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US City Guide:

Chicago Illinois

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Chicago, the seat of Illinois's Cook County and the third largest city in the country, is the focus of a consolidated metropolitan statistical area that covers the primary metropolitan statistical areas of Gary, Indiana; Kankakee, Illinois; and Kenosha, Wisconsin. "Brawling" was the word Carl Sandburg applied to Chicago in his poem about the city. No longer the "Hog Butcher for the World," at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Chicago is still an enthusiastically combative city with a lively political life. A railroad hub in the latter half of the nineteenth century, when its population had already reached 300,000 people, Chicago became a major force in the nation's development. Today, it is a national transportation, industrial, telecommunications, and financial leader as well as a city of great architectural significance, ethnic diversity, and cultural wealth. The only inland urban area to rank with major East and West Coast metropolises, Chicago has achieved international status through the quality of its cultural institutions and its position as a world financial center.

The City in Brief

Founded: 1830 (incorporated 1837)
Head Official: Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) (since 1989)
City Population
1980: 3,005,000
1990: 2,783,726
2000: 2,896,016
2003 estimate: 2,869,121
Percent change, 1990–2000: 4%
U.S. rank in 1980: 2nd
U.S. rank in 1990: 3rd (State rank: 1st)
U.S. rank in 2000: 3rd (State rank: 1st)
Metropolitan Area Population (PMSA)
1980: 7,937,290
1990: 7,410,858
2000: 9,157,450
Percent change, 1990–2000: 23.6%
U.S. rank in 1980: 3rd
U.S. rank in 1990: 3rd
U.S. rank in 2000: 3rd
Area: 228.4 square miles (2000)
Elevation: 578.5 feet above sea level
Average Annual Temperature: 49.8° F
Average Annual Precipitation: 35.82 inches
Major Economic Sectors: Services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, government
Unemployment Rate: 6.4% (February 2005)
Per Capita Income: $20,175 (1999)
2002 FBI Crime Index Total: Not Reported
Major Colleges and Universities: University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Chicago; DePaul University; Loyola University of Chicago
Daily Newspapers:Chicago Tribune; Chicago Sun-Times
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Dictionary: Chi·ca·go   (shĭ-kä'gō, -kô'-) pronunciation
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The largest city of Illinois, in the northeast part of the state on Lake Michigan. It is a major port and the commercial, financial, industrial, and cultural center of the Midwest. It is also the third-largest U.S. city. Chicago was nearly destroyed by a disastrous fire in 1871. Population: 2,830,000.

Chicagoan Chi·ca'go·an n.

WORD HISTORY   People from Chicago ought to like onions. The name Chicago is first recorded in 1688 in a French document, where it appears as Chigagou, an Algonquian word meaning "onion field." In explanation of this name, the document states there that wild onion or garlic grew profusely in the area. The name of the field or meadow was first transferred to the river and then was given to the city in 1830.

 

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Chicago

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City (pop., 2007 est.: 2,836,658), northeastern Illinois, U.S. Located on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, Chicago has extensive port facilities. In the 17th century the name was associated with a portage between the Des Plaines and Chicago rivers connecting the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River. Fort Dearborn was built in the early 1800s on a tract acquired from Indians. It expanded rapidly after the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) — which connected Lake Michigan to the Illinois River and thereby to the Mississippi — and also became the nation's chief rail centre. Rebuilt quickly after a hugely destructive fire in 1871, it was the site of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. It was the birthplace of the steel-frame skyscraper in the late 19th century, and it boasts designs by eminent architects, including Louis H. Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Nuclear scientists produced the first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago in 1942. After World War II the city underwent another building boom, but, as in other large cities, its population subsequently dropped as its suburbs grew. The third largest U.S. city, it is a major industrial, commercial, and transportation centre and is the site of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. Several museums and the Art Institute of Chicago are located there.

For more information on Chicago, visit Britannica.com.

 
US History Encyclopedia:

Chicago

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Chicago, the largest city in the Midwest, is located at the southwest corner of Lake Michigan. In 1673, the French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette led the first recorded European expedition to the site of the future city. It was a muddy, malodorous plain the American Indians called Chicagoua, meaning place of the wild garlic or skunkweed, but Jolliet recognized the site's strategic importance as a portage between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River valley. The French government ignored Jolliet's recommendation to construct a canal across the portage and thereby link Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. Not until 1779 did a mulatto fur trader, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, establish a trading post along the Chicago River and become Chicago's first permanent resident. In 1803, the U.S. government built Fort Dearborn across the river from the trading post, but during the War of 1812, Indians allied to the British destroyed the fort and killed most of the white inhabitants. In 1816, Fort Dearborn was rebuilt and became the hub of a small trading settlement.

The state of Illinois revived Jolliet's dream of a canal linking Lake Michigan and the Mississippi Valley, and in 1830 the state canal commissioners surveyed and platted the town of Chicago at the eastern terminus of the proposed waterway. During the mid-1830s, land speculators swarmed to the community, anticipating a commercial boom once the canal opened, and by 1837 there were more than 4,000 residents. In the late 1830s, however, the land boom busted, plunging the young settlement into economic depression.

During the late 1840s, Chicago's fortunes revived. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal finally opened to traffic, as did the city's first rail line. By 1857, eleven trunk lines radiated from the city with 120 trains arriving and departing daily. Moreover, Chicago was the world's largest primary grain port and the point at which lumber from Michigan and Wisconsin was shipped westward to treeless prairie settlements. Also arriving by ship and rail were thousands of new settlers, increasing the city's population to 29,963 in 1850 and 109,260 in 1860. Irish immigrants came to dig the canal, but New comers from Germany soon outnumbered them and remained the city's largest foreign-born group from 1850 to 1920. In the 1870s and 1880s, Scandinavian immigrants added to the city's diversity, and by 1890, Chicago had the largest Scandinavian population of any city in America.

Attracting the New comers was the city's booming economy. In 1847, Cyrus McCormick moved his reaper works to Chicago, and by the late 1880s, the midwestern metropolis was producing 15 percent of the nation's farm machinery. During the 1860s, Chicago became the nation's premier meatpacking center, and in 1865 local entrepreneurs opened the Union Stock Yards on the edge of the city, the largest of its kind in the world. In the early 1880s, George Pullman erected his giant railroad car works and model industrial town just to the south of Chicago. Meanwhile, Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck Company were making Chicago the mail-order capital of the world.

The Great Fire of 1871 proved a temporary setback for the city, destroying the entire central business district and leaving approximately one-third of the city's 300,000 people homeless. But Chicago quickly rebuilt, and during the 1880s and 1890s, the city's architects earned renown for their innovative buildings. In 1885, William Le Baron Jenney completed the first office building supported by a cage of iron and steel beams. Other Chicagoans followed suit, erecting iron and steel frame skyscrapers that astounded visitors to the city. Chicago's population was also soaring, surpassing the one million mark in 1890. In 1893, the wonders of Chicago were on display to sightseers from throughout the world when the city hosted the World's Columbian Exposition. An estimated 27 million people swarmed to the fair, admiring the neoclassical exposition buildings as well as enjoying such midway attractions as the world's first Ferris wheel.

