How Evanston’s Housing Issue is Affecting Black Residents

When Bridget Johnson lived in Evanston’s 5th ward in the ‘90s, all her neighbors were Black. Now, Johnson says the area is “totally different.”

“Gentrification is happening over there,” Johnson said. “Black people are getting moved out of there. I very rarely saw White people over there, and it is so many right now.”

Evanston’s Housing and Community Development Committee approved Housing4All on May 11. The plan aims to preserve affordable housing, create new housing units and protect residents from displacement. Black residents in Evanston have suffered disproportionately from rising housing prices, with the population decreasing 16% between 2010 and 2023.

During the Great Migration, when formerly enslaved people moved North between 1910 and 1970, thousands of Black families moved to Evanston. They settled in the 5th ward because White property owners wouldn’t rent or sell houses to them anywhere else, according to a Shorefront Legacy and Evanston History Center report.

Johnson, a realtor in Evanston, said many Black families are now moving out of the 5th ward because of high housing prices.

Tamara Hadaway, founder of Kingsway Preparatory School, said she noticed families moving out of the 5th ward when their children stopped walking to school. She said parents are not just leaving because of the cost of homes.

“I know a parent who was trying to move into the area and just saying, no,” Hadaway said. “I feel like it's not just the cost for the homes, but also the taxes.”

Affordable housing should cost no more than 30% of the household’s gross income each month, according to Housing4All . These costs include rent, mortgage, property taxes and utilities. Families can only afford houses that cost about three times their income, Johnson said. The average median income (AMI) for Black Evanstonians is $56,004, making the maximum affordable house price $150,000.

“Is there a $150,000 home in Evanston?” Johnson said. “You’re looking at a condo, maybe a one-bedroom condo.”

Evanston’s 5th Ward historically had many naturally occurring affordable housing units (NOAHs), Ald. Clare Kelly (1^st) said. However, Kelly said recent developments are demolishing NOAHs to create housing that Black Evanstonians cannot afford. She said single-family homes are being “knocked down” to create duplexes and quadraplexes that cost about $900,000.

“That housing is really important to protect a lot of beautiful neighborhoods, traditionally Black neighborhoods,” Kelly said.

Without NOAHs, Evanstonians will have to rely on subsidized units for affordable housing, Kelly said.

Subsidized units in Evanston target people with an income under 80% of the AMI. The AMI in Evanston is $95,766. Johnson said many Black Evanstonians make less than half that amount, putting subsidized units out of reach.

In some cases, NOAHs have been re-developed into mutli-use apartments that include subsidized units. Ald. Bobby Burns (5^th) said NOAHS are not commonly turned into unaffordable housing and the argument mostly comes from people who are “anti-development.”

“They often bring up things that aren’t true,” Burns said. “I would love to know what examples they have.”

A new development at 1103  and 1105 Emerson was proposed in August 2025. Burns said the original NOAHs cost between $2,200 and $2,400 for a two-bedroom apartment.

“I think even without knowing much about affordable housing, you can tell that those are not affordable rents,” Burns said.

Of the proposed units, 10% will be subsidized at less than 40% of the AMI. The new subsidized two-bedroom units will cost about $1,080. The development will have three affordable units that will be a mixture of one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments. Burns said these subsidized units will provide “actual affordable housing.”

Mary Rosinski, a realtor in Evanston, said many of Evanston’s new subsidized affordable housing units are “micro-units.” They tend to be in the 1st Ward, which forces Black Evanstonians to leave their neighborhoods for affordable housing.

Rosinski said developments such as 605 Davis Street are not even geared toward long-term Evanstonians.

“It’s the poster child for bad development,” Rosinski said.

The plans for 605 Davis approved the 430-unit development to include 84 subsidized units with two or less bedrooms and two subsidized three-bedroom units. The developer will pay $22,000 in taxes each year instead of $17 million because of those subsidized units. Although the building brings more affordable housing to Evanston, Rosinski said the units are not catered toward people trying to start a family.

“You can’t say you want family in our city and then continue to support people’s developments that are building 450-, 500- and 600-square-foot units,” Rosinski said. “A family can’t live in those.”