About 80 people turned out Thursday at the Civic Center for the first of a series of workshops to plan the future of the Central Street corridor.
About 80 people turned out Thursday at the Civic Center for the first of a series of workshops to plan the future of the Central Street corridor.
Lakota Group principal John LaMotte points out the ‘Hot Dog Triangle’ — one of the spots on Central Street the planners believe could use a visual upgrade.
Residents were given a visual tour of the street by planners from the Lakota Group, a consulting firm hired by the city to guide the planning process.
The slide show focused on streetscape conditions, noting where it’s relatively attractive and where it seems to need improvement.
The residents were then shown slides of townhouse, condominium, mixed use and retail buildings recently built in other cities and asked to rate whether they like or dislike the individual designs
The range of residential building designs was constrained — three to five stories in height with mostly red-brick facades.
Neighbors study charts showing streetscape conditions.
Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, said the planning process “is the culmination of a desire I’ve had for a long time that we can develp a vision for Central Street’s future that hopefully we can all share.”
“Tell us what you like and what you think needs to get better,” Ald. Moran said, “We’ve hired good people to work with us as planners.”
Thursday’s meeting focused on the 6th Ward portion — roughly the western half — of Central Street. Another session at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, will review the eastern, 7th Ward portion, of the street.
The consultants are scheduled to present a preliminary plan for residents to review on March 1, and incorporate feedback from that session into a revised plan to be presented at a community meeting March 29.
The Plan Commission and the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee are scheduled to hold a joint meeting to review the consultants’ work on April 12.
Related link
City of Evanston – Central Street Planning