Some Chicagoans, however, did not share in the city's good fortunes. By the last decades of the century, thousands of New comers from eastern and southern Europe were crowding into slum neighborhoods, and disgruntled workers were earning the city a reputation for labor violence. The Haymarket Riot of 1886 shocked the nation, as did the Pullman Strike of 1894, during which workers in Pullman's supposedly model community rebelled against the industrialist's tightfisted paternalism. In 1889, Jane Addams founded Hull-House, a place where more affluent and better-educated Chicagoans could mix with less fortunate slum dwellers and hopefully bridge the chasms of class dividing the city.

Meanwhile, the architect-planner Daniel Burnham sought to re-create Chicago in his comprehensive city plan of 1909. A model of "city beautiful" planning, Burnham's scheme proposed a continuous strand of parkland stretching twenty-five miles along the lakefront, grand diagonal boulevards imposed on the city's existing grid of streets, and a monumental neoclassical civic center on the near west side. Although not all of Burnham's proposals were realized, the plan inspired other cities to think big and draft comprehensive blueprints for future development. It was a landmark in the history of city planning, just as Chicago's skyscrapers were landmarks in the history of architecture.

During the post–World War I era, violence blemished the reputation of the Midwest's largest city. Between 1915 and 1919, thousands of southern blacks migrated to the city, and white reaction was not friendly. In July 1919, a race riot raged for five days, leaving twenty-three blacks and fifteen whites dead. Ten years later, the St. Valentine's Day massacre of seven North Side Gang members con-firmed Chicago's reputation for gangland violence. Home of the notorious mobster Al Capone, Prohibition-era Chicago was renowned for bootlegging and gunfire. The Century of Progress Exposition of 1933, commemorating the city's one-hundredth anniversary, drew millions of visitors to the city and offered cosmetic relief for the blemished city, but few could forget that in Chicago bloodshed was not confined to the stockyards.

In 1931, Anton Cermak became mayor and ushered in almost fifty years of rule by the city's Democratic political machine. The greatest machine figure was Mayor Richard J. Daley, who presided over the city from 1955 to his death in 1976. Under his leadership, Chicago won a reputation as the city that worked, unlike other American metropolises that seemed increasingly out of control. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a downtown building boom produced three of the world's tallest buildings, the John Hancock Center, the Amoco Building, and the Sears Tower. Moreover, the huge McCormick Place convention hall consolidated Chicago's standing as the nation's premier convention destination. And throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the city's O'Hare Field ranked as the world's busiest airport.

Yet the city did not necessarily work for all Chicagoans. The bitter demonstrations and "police riot" out-side the 1968 Democratic National Convention signaled trouble to the whole world. By the 1970s, a growing number of African Americans felt that the Democratic machine was offering them a raw deal. A combination of black migration from the South and white migration to the suburbs had produced a marked change in the racial composition of the city; in 1940, blacks constituted 8.2 percent of the population, whereas in 1980 they comprised 39.8 percent. By constructing huge high-rise public housing projects in traditional ghetto areas, the machine ensured that poor blacks remained segregated residentially, and these projects bred as many problems as the slums they replaced. As the number of manufacturing jobs declined in rust belt centers such as Chicago, blacks suffered higher unemployment rates than whites. Meanwhile, the Democratic machine seemed unresponsive to the demands of African Americans who had loyally cast their ballots for the Democratic Party since the 1930s.

Rebelling against the white party leaders, in 1983 African Americans exploited their voting strength and elected Harold Washington as the city's first black mayor. Although many thought that Washington's election represented the dawning of a new era in Chicago politics, the mayor was forced to spend much of his four years in office battling white Democratic aldermen reluctant to accept the shift in political power. In any case, in 1989, Richard M. Daley, son of the former Democratic boss, won the mayor's office, a position he was to hold for the remainder of the century.

Despite the new skyscrapers, busy airport, and thousands of convention goers, the second half of the twentieth century was generally a period of decline during which the city lost residents, wealth, and jobs to the suburbs. Chicago's population peaked at 3,621,000 in 1950 and then dropped every decade until 1990, when it was 2,784,000. During the last decade of the century, however, it rose 4 percent to 2,896,000. Much of this growth could be attributed to an influx of Latin American immigrants; in 2000, Hispanics constituted 26 percent of the city's population. A growing number of affluent whites were also attracted to gentrifying neighborhoods in the city's core. But during the last two decades of the century, the African American component declined both in absolute numbers and as a portion of the total population. The black-and-white city of the mid-twentieth century no longer existed. Hispanics and a growing Asian American population had diversified the Chicago scene.

Bibliography

Cronon, William. Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. New York: Norton, 1991.

Green, Paul M., and Melvin G. Holli, eds. The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987.

Mayer, Harold M., and Richard C. Wade. Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.

Miller, Donald L. City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.

Pacyga, Dominic A., and Ellen Skerrett. Chicago, City of Neighborhoods: Histories and Tours. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1986.

Pierce, Bessie Louise. A History of Chicago. 3 vols. New York: Knopf, 1937–1957.

—Jon C. Teaford

 
Columbia Encyclopedia:

Chicago

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Chicago (shĭkä'gō, shĭkô'gō), city (1990 pop. 2,783,726), seat of Cook co., NE Ill., on Lake Michigan; inc. 1837. The third largest city in the United States and the heart of a metropolitan area of over 8 million people, it is the commercial, financial, industrial, and cultural center for a vast region and a midcontinental shipping point. A major Great Lakes port, it is also an historic rail and highway hub. O'Hare International Airport is the second busiest in the nation. An enormous variety of goods are manufactured in the area. Despite an overall decline in industry, Chicago has retained large grain mills and elevators, iron- and steelworks, steel fabricators, and meatpacking, food-processing, chemical, machinery, and electronics plants. The city has long been a publishing center; the Chicago Tribune is among the most widely read newspapers in the country.

Chicago covers over 200 sq mi (520 sq km); it extends more than 20 mi (32 km) along the lakefront, then sprawls inland to the west. Its metropolitan area stretches in the north to the Wisconsin border and in the south to industrial suburbs on and beyond the Indiana border. In addition to its noted expressways and boulevards, Chicago has a system of elevated (partly underground) railways that extend into the heart of the city, making a huge rectangle, the celebrated Loop, which gives its name to the downtown section.

Neighborhoods and Points of Interest

In or near the center of the city are the Merchandise Mart, the world's largest commercial building; the Chicago Public Library, with the Harold Washington Library Center downtown as well as neighborhood and traveling branches; the Chicago Board of Trade building; and the homes of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Civic Opera. La Salle Street is the financial center. On the lakefront, which has many beaches, are Grant Park, with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Natural History Museum, the Adler Planetarium, the Buckingham Memorial Fountain, and the John G. Shedd Aquarium; and Millennium Park, with the Jay Pritzker Pavilion (designed by Frank Gehry). Nearby is Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears (National Football League). To the north is the Navy Pier recreation and entertainment complex (opened 1995) and along Michigan Avenue lies the "magnificent mile," Chicago's famous shopping district.

