Evanston report finds concentrated environmental burdens in four wards, urges coalition and policy action

Evanston—Consultants and local advocates at the Equity & Empowerment Commission meeting on Feb. 19 presented an Environmental Equity Investigation that maps decades of disparate outcomes across parts of the city and recommends coordinated action to reduce those burdens.

Brett Bridal, a landscape architect and principal at MKSK, told the commission the firm spent more than a year engaging residents through pop-ups, workshops and focus groups to document how past policies and present practices have produced unequal burdens. "What we were trying to do is investigate further…what are some of the current and past policies, practices, and priorities that have perpetuated unequal burdens and barriers to opportunities across Evanston," Bridal said.

The team overlaid census, income and health data and identified the 5th, 2nd, 8th and 9th wards as focus areas with overlapping indicators—lower household income, lower life expectancy and higher racial segregation—where residents face systemic disadvantages, Bridal said. The report’s action matrix lists potential projects, policy changes and programs and assigns likely lead agencies and community partners for each action.

Among the report’s priority recommendations are establishing…