CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Howard Street business corridor divides Rogers Park and Evanston, but both communities are coming together to make much-needed improvements.
“We want Howard Street to be more community focused, rather than this side is Chicago and this side is Evanston,” said Sandi Price, executive director of the Rogers Park Business Alliance (RBPA).
The RPBA partnered with the City of Evanston and applied for a grant from the state of Illinois.
They received $99,000 to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic along Howard Street from Sheridan Road to Western Avenue.
“There have been some businesses that have closed and some restaurants that have closed,” said Price. “There have also been more safety concerns on Howard Street, and having vacant storefronts kind of adds to those safety concerns.”
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The study will be used to form the basis of a recovery plan for the business corridor, which Price hopes will make the community a better place to live, work and raise a family.
“[We’ll] do maybe some aesthetic improvements, maybe there is a traffic study that needs to be done or some study about the housing that currently is there, whatever we can do that will improve this corridor,” said Price.
The groups have just hired a consultant, and the study is expected to get underway early next year. Price said it will likely be years before major improvements are made.
“The [study] process, which is going to be six to nine months, will include community meetings,” added Price. “We'll have an advisory committee or steering committee and then we'll have some meetings with the community.”
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