In the residential district to the north lies Lincoln Park, with the Chicago Historical Society building, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, a zoological garden, and a conservatory; sculpture in the park includes the noted standing figure of Abraham Lincoln (1887) by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and the John P. Altgeld memorial monument (1915) by Gutzon Borglum. The North Side is also the site of Wrigley Field, the home of the National League Cubs, one of Chicago's two major league baseball teams.

The American League's White Sox play on the South Side at U.S. Cellular Field. The South Side of Chicago also is the seat of the Univ. of Chicago, with its imposing Gothic buildings; the John Crerar Library of scientific books is there. Nearby is Jackson Park, with the Museum of Science and Industry. Much of the South Side, however, comprises poor and working-class residential areas, including the homes of the nation's largest African-American population. There, also, were the Union Stock Yards (founded 1865 and closed in the 1970s). At the southern edge of the city are once-enormous iron- and steelworks.

The vast West Side is usually spoken of as a region of nationalities because of the many groups living there, in close proximity yet more or less separate culturally. These neighborhoods grew rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th cent. In the West Side and the suburbs to the west are large industrial areas and two well-known parks-Garfield Park, with its noted conservatory, and Humboldt Park. The west is famous for Hull House, the settlement house founded (1889) by Jane Addams. In 1961 the Hull House location, part of an urban renewal project, was selected as the site of the Chicago campus of the Univ. of Illinois.

Other points of interest in Chicago are McCormick Place, the mammoth convention and exhibition center on the lakefront; the Auditorium, designed by Louis H. Sullivan; St. Patrick's Church (dedicated 1856); and a water tower that survived the great fire of 1871. Besides the Univ. of Chicago, the city's institutions include De Paul Univ., Northeastern Illinois Univ., Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola Univ. of Chicago, Mundelein College, Roosevelt Univ., St. Xavier College, Chicago State Univ., Columbia College, North Park College, parts of Northwestern Univ., and the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (including the medical center). There are a number of theological seminaries, and schools of music, art, and law. The noted Newberry Library and the Library of International Relations are in Chicago, and the city has a vibrant theatrical community. The city's other major sports teams are the Bulls (basketball) and Blackhawks (hockey).

History

From the Early Days to 1850

Notable as dividing lines in the city are the two branches of the Chicago River. In early days the river was important because the narrow watershed between it and the Des Plaines River (draining into the Mississippi through the Illinois River) offered an easy portage that led explorers, fur traders, and missionaries from the Great Lakes to the Great Plains. Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet arrived here in 1673, and the spot was well known for a century before Jean Baptiste Point Sable (or Point DuSable or Point de Sable), a black man possibly of Haitian origin, set up a trading post at the mouth of the river. John Kinzie, who succeeded him as a trader, is usually called the father of Chicago.

A military post, Fort Dearborn, was established in 1803. In the War of 1812 its garrison perished in one of the most famous tragedies of Western history. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in 1816, and the construction of the Erie Canal in the next decade speeded the settling of the Midwest and the growth of Chicago. Harbor improvements, lake traffic, and the peopling of the prairie farmlands brought prosperity to the city. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, however, authorized by Congress in 1827 and completed in 1848, was soon rendered virtually obsolete by the arrival of railroads.

The Fire and Industrialization

By 1860 a number of rail lines connected Chicago with the rest of the nation, and the city was launched on its career as the great midcontinental shipping center. Gurdon S. Hubbard had already contributed to the establishment of the meatpacking industry, with its large stockyards. In 1871 the shambling city built of wood was almost entirely destroyed by a great fire (according to legend started when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern), which killed several hundred people, rendered 90,000 homeless, and destroyed some $200 million worth of property.

Chicago was rebuilt as a city of stone and steel. Industries sprang up, attracting thousands of immigrants. Many ethnic groups contributed to the modern city, including Germans, Scandinavians, Irish, Jews, Italians, Poles, Czechs, African Americans, Lithuanians, Croats, Greeks, and Chinese. With industry came labor strife, highlighted by the Haymarket Square riot of 1886 and the great strikes at Pullman in 1894 (see Debs, Eugene V., and Altgeld, John P.). Upton Sinclair's novel of the Chicago stockyards, The Jungle, aroused public indignation and led to investigations and improvements.

Center of Culture

The city, although proud of its reputation for brawling lustiness, was also the center of Midwestern culture. Theodore Thomas and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra founded a great musical tradition. Chicago's literary reputation was established in the early 20th cent. by such men as Carl Sandburg, Theodore Dreiser, Eugene Field, Edgar Lee Masters, and James T. Farrell. Saul Bellow and Studs Terkel would continue this tradition later in the century.

Most notable in the development of American thought and taste in art was the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. One of the architects at the fair was Louis H. Sullivan, who, together with D. H. Burnham, John W. Root, Dankmar Adler, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others, made Chicago a leading architectural center. In 1909, D. H. Burnham and Edward Bennett devised their Plan of Chicago, later known as the "Burnham Plan," a forward-looking piece of city planning containing many features that were implemented later. It was here that one of the distinctive U.S. contributions to architecture, the skyscraper, came into being. Chicago's continuing interest in this type of structure is seen in the John Hancock Center (1968), the Amoco Building (1973, now the Aon Center), and the Sears Tower (1974, now the Willis Tower), which is the tallest building in the United States.

The Twentieth Century

Between World War I and 1933, Chicago earned unenviable renown as the home ground of gangsters-Al Capone being perhaps the most notorious-and its reputation for gangster warfare persisted long after that violent era had passed. Despite the worldwide depression of the 1930s, Chicago's world's fair, the Century of Progress Exposition (1933-34), proved how greatly the city had prospered and advanced. Perhaps the most significant event in World War II occurred (Dec. 2, 1942) under the stands of the Univ. of Chicago's Stagg Field, when Enrico Fermi and a group of scientists working on the government's atom bomb project achieved the world's first nuclear chain reaction. With the war came considerable growth in the Chicago metropolitan area, especially in outlying suburbs.

The city itself declined 23% in population between 1950 and 1990, although its diverse economic base spared it the worst of the economic decay of other large Midwestern cities. The population decline was reversed between 1990 and 2000, when it grew some 4%, largely due to the influx of Hispanic and Asian residents. Chicago's many cultural and other attractions make it a popular convention city; among the 25 national political conventions held there were the Republican national conventions of 1952 and 1960 and the Democratic national conventions of 1952, 1956, 1968, and 1996. The 1968 Democratic National Convention saw violent clashes between demonstrators and Chicago police and the National Guard. Mayor Richard J. Daley was criticized by the media for his manner of putting down the demonstrations, but Chicagoans overwhelmingly supported him. Chicagoans subsequently elected their first woman mayor (Jane Byrne, 1979-83) and their first African-American mayor (Harold Washington, 1983-87). Richard M. Daley was first elected to the office his father long held in 1989.

