The Best College Towns!

Sam_Lee
Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:56:10 +0000

Evanston (Northwestern)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evanston,_Illinois

Once the home of one of the first Marshall Field’s and Sears stores in suburbia, Evanston remains an important shopping destination for the north suburbs and North Side of Chicago, with numerous commercial centers throughout the city. The principal ones are as follows:



Downtown - centered around the Davis St. Metra and “L” stops, Evanston’s downtown adjoins Northwestern University. Over 300 businesses, several highrise office and residential buildings, three traditional low-rise shopping areas, an 18-screen movie theatre, and over 85 restaurants

Central Street - actually several shopping districts linked along the northernmost of the city’s principal east-west arteries, with the most active clustered around the Central Street Metra station and characterized by specialty shops and restaurants[29] in a walkable environment with an eclectic, vintage “small-town feel” strongly protected by the community

Dempster Street - just off the Dempster “L” stop; over 60 shops, many of them small and hip, including Bagel Art, the vegetarian Blind Faith Cafe, The Mexican Shop (affordable world women’s clothing and accessories), 2nd Hand Tunes, lollie (children’s boutique), and FolkWorks Gallery.

Main Street - approximately 3 blocks of small, interesting shops abutting both a CTA and Metra stop, in a gentrifying neighborhood that also is home to the Evanston Arts Depot

Howard Street - many small shops line the city’s border with Chicago; at the west end of the avenue, near the border with Skokie, Howard Center, a small thriving shopping mall, was built in the 1990s after some controversy

Chicago Avenue - not a separate shopping district per se, this extension of what is called Clark Street in Chicago runs parallel to the rail lines and is the principal north-south artery in Evanston from Howard Street north to its terminus at Northwestern University. Chicago Avenue connects the Main Street, Dempster Street, and Downtown shopping districts. Once home to numerous auto dealerships, it has attracted numerous restaurants and a growing number of multi-unit residential structures and is lined with interesting businesses.