City of Evanston

Adopted Evanston Thrives Retail District Action Plan

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Evanston Thrives Approved Funding

The Economic Development Committee approved the following priorities for immediate funding from the $3 million allocated to Economic Development Activities.  Funding must be under contract by December 31, 2024

Economic Development Committee and Business Districts Scoring Results 

The Economic Development Committee and business districts prioritized the Evanston Thrives recommended actions  in 2023.  Click on the images below to launch the documents. 

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City Council Adopted Evanston Thrives Retail District Action Plan on May 8, 2023

The City Council adopted the Thrives Retail District Action Plan on Monday, May 8, 2023. Thank you to our business community and all Evanston community members who contributed to this roadmap for helping our small businesses and unique merchant districts thrive. Thousands of survey responses, dozens of merchant group and community meetings, and several City Council and Committee work planning sessions helped shape the final plan. 

Next Steps

The Evanston Economic Development Committee will be prioritizing the West Village recommended actions at the November 29, 2023 meeting.  Click here for Economic Development Committee updates.  Staff will continue to bring forward funding request and plan updates for months to come.

Plan Documents

Click on the images below to launch the Executive Summary, the Evanston Thrives Plan, and the Implementation Matrix / Recommend Actions work plan / checklist.

The Evanston Thrives Retail District Action Plan is a highly focused, community engagement and business district market analysis to improve the quality and mix of retail, food and entertainment offerings in Evanston’s 8 business districts. Through this process, we will:

• Reimagine our neighborhood business districts, balancing market realities with bold and creative design.

• Protect and reinforce our city’s most precious assets at the neighborhood level.

• Celebrate the unique identity of each district—past, present and future stories—through branding and placemaking.

• Identify the ideal use of ground floor space for each district and citywide.

• Build a toolkit to ensure more equitable investment and support for local businesses.

The Evanston Thrives team installed storytelling activations in each of the eight business districts throughout Evanston, launched a survey that garnered over 2,100 responses, popped up at a number of festivals and markets around the city, and had over 50 conversations with residents, businesses, and organizations. From all of these conversations, we've distilled key themes and issues around the business districts of Evanston. The project team presented these findings at the Evanston Thrives Public Update meeting held on February 9th, 2023. Weren't able to attend? No worries! Click on the buttons below to learn more.