Bibliography

See R. A. Cromie, The Great Chicago Fire (1958); C. Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture (1964); T. A. Herr, Seventy Years in the Chicago Stockyards (1968); H. M. Mayer and R. Wade, Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis (1969); B. Berry et al., Chicago (1976); I. Cutler, Chicago: Metropolis of the Midwest (1982); M. H. Ebner, Creating Chicago's North Shore (1988); W. Cronon, Nature's Metropolis (repr. 1992); A. Ehrenhalt, The Lost City (1995); D. L. Miller, City of the Century (1996); J. R. Grossman et al., ed., The Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004); D. A. Pacyga, Chicago (2009).

 
Geography:

Chicago

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Largest city in Illinois; located on Lake Michigan.

  • Originally called the “Windy City” because the city bragged about the 1893 World Expo that was held there. The term has since come to refer to the strong northern winds that blow off the lake in the winter.
  • For many years the second largest city in the United States, before being displaced by Los Angeles, and therefore referred to as the “Second City.”
  • During the time of Prohibition, Chicago was controlled by gangsters, Al Capone being the most notorious. Gangster warfare continued long after this particularly violent period.
  • Carl Sandburg, in his poem “Chicago,” called the city the “Hog Butcher for the World” because of Chicago's heavy involvement in the meat-packing industry.
  • Chicago's downtown is referred to as the “Loop” because it is enclosed by elevated railways, called the “El.”

 
Weather:

Chicago

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AccuWeather® Current Conditions



CLOUDY		 Temperature: 73°F / 22°C
RealFeel Temperature™: 83°F / 28°C
Humidity: 73%
Winds: CLM 0 mph / 0 kmh
Pressure: 29.85"
Visibility: 10 mi. / 16 km

AccuWeather® 5-Day Forecast

Saturday HI:  84°F / 28°C
LO: 67°F / 19°C
Sunday HI:  86°F / 30°C
LO: 67°F / 19°C
Monday HI:  89°F / 31°C
LO: 72°F / 22°C
Tuesday HI:  89°F / 31°C
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Wednesday HI:  91°F / 32°C
LO: 67°F / 19°C
Last updated July 31, 2010 14:09 (EST)

 
Local Time:

Chicago, Illinois

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It is 1:52 PM, July 31, in Chicago (Illinois).

 
Maps:

Chicago

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Wikipedia:

Chicago

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"Windy City" redirects here. For other uses, see Windy City (disambiguation).
This article is about the U.S. city. For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation).
City of Chicago
—  City  —
From top left: Downtown Chicago, the Willis Tower, the Chicago Theatre, the Chicago 'L', Navy Pier, the Field Museum, and Millennium Park

Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): The Windy City, The Second City, Chi-Town, Hog Butcher for the World, City of Big Shoulders, The City That Works, and others found at List of nicknames for Chicago
Motto: Latin: Urbs in Horto (English: City in a Garden), Make Big Plans (Make No Small Plans), I Will
Location in the Chicago metropolitan area and Illinois
City of Chicago is located in the USA
City of Chicago
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 41°50′13″N 87°41′4″W / 41.83694°N 87.68444°W / 41.83694; -87.68444Coordinates: 41°50′13″N 87°41′4″W / 41.83694°N 87.68444°W / 41.83694; -87.68444
Country  United States
State  Illinois
Counties Cook, DuPage
Settled 1770s
Incorporated March 4, 1837
Named for Miami-Illinois: shikaakwa
("Wild onion")
Seat Cook County
Government
 - Type Mayor–council
 - Mayor Richard M. Daley
 - City Council
 - State House
 - State Senate
 - U.S. House
Area
 - City 234.0 sq mi (606.1 km2)
 - Land 227.2 sq mi (588.4 km2)
 - Water 6.9 sq mi (17.9 km2)  3.0%
 - Urban 2,122.8 sq mi (5,498 km2)
 - Metro 10,874 sq mi (28,163.5 km2)
Elevation 597 ft (182 m)
Population (2009)[1]
 - City 2,853,114 (3rd U.S.)
 - Density 12,649/sq mi (4,883.8/km2)
 - Urban 8,711,000
 - Metro 9,785,747
 - Demonym Chicagoan
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s) 312, 773, 872
Website www.cityofchicago.org
[2]

Chicago (Chicago-en-US-pronunciation.ogg /ʃɨˈkɑːɡoʊ/ (help·info) or /ʃɨˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the United States, with over 2.8 million living within the city limits. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland", is the 26th most populous[3] in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million people spread across the U.S. states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.[4][5] Chicago is primarily located within Cook County, with the exception of a small northwestern portion of the city at O'Hare International Airport that is located within DuPage County.

Chicago was founded in 1833, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land following the Treaty of Chicago. The city became a major transportation and telecommunications hub in North America.[6] Today, the city retains its status as a major hub, both for industry and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world. In 2008, the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors.[7]

In modern times, the city has taken on an additional dimension as a center for business and finance and is listed as one of the world's top ten Global Financial Centers. Chicago is a stronghold of the Democratic Party and has been home to many influential politicians, including the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Chicago as an "alpha world city" due to Chicago's important role in the global economic system.[8]

Globally recognized,[footnote 1] Chicago has numerous nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best known include: "Chi-town", "Windy City", "Second City",[footnote 2] and the "City of Big Shoulders".[footnote 3] Chicago has also been called "the most American of big cities".[12][13][14][15]

Contents

History

Main article: History of Chicago

Early history

See also: Origin of the name "Windy City"

During the mid 18th century the area was inhabited by a native American tribe known as the Potawatomis, who had taken the place of the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples. The first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, who was a man of mixed African and European heritage born in Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti), arrived in the 1770s, married a Potawatomi woman, and founded the area's first trading post. In 1795, following the Northwest Indian War, an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over by some Native Americans in the Treaty of Greenville to the United States for a military post.

In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in the 1812 Battle of Fort Dearborn. The Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi later ceded additional land to the United States in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were eventually forcibly removed from their land following the Treaty of Chicago in 1833. On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of around 200.[16] Within seven years it grew to a population of over 4,000. The City of Chicago was incorporated on March 4, 1837.

The name "Chicago" is a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, meaning "wild onion" or "wild garlic," from the Miami-Illinois language.[17][18][19][20] The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir written about the time.[21] The wild garlic plants, Allium tricoccum, were described by LaSalle's comrade, naturalist-diarist Henri Joutel, in his journal of LaSalle's last expedition.[22][23]

Infrastructure and regional development

Chicago - State St at Madison Ave, 1897.ogv
State and Madison Streets, the busiest corner in Chicago (1897)

The city began its step toward national primacy as an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, opened in 1838, which also marked the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants abroad. Manufacturing and retail sectors became dominant among Midwestern cities, influencing the American economy, particularly in meatpacking, with the advent of the refrigerated rail car and the regional centrality of the city's Union Stock Yards.[24]

In February 1856, the Chesbrough plan for the building of Chicago's and the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system was approved by the Common Council.[25] The project raised much of central Chicago to a new grade. Untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River, thence into Lake Michigan, polluting the primary source of fresh water for the city. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. In 1900, the problem of sewage was largely resolved when Chicago reversed the flow of the river, a process that began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal leading to the Illinois River which joins the Mississippi River.

