"Victoriana meets Helmut Jahn on the Lake " a Evanston Travel Page by pedersdottir

How to get to heaven? Well, driving north from Chicago on Sheridan Road you know you're coming close as you pass the gates of Calvary Cemetery. The road swerves left. That's it. Welcome to Evanston!

Summertime and the color is green - in the leafy canopy of ancient elms and more recent maples lining Ridge Blvd - in the Victorian hosta gardens that burst through picket fences in the Historic Lakefront District - along the canals formed by the north branch of the Chicago River. Coupled with the white stone sepulchres at Calvary, the old lakefront whispers of antebellum New Orleans. Turn the kaleidoscope. A mere 4 blocks from shore, between Lake and Grove Streets, the vista becomes a New England village green: church steeples point into the sky as children play on the lawn below. Turn again. Trace periods of architectural history while walking north on Chicago Avenue. Classic Greek columns line the portico of the Music Center of the North Shore. Across the street notice the pretty commercial building done in the French fashion, slate-topped, Mansard-roofed and all. Catch glimpses along the way of classic Georgian style and beginning Bauhaus. Reach the wrought iron gates of Northwestern University and you have landed in a Cotswolds mirage: limestone and ivy lead up Sheridan Road all the way to the Shakespeare Garden. Remember the Rosemary? Pansies are for thoughts....

There's more. Go downtown. Enter the 21st century of glass and steel geometry. Arising like a phoenix from the gravel, this new area is bright with lights, alive with activity. Yes, you may have to dodge a few panhandlers, but the broad brick sidewalks are wide enough to share.

Indeed Evanston has a long history of sharing and caring. Civic responsibility nearly equates to religious duty in this Methodist-founded town. The Lions Club was based here. Rotary International HQ neighbors the Salvation Army. Several downtown churches sponsor weekly soup kitchens. Both Lekotek and Family Focus were launched here. Our 75,000 residents bear a heavy load -- maybe a cross even -- for the sake of NWU.

Art Festivals and Garden Walks in summer, social benevolence throughout the year- just sounds too Pollyanna to be true? Even the Garden of Eden had its 'down side'. Out west, literally along Dodge, there is a neighborhood where the only folks feeling safe at night are those packing six-shooters. Where trash lines the road and the police maintain regular patrols. So Heavenston has its share of fallen angels.... But we choose to stay.