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Evanston Beaches: Are we there yet ?
This summer, I want to include Lake Michigan swimming in my outdoor routine.
Let's get the word on the water temp this time of year ?
Which beaches are the best at different times of the night or day?
What to avoid ?
Advice for my dog ?
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First of all, Evanston has generated revenue from its beaches as far back as I can remember (25 yrs). This notion of it being socially irresponsible is silly. Believe me, if they were free, they would be unusable every weekend. Do you have any idea how many people would come flocking from Rogers Park and elsewhere. If that was the case, I'm sure you'd take the other side of the argument and say we're paying all this money in property taxes and we can't enjoy our beaches because they are too crowded with non-Evanstonians. Can't have it both ways. You picked Evanston to live in, with its beauty you get ridiculous taxes and stupid politics. Deal with it.
I agree that requiring beach tokens is socially irresponsible. The lakefront is one of the great things about the city, and everyone should be able to enjoy it, regardless of how much money you have in the bank. If the city wants to generate revenue from the lakefront, they should block off the parking lots and make them hourly parking lots like so many other cities have done. This would bring in money for the city while giving people the option of taking the train/bus and/or walking to enjoy the beach for free. 9 times out of 10, I do not go to the beach to swim, so I don't waste my money on beach tokens for my family just to walk through the sand for 30 minutes. It's really a shame that I even have to think that way after buying a house 5 blocks from the lake and spending a ridiculous sum of money on property taxes.
I don't think it socially irresponsible for the city to attempt to cover its costs for making the beaches safe. The fact that you bought a house that is valued so high that you have to pay "ridiculous" property taxes is irrelevant to the cost of operating the beaches. Clearly, you have not read the city budget or you would know that for every $100 dollar in property taxes, $66.73 goes to the two school districts and $19.81 goes to the city. How do you know that your proposed solution of changing the parking costs will help raise revenue, if you don't if know where your property taxes go?
I have to agree. I can understand that it's a point of annoyance and frustration, but I don't think you can move to say it's socially irresponsible. This is the world we live, it can never be utopian.
OK let's be real here in reference to the anonymous postings earlier. The dogs do have their own beaches, suprise and it is r/t people like the person who wrote the short note. First off the dogs don't just poop and we responsible owners don't leave it to sit in the sand for evertone to step in! I wish I had the money back some times when I need a little extra cash that I spend on poop bags for my guys waste. Also if I want to go to the dog beach I have to buy a permit just like on the people beach. I don't have a people beach permit because I swim in the lake with my dog who likes to swim for hours, this does two things for him, keeps him in shape and sociallizes him. OK enough, get a dog a see how nice the day at the beach can be.
The "lifeguards" you're talking about are fully trained lifeguards with professional CPR and professional lakefront rescue creds. They don't just "collect daily fees." In case you didn't notice, they also guard your children when you are irresponsible and let them go in the water alone only to fall on their face or throw sand in each other's eyes. The lifeguards are already understaffed, so hiring half as many would only put the beaches in worse shape. By the way, at the free Chicago beaches, you can't go past your waist at any beach. The "ridiculously small swimming areas" are dictated in terms of amount of time it takes for the lifeguard to get from the chair to the farthest point in the swimming area in case of a rescue. You can thank your neighbors for suing the city because they were irresponsible enough to let their teenager out at 1 in the morning only to drown himself and blame it on the lifeguards, which is the main reason for there being so many rules that you all loathe so much. Next time you make a comment towards the beaches, get some facts first.
I have not seen all the crowds at the South Blvd beach. So there is plenty of room there for all of you out there complaining that the beaches are too crowded and they should get rid of the dog beach.
As for buying a beach token. Yeah, I did it for about three years. After awhile I realized I was only going on weekends and half the time I would go the beach was closed due to bacteria (most likely from the heavy concentration of seagulls defecating in the water). I don't bother with the beach token anymore. It's more cost effective to pay the daily rate for the few times I'll go. That way I'm not as disappointed when I head over and they say "sorry the beach is closed due to bacteria".
I will say this a pay for use beach. I have not complaints about the principal of it. They seem quite a bit cleaner than the free Chicago beaches...
Ahhh Yes---Evanston Beaches---Oh Joy---Cant Drink---Cant Smoke...But doggies have their own sandy playpen and can poop all over the place...And after paying the kings ransom in property taxes---I still have to buy a token so I can swim in ice water--great deal
Advice for my dog ?
Leave the dog at home. It is a scandal already that we have prime lake front property made essentially useless to humans due to the dog "beach" Hopefully they will get rid of this travesty as part of the new lakefront plan.
I have 2 dogs, and neither go to the beach. And surely there must be a way we can make up at least 50% of the beach "token" fees? Maybe hire 1/2 as many "lifeguards"!? How many teenagers does it take to collect a entrance fee? $7 day / $30 a year is outrageous! not to mention socially irresponsible.
The dog beach is offensive, get rid of it. In the middle of the summer, the beaches are very crowded, but there's a nice piece of prime beach set aside for a bunch of dogs.
I can't disagree with you more!!! Evanston has six "people" beaches. They are used but not outrageously crowed! How often do you go?! My dog is in great shape and wonderfully socialized because we go to the dog beach almost every day, for a good portion of the year! Not just during the summer. There are not many places that dogs can run offleash these days! And they love water and swimming. There are plenty of beaches and enough shoreline to share with the dogs!
Here's another example of an anonymous poster saying things s/he'd never say if s/he had to sign his/her post.
It's not as if the dog beach was taken away from humans and given over to dogs. If I recall correctly, the dog beach was started after a new beach created itself just north of the boat launch.
There's rip-rap (big boulders) at the edge of the dog beach, which means that the waves used to hit shore right there. Currents have gradually dropped more and more sand, so now there's a beach where there didn't used to be a beach. The lakefront contours have changed tremendously in the last 20 years.
I'd rather have dogs in their own beach than sharing beaches with people. During regular beach hours, the dogs need doggie tokens, so they're paying just as we do.
Besides, that spot north of the boat launch would be an undesirable people beach--boat noise, gas fumes, lots of car and trailer traffic. Let that beach go to the dogs!
We see distance swimmers regularly along the Evanston lakefront. They swim outside the designated swimming areas. I've never known lifeguards to give them a hassle. The biggest risk for these distance swimmers is that boats or jet skis could run into them.
I'm not encouraging you to be a scofflaw, but lots of people used to swim outside the "ridiculously small designated areas" early in the morning (at the South Boulevard beach), before the beach opened (at 10 am, I think). There's no lifeguard there at that time. I think the undertow can be severe, so it is definitely "swim at your own risk."
Jan Smith
Not to be a downer, but I'm pretty sure the only beach in Evanston you can bring your dog to is the "dog beach" next to the boat launch. The people beaches don't allow dogs.
Also, if you want to swim for fitness in the lake, you may be disappointed to learn that swimming at Evanston beaches is restricted to ridiculously small areas. You can swim back and fourth in this area, and I've seen people do this, but it's not like swimming at Chicago beaches where you can go in wherever you want.
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