Artist's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871

After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed a third of the city, including the entire central business district, Chicago experienced rapid rebuilding and growth.[26] During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed the world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction.[27] Labor conflicts and unrest followed, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886. Concern for social problems among Chicago's lower classes led Jane Addams to be a co-founder of Hull House in 1889. Programs developed there became a model for the new field of social work. The city also invested in many large, well-landscaped municipal parks, which also included public sanitation facilities.

In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park. The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history.[28] The University of Chicago was founded in 1892 on the same South Side location. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects Washington and Jackson Parks.

20th & 21st century

Buildings along the sides of a river in a panorama view
The Chicago River is the south border (right) of the Near North Side and Streeterville and the north border (left) of Chicago Loop, Lakeshore East and Illinois Center (from Lake Shore Drive's Link Bridge with Trump International Hotel and Tower at jog in the river in the center)

The 1920s brought notoriety to Chicago as gangsters, including the notorious Al Capone, battled each other and law enforcement on the city streets during the Prohibition era. Chicago had over 1,000 gangs in the 1920s.[29] The 1920s also saw a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the South. Between 1910 and 1930 alone, the Black population of Chicago increased from 44,103 to 233,903.[30] Arriving in the hundreds of thousands during the Great Migration, the newcomers had an immense cultural impact. It was during this wave that Chicago became a center for jazz, with King Oliver leading the way.[31] In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.

At 110 stories, Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, was completed in 1973, and stands as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project.

Mayor Richard J. Daley was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. Starting in the 1960s, many residents, as in most American cities, left the city for the suburbs. Structural changes in industry caused heavy losses of jobs for lower skilled workers. In 1966 James Bevel, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Albert Raby led the Chicago Open Housing Movement, which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders. Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, including full-scale riots, or in some cases police riots, in city streets. Major construction projects, including Willis Tower also known as the Sears Tower(which in 1974 became the world's tallest building), University of Illinois at Chicago, McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. When Richard J. Daley died, Michael Anthony Bilandic served as mayor for three years. Bilandic's subsequent loss in a primary election has been attributed to the city's inability to properly plow city streets during a heavy snowstorm. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city's first female mayor, was elected. She popularized the city as a movie location and tourist destination.

In 1983, Harold Washington became the first African American to be elected to the office of mayor, in one of the closest mayoral elections in Chicago. After Washington won the Democratic primary, racial motivations caused a few Democratic alderman and ward committeemen to back the Republican candidate Bernard Epton, who ran on the race-baiting slogan Before it's too late.[32] Washington's term in office saw new attention given to poor and minority neighborhoods.. Washington died in office of a heart attack in 1987, shortly after being elected to a second term. Current mayor Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. He has led many progressive changes to the city, including improving parks; creating incentives for sustainable development, including green roofs; and major new developments. Some neighborhoods have undergone gentrification in which some lower class areas have been transformed to high priced and middle-class neighborhoods.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Chicago

Topography

Aerial view of downtown and the North Side with beaches lining the lakeshore.
Chicago Harbor Lighthouse

Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. It sits on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. The city lies beside freshwater Lake Michigan, and two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow entirely or partially through Chicago. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal connects the Chicago River with the Des Plaines River, which runs to the west of the city. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect, moderating Chicago's climate; making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

When Chicago was founded in 1833, most of the early building began around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks.[33] The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas, is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176 m) above sea level. The lowest points are along the lake shore at 577 ft (176 m), while the highest point, at 735 ft (224 m), is a landfill located in the Hegewisch community area on the city's far south side.

Chicago Half Marathon on Lake Shore Drive next to Burnham Park in the South Side.

Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's lakefront. Parks along the lakeshore include: Lincoln Park, Grant Park, Burnham Park and Jackson Park; 29 public beaches are also found along the shore. Near downtown, landfill extends into the Lake, providing space for the Jardine Water Purification Plant, Navy Pier, Northerly Island, the Museum Campus, Soldier Field and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings can be found within a few blocks of the lake.

Chicagoland is an informal name for the Chicago metro area, used primarily by copywriters, advertising agencies, and traffic reporters. There is no precise definition for the term "Chicagoland", but it generally means the city and its suburbs together. The Chicago Tribune, which coined the term, includes the city of Chicago, the rest of Cook County, eight nearby Illinois counties: Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Will and Kankakee, and three counties in Indiana: Lake, Porter, and LaPorte.[34] The Illinois Department of Tourism defines Chicagoland as Cook County without the city of Chicago, and only Lake, DuPage, Kane and Will counties.[35] The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce defines it as all of Cook and DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.[36]

Climate

The city lies within the humid continental climate zone, and experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are warm and humid with average daytime high temperatures of 80 to 85 °F (27 to 29 °C). On a normal summer temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on 17 days. With nighttime lows of 61 to 66 °F (16 to 19 °C). Winters are cold, snowy, and windy, with some sunny days, and with temperatures (particularly at night) below freezing. Spring and fall are mild seasons with low humidity.

According to the National Weather Service, Chicago's highest official temperature reading of 105 °F (41 °C) was recorded on July 24, 1934. The lowest temperature of −27 °F (−33 °C) was recorded on January 20, 1985. The city can experience extreme winter cold spells that may last for several consecutive days.


Climate data for Chicago (Midway Airport)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 67
(19.4)		 75
(23.9)		 88
(31.1)		 91
(32.8)		 98
(36.7)		 104
(40)		 105
(40.6)		 102
(38.9)		 101
(38.3)		 94
(34.4)		 81
(27.2)		 71
(21.7)		 105
(40.6)
Average high °F (°C) 30.7
(-0.72)		 36.1
(2.28)		 47.4
(8.56)		 59.2
(15.11)		 71.3
(21.83)		 80.8
(27.11)		 84.7
(29.28)		 82.3
(27.94)		 75.1
(23.94)		 63.2
(17.33)		 48.0
(8.89)		 35.6
(2)		 59.5
(15.28)
Average low °F (°C) 16.2
(-8.78)		 21.3
(-5.94)		 30.6
(-0.78)		 40.2
(4.56)		 50.9
(10.5)		 60.7
(15.94)		 66.3
(19.06)		 65.0
(18.33)		 56.7
(13.72)		 44.9
(7.17)		 33.6
(0.89)		 22.2
(-5.44)		 42.4
(5.78)
Record low °F (°C) −27
(-32.8)		 −21
(-29.4)		 −12
(-24.4)		 7
(-13.9)		 27
(-2.8)		 35
(1.7)		 45
(7.2)		 43
(6.1)		 29
(-1.7)		 14
(-10)		 −2
(-18.9)		 −25
(-31.7)		 −27
(-32.8)
Precipitation inches (mm) 1.95
(49.5)		 1.78
(45.2)		 2.83
(71.9)		 3.82
(97)		 3.86
(98)		 4.16
(105.7)		 3.82
(97)		 3.91
(99.3)		 3.45
(87.6)		 2.79
(70.9)		 3.22
(81.8)		 2.76
(70.1)		 38.35
(974.1)
Snowfall inches (cm) 12.9
(32.8)		 10.3
(26.2)		 6.0
(15.2)		 1.4
(3.6)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0.1
(0.3)		 2.3
(5.8)		 10.1
(25.7)		 43.1
(109.5)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 11.2 8.9 11.7 11.6 11.0 10.3 9.5 9.6 8.9 9.7 11.5 11.3 125.2
Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 6.2 6.2 4.5 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 2.7 7.2 28
Sunshine hours 136.4 138.4 186.0 216.0 282.1 312.0 319.3 282.1 228.0 192.2 114.0 105.4 2,511.9
Source: NOAA [37], Illinois State Climatologist Office[38], HKO (sun) [39]

Cityscape

Chicago skyline from Adler Planetarium
v • d • e
Chicago Landmarks

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Chicago
See also: List of tallest buildings in Chicago and List of Chicago Landmarks
Looking north from Wacker Drive at Trump Tower and the Wrigley Building, with John Hancock Center in the distance on the left side.

