If Evanston Had a Motto, What Would it Be?

After the events in Massachusetts last week, ending with Friday’s capture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, I experienced a physical sense of relief, particularly for residents in Watertown who’d been instructed to remain indoors while door-to-door searches were conducted and armed forces surrounded their homes.

I’ve never been to Watertown, but I’ve tried to imagine what life must have felt like. Watertown’s Wikipedia page lists the town’s motto as In pace condita, Latin for “In peace making” or “In the foundation of peace”.

What’s Evanston’s motto, I wondered?

Our Wikipedia page doesn’t list one, though it does include our nickname: “E-Town”.

I scoured the City of Evanston’s website for a motto, and found this info on the government page:

Mission Statement

The City of Evanston is committed to promoting the highest quality of life for all residents by providing fiscally sound, responsive municipal services and delivering those services equitably, professionally, and with the highest degree of integrity.

Vision Statement

Creating the most livable city in America.

Organizational Values

Excellent customer service, continuous improvement, integrity, accountability

I wondered, Is our motto the same thing as our vision statement? 

Then I thought, Eureka! I’ll just call the City of Evanston’s 3-1-1 Call Center and get to the bottom of this.

“Hello, City of Evanston 3-1-1 Call Center?” the woman answered when I dialed the number this past Saturday morning at 9:35 a.m.

“Hi. My name’s Christine and I’m a resident and a local blogger for Patch.com. I’m just wondering if Evanston has a motto? I saw on Wikipedia that Watertown, Massachusetts, has one, so I’m curious if we do, too.”

“We do have one,” the friendly operator said, “and I can never ever remember it. This is embarrassing, I’m sorry.” [Insert fast typing noise in the background] “I know it’s here…”

“That’s okay,” I said, adding, “because maybe we don’t have one?”

“Oh, no, I’ve definitely seen it. We have one….it’s something about living here…” she said.

“Is it creating the most livable city in America?” I asked. “I saw that on the website.”

“YES!” she says, relieved. “That’s it!”

“Ah,” I said. “I though I was crazy. It’s listed as a vision statement, so I guess it’s the same thing as a motto?”

“You’re definitely not crazy,” she said, laughing. “I knew it was there.”

“Thank you,” I said, more for the vote of confidence on my sanity than for the “motto” confirmation, because here’s the tricky part:

Motto, as defined on YourDictionary.com is a phrase or quote that is representative of a person or brand's ideals and values. An example of a motto is Apple Computer's "Think Different" phrase.

Vision Statement, as defined byYourDictionary.com, focuses on the potential inherent in the company's future, or what they intend to be. While a vision statement might contain references to how the company intends to make that future into a reality, the “how” is really part of a "mission" statement, while the vision statement is simply a description of the “what,” meaning, what the company intends to become.

In my experience, a motto is representative of who you are or what you do, whereas a vision statement tells of what you hope to be. While I appreciate and agree with Evanston’s vision statement, I still don’t know how to describe who we are as a community.

The fact is, we are so many things.

We’re a progressive town with historic roots.

We’re a diverse population blended by a sometimes aggressive sense of togetherness.

Judging by our restaurant selections, we’re tastefully unique, anchored by one great lake and a city of big shoulders.

We’re edgy and beautiful, earthy and elegant.

By some estimations, we’re easily accessible (see our train lines) while others complain we’re the hardest place on earth to reach (try getting here at rush hour from O’Hare).

Since we’re so many things to so many people, is one motto even a possibilty?

What would you say if you had to write a motto for Evanston? Tell us in the comments.