Central Street is the principal east-west artery in the far north of Evanston, Illinois[1] and is a major thoroughfare in other northern and northwest suburbs of Chicago.

[18][19][20] A large and active community organization, the Central Street Neighbors Association, maintains an interactive website with neighborhood and cultural news.

[21] In 2004, the potential overdevelopment of Central Street became an issue after the construction of several new multi-use, multi-story buildings up to the limit of the lot line, larger in scale than the vast majority that housed existing businesses.

[23] After a year of activism by residents and numerous municipal and ward meetings, the City of Evanston in November 2005, amended its zoning ordinance to create a new "B1a" district, extending for several blocks on the western portion of Central Street, "characterized by having reduced building height and residential density.

After the developers modified the proposal to four stories, with upper floors stepped back slightly from the street, the Council approved the project in February 2007, over neighbors' objections.

[29] A Master Plan was adopted in June 2007, and ordinances passed in January 2008 that re-zoned the corridor, including the first steps toward form-based code in Evanston.

The parade attracts about 15,000 spectators each year, and Country Home magazine ranked it as the third-best Fourth of July celebration in 2003, after Washington, DC and Boston.

[31] The parade became a subject of local controversy in the early 2000s due to attendees who put chairs, tape, and other markers along the route weeks ahead of time.