The outcome of the Great Chicago Fire led to the largest building boom in the history of the nation. Perhaps the most outstanding of these events was the relocation of many of the nation's most prominent architects from New England to the city for construction of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition.

In 1885, the first steel-framed high-rise building, the Home Insurance Building, rose in Chicago, ushering in the skyscraper era.[40] Today, Chicago's skyline is among the world's tallest and most dense.[41] The nation's two tallest buildings are both located in Chicago; Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), and Trump International Hotel and Tower. The Loop's historic buildings include the Chicago Board of Trade Building, the Fine Arts Building, 35 East Wacker, and the Chicago Building, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments by Mies van der Rohe, along with many others. The Merchandise Mart, once first on the list of largest buildings in the world, and still listed as twentieth with its own ZIP code, stands near the junction of the North and South branches of the Chicago River. Presently, the four tallest buildings in the city are Willis Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower, the Aon Center (previously the Standard Oil Building), and the John Hancock Center. Industrial districts, such as on the South Side, the areas along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Chicago Southland, and Northwest Indiana are clustered. Future skyline plans include, amongst others, the supertall Chicago Spire.

Multiple kinds and scales of houses, townhouses, condominiums, and apartment buildings can be found in Chicago. Large swaths of Chicago's residential areas away from the lake are characterized by bungalows built from the early 20th century through the end of World War II. Chicago is also a prominent center of the Polish Cathedral style of church architecture. One of Chicago's suburbs, Oak Park, was home to the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Neighborhoods

Main article: Neighborhoods of Chicago
Community areas of Chicago

Chicago is partitioned into four main sections: Downtown (which contains the Loop), the North Side, the South Side, and the West Side. In the late 1920s, sociologists at the University of Chicago subdivided the city into 77 distinct community areas.

Downtown is the center of Chicago's cultural, commercial and financial institutions, and home to Grant Park and many of the city's skyscrapers. Many of the city's financial institutions are located within a section of downtown called "The Loop", which is an eight block by five block square of city streets that are encircled by elevated rail tracks.

The North Side is the most densely populated residential section of the city and many high-rises are located on this side of the city along the lakefront. Lincoln Park is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) park stretching for 5.5 mi (8.9 km) along the waterfront and is also home to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The River North neighborhood features the nation's largest concentration of contemporary art galleries outside of New York City. As a Polonia center, due to the city having a very large Polish population, Chicago celebrates every Labor Day weekend at the Taste of Polonia Festival in the Jefferson Park area.[42]

The South Side is home to the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry. It also hosts one of the city's largest parades, the annual African American Bud Billiken Day parade. Parkland stretches along the waterfront of the South Side. Two of the city's largest parks are located here: Jackson Park, bordering the waterfront, hosted the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and is home of the aforementioned museum. Slightly west sits Washington Park. The two parks themselves are connected by a separate strip of parkland called Midway Plaisance. Also, the U.S. automaker, Ford Motor Company, has an assembly plant located on the South Side.

The West Side holds the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest collections of tropical plants of any U.S. city. Cultural attractions include Humboldt Park's Puerto Rican Day Parade, Institute of Puerto Rican Arts, and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. The Near West Side holds the television production company of Harpo Studios.

Culture and contemporary life

See also: Culture of Chicago and List of people from Chicago
A Chicago jazz club

The city's lakefront allure and nightlife has attracted residents and tourists alike. Over one-third of the city population is concentrated in the lakefront neighborhoods (from Rogers Park in the north to South Shore in the south). Two North Side neighborhoods in particular, Lakeview and the Andersonville area of the Edgewater neighborhood, are home to many LGBT businesses and organizations. The area surrounding the North Side intersections of Halsted, Belmont, and Clark is a gay district known as "Boystown". The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These include the Mexican villages, such as Pilsen on 18th street and La Villita on 26th street, the Puerto Rican enclave Paseo Boricua in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, "Greektown" on South Halsted, "Little Italy" on Taylor Street, just west of Halsted, "Chinatown" on the near South Side, Polish fare reigns at Belmont-Central, "Little Seoul" on and around Lawrence Avenue, a cluster of Vietnamese restaurants on Argyle Street and South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) on Devon Avenue.

Entertainment and performing arts

See also: Theatre in Chicago and Visual arts of Chicago
The Chicago Theatre

Chicago's theatre community spawned modern improvisational theatre.[43] Two renowned comedy troupes emerged—The Second City and I.O. (formerly known as ImprovOlympic). Renowned Chicago theater companies include the Steppenwolf Theatre Company (on the city's north side), the Goodman Theatre, and the Victory Gardens Theater. Chicago offers Broadway-style entertainment at theaters such as Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre, Bank of America Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Auditorium Building of Roosevelt University, and Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place. Polish language productions for Chicago's large Polish speaking population can be seen at the historic Gateway Theatre in Jefferson Park. Since 1968, the Joseph Jefferson Awards are given annually to acknowledge excellence in theater in the Chicago area.

Classical music offerings include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the world,[44] which performs at Symphony Center. Also performing regularly at Symphony Center is the Chicago Sinfonietta, a more diverse and multicultural counterpart to the CSO. In the summer, many outdoor concerts are given in Grant Park and Millennium Park. Ravinia Park, located 25 miles (40 km) north of Chicago, is also a favorite destination for many Chicagoans, with performances occasionally given in Chicago locations such as the Harris Theater. The Civic Opera House is home to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Lithuanian Opera Company of Chicago was founded by Lithuanian Chicagoans in 1956,[45] and presents operas in Lithuanian. It celebrated fifty years of existence in 2006, and operates as a not-for-profit organization. It is noteworthy for performing the rarely staged Rossini's William Tell (1986) and Ponchielli's I Lituani (1981, 1983 and 1991), and also for contributing experienced chorus singers to the Lyric Opera of Chicago.[46] The opera Jūratė and Kastytis by Kazimieras Viktoras Banaitis was presented in Chicago in 1996.[47]

The Joffrey Ballet and Chicago Festival Ballet perform in various venues, including the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. Chicago is home to several other modern and jazz dance troupes, such as the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Other live music genre which are part of the city's cultural heritage include Chicago blues, Chicago soul, jazz, and gospel. The city is the birthplace of house music and is the site of an influential hip-hop scene. In the 1980s, the city was a center for industrial, punk and new wave. This influence continued into the alternative rock of the 1990s. The city has been an epicenter for rave culture since the 1980s. A flourishing independent rock music culture brought forth Chicago indie. Annual festivals feature various acts such as Lollapalooza, the Intonation Music Festival and Pitchfork Music Festival.

