Location is subjective also and I am not sure if you have spent enough time in Evanston/Chicago to tell.
I grew up in Hong Kong and live in San Francisco; London and Paris are among my favorites to visit. That is, I am far from the suburb type. However, it’d be a wash for me to choose between Evanston and Center City, where I have visited close to a dozen times (for those not familiar, Penn isn’t really in Center City anyway but not far). I definitely think Chicago is more vibrant than Philly and it’d be an easy choice for me between Chicago and Philly. For Evanston, its proximity to Chicago (no transfer with the subway if you catch the express train and there’s NU shuttle between Evanston and downtown Chicago campus) and the fact that Evanston downtown is vibrant enough for a suburb makes the choice between Philly and Evanston a wash. I was surprised how small Center City/Rittenhouse Sq felt. South Street would have been nice if the crowd were less sketchy and rowdy. I am not assuming many would share my view; rather, I am just giving a detailed example why the location is debatable.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/evanston-illinois-what-works-213282?o=0