!!</p>

<p>In reading your post, I remembered that my SIL and an acquaintance of ours both have friends who are professors at NU. I assume they may live in Evanston, though I don’t know, so maybe they can become resources as well.</p>

<p>In thinking about this I realize that I have no sense of how large Evanston is, or anything about the surrounding geography. Is there greenspace around Evanston, or is it a connected suburb of Chicago? The parts of town we drove through on the way to campus (driving from Milwaukee) were lovely and looked fairly affluent, but I don’t know if that’s representative of the town as a whole.</p>

<p>We’re on the left coast… so much for us to learn about this unexplored part of the world!</p>

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<p>@MomCares - Left coast here, SoCal.</p>

<p>I believe Evanston is a pretty affluent area. It’s part of what’s known in Chicagoland as 'The North Shore." I remember driving by some mall in Skokie that appeared to have what I’ll call Beverly Hills type stores. Here’s what Wikipedia says:

</p>

<p>There is greenspace around Evanston, along the lakeshore south of the campus (maybe north, too?) and also some inland from the lake. On my drive through the city to get to the freeway to Wilmet for the BB & B run, I remember driving by some lovely houses, and then another part of the city I dubbed church row, for the obvious reason. The further south you go in the city, the less affluent it looks, but nothing like what one would find in parts of Chicago.</p>

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<p>There are a ton of great places to eat with the kidz when you visit… and Nu has reviews on sites on their website. There is also a PBS show, “Check Please” that reviews local (Chicago Area) restaurants, and you can do a search by city, so go with “Evanston”. </p>

<p>[WTTW</a> - Check, Please! - Restaurant Search Results](<a href=“http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?erube_fh=cp&cp.submit.restaurantSearch=1]WTTW”>http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?erube_fh=cp&cp.submit.restaurantSearch=1)</p>

<p>That said, our D loved the Celtic Knot, Dixie Chicken, and some small places by her closest El stop. BTW, Dixie Chicken Chicago location is also reviewed on Check Please by an Illinois Senator named Barack Obama… </p>

<p>Also worth pointing out that in the Fall the Evanston Restaurants / Stores welcome back the students with a “Give away day”, and try to give the students a taste of what they are all about. </p>

<p>Good luck and good eating!</p>

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<p>Ah… good eating is among my favorite things, so Evanston is sounding better all the time!</p>

<p>Thanks to all for the tips.</p>

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<p>Personal favs for students taking advantage of (deep pocketed) visiting parents:</p>

<p>Pete Miller’s for great steaks and jazz</p>

<p>The Stained Glass Bistro for new American</p>

<p>Walker Bros. for incredible pancakes</p>

<p>Personal favorite place to walk off campus - south along the lake (path goes on for miles along the water) and just inland through some great historic neighborhoods</p>

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<p>For Chicago itself, don’t forget there’s a Michelin Guide as of last year. If you’re venturing out into the city, make most use of that guide (especially the Bib Gourmand restaurants).</p>

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<p>Fantastic – thank you!!</p>

<p>Any more tips on places in town for parents to stay while visiting? Is it best to stay in Evanston or is there somewhere nearby that’s better? Our main criteria are quiet rooms and comfy beds, preferably not too horribly expensive since we’ll be spending all our money on tuition and good food! ;-D</p>

<p>How far in advance will we need to book rooms for parent-type events on campus? Does Evanston fill up for parent weekends?</p>

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<p>The area near NU is not representative of the whole Evanston. There are poorer areas in the west side of Evanston. Also, the seemingly affluent environemt can lead to false sense of security and some thugs and criminals from elsewhere would come near the campus just to rob. Try not to walk alone at night, esp if you are a girl.</p>

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<p>There are a variety of places to stay overnight that are walking distance to the campus. The Orrington, The Margarita European Inn, Best Western, Hilton Garden Inn, etc. Just google “hotels evanston” or look on the NU website for ideas.</p>

<p>BTW, if you’re planning on taking your child to NU in September you might want to book a room now. Same thing for Parents Weekend. Dates are on the NU website.</p>

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<p>@Sam Lee – Thanks for the tips! In my opinion, young girls shouldn’t walk much of ANYWHERE alone at night, but maybe that’s because I’m a mom?</p>

<p>@amtc – I’d been wondering if it would be wise to get a jump on booking hotels for next fall, so thanks for that advice. In a small town it’s better to have a nearby reservation and not need it than to not be able to get a hotel room.</p>

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<p>MomCares-we stayed at the Best Western in Evanston referenced above and would not do it again. It’s really sort of run down and can be quite pricey for NU “event” weekends. Since our initial trip we have tried staying in other hotels in other suburbs, which are less expensive, newer and cleaner. I just googled all the major chains and found places that way. We always have to rent a car so if I am staying within 20-25 minutes or so of Evanston, that’s fine by me. When we have been there for an “event” weekend, we have found that we have gone to campus, stayed there for the day, and gone back to the hotel later at night.</p>

<p>My freshman lives on South Campus, very close to downtown and says that the walk to the CVS is maybe 4 minutes for him. I know that he has patronized both Cosi and Panera sandwich shops in town, also within a 5 minute walk. There is a Barnes & Noble in town, many banks, stores such as the GAP, a store called “Uncle Dan’s” which has things like boots and winter wear, many stores and restaurants.</p>

<p>The townsfolk are specifically invited to some of the sporting events such as football and basketball games. They are always welcome, but on some occasions they run special promos for them and kids who live in the area. There is currently a major dance production going on (in addition to DM) called Danceworks, which is put on by the theatre department. My freshman is involved with this and said that many in the audiences have “subscriptions” to the series of events put on by the department.</p>

<p>By the way, if you are planning to stay in any of the hotels located in Evanston, I would book NOW for move-in weekend as well as Parents Weekend. You can always cancel if your plans change.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the heads up about the Best Western!</p>

<p>Has anyone stayed at the Orrington, The Margarita European Inn or the Hilton Garden Inn?</p>

<p>I might experiment with getting a 4* hotel in Chicago on Priceline before a parent event, then moving to Evanston for a couple days during the actual event.</p>

<p>In any case, I will get on making some reservations for the fall right away, thanks!</p>

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<p>We’ve stayed at the Orrington many times, and once at the Hilton Garden Inn. The Orrington’s location is super convenient, although it is a bit expensive for what it is. I stayed at the Hilton Garden in late December, and it was much more reasonably priced, and just a few blocks walk away from the Orrington.</p>

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<p>The Orrington is high end, pricey, though very nice. Hilton Garden Inn rooms are actually larger and quite nice as well, generally less expensive. Location a bit less ideal though only a few blocks farther from campus and attached garage a cheaper alternative for parking c/w Orrington. </p>

<p>Margarita European Inn is a funky alternative to both. Like it a lot but not for everyone. It’s farthest from campus (though still an easy walk) in an old historic building that once served as a residence for nurses in training as I recall. Breakfast used to be served in a large lovely room with french windows overlooking the street. “Funky elegant.” :)</p>

<p>Agree with advice to book early.</p>

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<p>Wow! I called around today, and it seems virtually all of the hotel rooms in Evanston are already booked for Wildcat Welcome!</p>

<p>Looks like we’re ending up at the Best Western after all…</p>

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<p>I just heard that this weekend’s Dance Marathon raised over a record $1M! Huge CONGRATULATIONS to all who participated!!</p>