Tourism

View of Navy Pier from the 23rd floor of Lake Point Tower.
The Magnificent Mile hosts numerous upscale stores, as well as landmarks like the Chicago Water Tower.

In 2008, Chicago attracted 32.4 million domestic leisure travelers, 11.7 million domestic business travelers and 1.3 million overseas visitors.[7] These visitors contributed more than US$11.8 billion to Chicago's economy.[7] Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile and State Street, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. The city is the United States' third-largest convention destination. Most conventions are held at McCormick Place, just south of Soldier Field. The historic Chicago Cultural Center (1897), originally serving as the Chicago Public Library, now houses the city's Visitor Information Center, galleries and exhibit halls. The ceiling of its Preston Bradley Hall includes a 38 ft (12 m) Tiffany glass dome. Grant Park holds Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain (1927), and the Art Institute of Chicago. The park also hosts the annual Taste of Chicago festival. In Millennium Park, there is the reflective Cloud Gate sculpture. Also, an outdoor restaurant transforms into an ice rink in the winter season. Two tall glass sculptures make up the Crown Fountain. The fountain's two towers display visual effects from LED images of Chicagoans' faces, along with water spouting from their lips. Frank Gehry's detailed, stainless steel band shell, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, hosts the classical Grant Park Music Festival concert series. Behind the pavilion's stage is the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, an indoor venue for mid-sized performing arts companies, including the Chicago Opera Theater and Music of the Baroque.

Navy Pier, located just east of Streeterville, is 3,000 ft (910 m) long and houses retail stores, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls and auditoriums. Its 150-foot (46 m) tall Ferris wheel is one of the most visited landmarks in the Midwest, attracting about 8 million people annually.[48]

In 1998, the city officially opened the Museum Campus, a 10-acre (4.0 ha) lakefront park, surrounding three of the city's main museums, each of which is of national importance: the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park, which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts. Other museums and galleries in Chicago include the Chicago History Museum, the DuSable Museum of African American History, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Polish Museum of America, the Museum of Broadcast Communications and the Museum of Science and Industry.

The top activity while visitors tour Chicago for leisure is entertainment, approximately 33% of all leisure travelers. Facilities such as McCormick Place and the Chicago Theatre contribute to this percentage.[49]

Parks

Main article: Parks of Chicago
Portage Park on the Northwest Side and Washington Square Park on the Near North Side.

When Chicago was incorporated in 1837, it chose the motto Urbs in Horto, a Latin phrase which translates into English as "City in a Garden". Today, the Chicago Park District consists of 552 parks with over 7,300 acres (3,000 ha) of municipal parkland. There are 33 sand Chicago beaches, a plethora of museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons, and 10 bird and wildlife gardens.[50] Lincoln Park, the largest of the city's parks, covers 1,200 acres (490 ha) and has over 20 million visitors each year, making it second only to Central Park in New York City in number of visitors.[51] With berths for more than 5,000 boats, the Chicago Park District operates the nation's largest municipal harbor system; even larger than systems in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, or Miami. In addition to ongoing beautification and renewal projects for the existing parks, a number of new parks have been added in recent years, such as the Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown, DuSable Park on the Near North Side, and most notably, Millennium Park in the Chicago Loop.

The wealth of greenspace afforded by Chicago's parks is further augmented by the Cook County Forest Preserves, a network of open spaces containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes that are set aside as natural areas which lie along the city's periphery, home to both the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe and the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield.

Cuisine

See also: Chicago farmers' markets, Chicago Dining, and Food manufacturers of Chicago
Chicago-style pizza with a rich tomato topping
A Polish market in Chicago

Chicago lays claim to a large number of regional specialties, all of which reflect the city's ethnic and working class roots. Included among these are its nationally renowned deep-dish pizza, This style is said to have originated at Pizzeria Uno. The Chicago-style thin crust is popular in the city as well. The number of authentic Chicago pizzerias specializing in the thin crust version is much higher,[citation needed] with many being "Mom and Pop" style shops.

The Chicago-style hot dog, typically a Vienna Beef dog loaded with an array of fixings that often includes neon green pickle relish, yellow mustard, pickled sport peppers, tomato wedges, dill pickle spear and topped off with celery salt.[52] Ketchup on a Chicago hot dog is frowned upon by "enthusiasts" of the Chicago-style dog, but may prefer to add giardiniera.

There are several distinctly Chicago sandwiches, among them the Italian beef sandwich, which is thinly sliced beef slowly simmered au jus and served on an Italian roll with sweet peppers or spicy giardiniera. A popular modification is the Combo - an Italian beef sandwich with the addition of an Italian sausage. Another is the Maxwell Street Polish, a grilled or deep-fried kielbasa - on a hot dog roll, topped with grilled onions, yellow mustard, and hot sport peppers.[53]

Ethnically originated creations include chicken Vesuvio, which started as an Italian specialty in the 1930s,[citation needed] with roasted bone-in chicken cooked in oil and garlic next to garlicky oven-roasted potato wedges and a sprinkling of green peas. Another is the Puerto Rican-influenced jibarito, a sandwich made with flattened, fried green plantains instead of bread. Yet another is the Greek saganaki, an appetizer of cheese served flambé at the table.[54]

The Taste of Chicago in Grant Park runs from the final week of June through Fourth of July weekend. Hundreds of local restaurants take part.

A number of famous chefs have restaurants in Chicago, including Charlie Trotter, Rick Tramonto, Jean Joho, Grant Achatz, and Rick Bayless

Chicago features a wide selection of vegetarian cuisine, with 22 fully vegetarian restaurants and many vegetarian-friendly establishments within the city.[55][56]

Sports

Main article: Sports in Chicago
Wrigley Field
Soldier Field

Chicago was named the Best Sports City in the United States by The Sporting News in 1993 and 2006.[57] The city is home to two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams: the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL), who play in Wrigley Field on the North Side, and the Chicago White Sox of the American League (AL), who play in U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side. Chicago is the only city in North America that has had more than one MLB franchise every year since the AL began in 1900. The Chicago Machine, a member of Major League Lacrosse play at Toyota Park. The Chicago Bears, one of the last two remaining charter members of the National Football League (NFL), have won nine NFL Championships, including Super Bowl XX. The other remaining charter franchise, the Chicago Cardinals, also started out in the city, but are now known as the Arizona Cardinals. The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field in the downtown area.

