The villages lining the North Shore differ in size and in plenty of other ways, but as the leaders from Kenilworth, Northfield and Winnetka made clear in their respective recaps at a State of the Villages event Friday, they share extensively in their challenges and aspirations. “We have a lot of t he same sort of themes that run through our communities,” Winnetka Village President Bob Dearborn said. “And I have tremendous respect for Northfield and Kenilworth, of course.” The neighboring villages deal with aging infrastructure, he said. And they’ve worked to boost retail and economic development, common buzzwords along Green Bay Road and its environs. Yet each village has specific needs and solutions, too. Northfield’s leaders shared their push to transform outmoded office spaces with a zoning change. Kenilworth touted progress on its “generational” beach improvement project. And a dose of healthy competition came up with a question from an audience member about the “hot restaurants” in a different North Shore village, Wilmette, asking what the three villages could do to attract more eateries. “Annex Wilmette,” Northfield Village Manager Patrick Brennan responded jokingly. A boisterous laugh rumbled from the crowd that had gathered in the lower level of the Winnetka Congregational Church. The real solution, Brennan continued, involves having previously occupied restaurant space available. Otherwise, new builds often request “some sort of financial assistance,” he said. Meanwhile, Winnetka views eateries as “mission critical” but has plenty of restaurants to boast of, Dearborn added. (At a similar event in October, Wilmette Village President Senta Plunkett said a “pancake crawl” could soon be afoot among the many breakfast selections there.) The League of Women Voters Winnetka-Northfield-Kenilworth organizes the annual event. Aside from the village managers and board presidents, representatives from New Trier and Northfield townships discussed their respective food banks — which served more people with the suspension of SNAP benefits in November — among other services. Kenilworth ‘paving the way’ for others Kenilworth Village Manager Katarzyna Thake kicked off the event by recounting the village’s progress on its beach improvement project. Work began this year on the second phase, which includes building new bathrooms, adding a pedestrian ramp and planting native landscaping. The construction should wrap up by the summer, Thake said. Other initiatives underway in Kenilworth include a comprehensive update of the village’s zoning code. The changes will make the building regulations “more functional for all users,” Thake said. Another proposed project looks to improve the street features of Green Bay Road, Kenilworth’s commercial spine, for pedestrians and businesses. And the village created a tool that uses weighted factors to help determine which infrastructure projects to prioritize. “Kenilworth is paving the way for other municipalities” in this regard, Thake said. Village President Cecily Kaz followed up by describing her role as a “sign twirler” for Kenilworth’s ongoing projects, including the zoning revisions, a “monumental effort that nobody really wants to talk about.” Northfield angling for more development Over in Northfield, economic development is the issue of the day, especially along the north-south Central Avenue corridor that’s populated by offices. “For those of you in the commercial industry, you know office really is not the place to be right now for sales,” Brennan said. “So we’ve been looking at that as an area that’s a little tired and could use some upgrade.” Northfield Village Manager Patrick Brennan talks about economic development during the State of the Villages in Winnetka on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. Village managers and board presidents from Kenilworth, Northfield and Winnetka spoke at the event. (Shun Graves/for Pioneer Press) Village President Tracey Mendrek, too, pointed to the “really tired locations” as places to redevelop. This year, the village changed the zoning of the area to allow multi-family units on the first level, Brennan said. This has started to attract developers, including a condominium project at 405 Central Ave. It’s all part of an effort to build a strong business district that would boost economic activity and tax revenue. However, the future of one spot, the former Mariano’s, remains unclear. The Mariano’s supermarket on Willow Road closed this year, and village officials have tried to woo a new grocer. A potential Sunset Foods opening hasn’t happened yet because of “sticking points” on the lease, Brennan said. ‘Year of transition’ for Winnetka Village Manager Kristin Kazenas called 2025 a “year of transition” for Winnetka. A quick walk downtown would confirm that. On Green Bay Road, the three-story Chase building has started to take shape. Nearby, the four-story One Winnetka mixed-use development and the four-story Engel Völkers building should also finish construction in 2026, Kazenas said. And the village has begun to consider what a redevelopment of the downtown post office could look like. Winnetka Village Manager Kristin Kazenas offers updates about ongoing downtown development, as well as an upcoming Willow Road reconstruction, at the State of the Villages event in Winnetka on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Shun Graves/for Pioneer Press) Another forthcoming construction project could prove more disruptive: Winnetka’s main east-west thoroughfare, Willow Road, will undergo reconstruction in late spring 2026. “So figure out your alternate plans now,” Kazenas said, eliciting some nervous laughs. As for the coveted economic development? Winnetka has only one vacant storefront, meaning its first-floor vacancy rate stands below 1%, Kazenas added. Kyoto Japanese Restaurant closed in September, according to its now-dormant website. ...read more read less