The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) are one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world. During the 1990s with Michael Jordan leading them, the Bulls took six NBA championships in eight seasons (only failing to do so in the two years of Jordan's absence). The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), who began play in 1926, have won four Stanley Cups. The Blackhawks are the 2009–10 Stanley Cup champions, and hosted the 2009 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Both the Bulls and Blackhawks play at the United Center on the Near West Side. The Chicago Fire are members of Major League Soccer and reside at Toyota Park in suburban Bridgeview, after playing its first eight seasons at Soldier Field. The Fire have won one league title and four U.S. Open Cups since their founding in 1997.

The Chicago Marathon has been held each year since 1977 except for in 1987, when a half marathon was run in its place. The Chicago Marathon is one of five World Marathon Majors.[58] In 1994, the United States hosted a successful FIFA World Cup with games played at Soldier Field on Chicago's downtown lakefront.

After a months long process that saw the elimination of several American and international cities, Chicago was selected on April 14, 2007, to represent the United States internationally in the bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[59][60] Chicago had previously hosted the 1959 Pan American Games and the 2006 Gay Games. Chicago was selected to host the 1904 Olympics, but they were transferred to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair.[61] On June 4, 2008, the International Olympic Committee narrowed the field further and selected Chicago as one of four candidate cities for the 2016 games. On October 2, 2009, Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Starting just off Navy Pier is Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac, a 330-mile (530 km) offshore sailboat race held each July that is the longest annual freshwater sailing distance race in the world. 2010 marks the 102nd running of the "Mac".[62]

At the collegiate level, Chicago and suburban Evanston have two national athletic conferences represented, the Big East Conference with DePaul University, and the Big Ten Conference with Northwestern University in Evanston. Loyola University Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago play Division I sports as members of the Horizon League.

Media

See also: Media in Chicago, List of fiction set in Chicago, and Chicago International Film Festival
Harpo Studios, headquarters of talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

The Chicago metropolitan area is the third-largest media market in North America, after New York City and Los Angeles.[63] Each of the big four U.S. television networks, CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox, directly owns and operates a high-definition television station in Chicago (WBBM, WLS, WMAQ and WFLD, respectively). WGN-TV, which is owned by the Tribune Company, is carried with some programming differences, as "WGN America" on cable TV nationwide and in parts of the Caribbean. The city is also the home of several talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show on WLS-TV, while Chicago Public Radio produces programs such as PRI's This American Life and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Chicago's PBS station can be seen on WTTW, producer of shows, such as Sneak Previews, The Frugal Gourmet, Lamb Chop's Play-Along and The McLaughlin Group, just to name a few and WYCC.

There are two major daily newspapers published in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the former having the larger circulation. There are also several regional and special-interest newspapers and magazines, such as Chicago, the Dziennik Związkowy (Polish Daily News), Draugas (the Lithuanian daily newspaper), the Chicago Reader, the SouthtownStar, the Chicago Defender, the Daily Herald, StreetWise and the Windy City Times.

Chicago is a filming-friendly location. Since the 1980s, many motion pictures have been filmed in the city, most notably The Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone, The Fugitive, Wanted, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Transformers 3.

Chicago is also home to a number of national radio shows, including Beyond the Beltway with Bruce DuMont on Sunday evenings.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Chicago
The Chicago Board of Trade Building at night

Chicago has the third largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—approximately $506 billion according to 2007 estimates.[64] The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification.[65] Chicago was named the fourth most important business center in the world in the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index.[66] Additionally, the Chicago metropolitan area recorded the greatest number of new or expanded corporate facilities in the United States for six out of the seven years from 2001 to 2008.[67] The Chicago metropolitan area has the third largest science and engineering work force of any metropolitan area in the nation.[68] In 2008, Chicago placed 16th on the UBS list of the world's richest cities.[69] Chicago was the base of commercial operations for industrialists John Crerar, John Whitfield Bunn, Richard Teller Crane, Marshall Field, John Farwell, Morris Selz, and many other commercial visionaries who laid the foundation for Midwestern and global industry.

Chicago is a major world financial center, with the second largest central business district in the U.S.[70] The city is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Seventh District of the Federal Reserve). The city is also home to three major financial and futures exchanges, including the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the "Merc"), which includes the former Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Perhaps due to the influence of the Chicago school of economics, the city also has markets trading unusual contracts such as emissions (on the Chicago Climate Exchange) and equity style indices (on the U.S. Futures Exchange).

The city and its surrounding metropolitan area are home to the second largest labor pool in the United States with approximately 4.25 million workers.[71]

Manufacturing, printing, publishing and food processing also play major roles in the city's economy. Several medical products and services companies are headquartered in the Chicago area, including Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Financial Services division of General Electric. Moreover, the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which helped move goods from the Great Lakes south on the Mississippi River, and of the railroads in the 19th century made the city a major transportation center in the United States. In the 1840s, Chicago became a major grain port, and in the 1850s and 1860s Chicago's pork and beef industry expanded. As the major meat companies grew in Chicago many, such as Armour and Company, created global enterprises. Though the meatpacking industry currently plays a lesser role in the city's economy, Chicago continues to be a major transportation and distribution center.

Late in the 19th Century, Chicago was part of the bicycle craze, as home to Western Wheel Company, which introduced stamping to the production process and significantly reduced costs,[72] while early in the 20th Century, the city was part of the automobile revolution, hosting the Brass Era car builder Bugmobile, which was founded there in 1907.[73] Chicago was also home to the Schwinn Bicycle Company.

Chicago is a major world convention destination. The city's main convention center is McCormick Place. With its four interconnected buildings, it is the largest convention center in the nation and third largest in the world.[74] Chicago also ranks third in the U.S. (behind Las Vegas and Orlando) in number of conventions hosted annually.[75] In addition, Chicago is home to eleven Fortune 500 companies, while the entire Chicago metropolitan area hosts 32 Fortune 500 companies.[76] The state of Illinois is home to 66 Fortune 1000 companies, including those in Chicago.[77] The city of Chicago also hosts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies and 17 Financial Times 500 companies. The city claims one Dow 30 company: aerospace giant Boeing, which moved its headquarters from Seattle to the Chicago Loop in 2001. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network at Loughborough University in England classified Chicago as an "alpha− world city" in a 2008 study.[78][79]

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1840 4,470
—
1850 29,963 570.3%
1860 112,172 274.4%
1870 298,977 166.5%
1880 503,185 68.3%
1890 1,099,850 118.6%
1900 1,698,575 54.4%
1910 2,185,283 28.7%
1920 2,701,705 23.6%
1930 3,376,438 25.0%
1940 3,396,808 0.6%
1950 3,620,962 6.6%
1960 3,550,404 −1.9%
1970 3,366,957 −5.2%
1980 3,005,072 −10.7%
1990 2,783,726 −7.4%
2000 2,896,016 4.0%
Est. 2008 2,853,114 [80] −1.5%
Main article: Demographics of Chicago

During its first century as a city, Chicago grew at a rate that ranked among the fastest growing in the world. Within the span of forty years, the city's population grew from slightly under 30,000 to over 1 million by 1890. By the close of the 19th century, Chicago was the fifth largest city in the world,[81] and the largest of the cities that did not exist at the dawn of the century. Within fifty years of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the population had tripled to over 3 million,[82] and reached its highest ever-recorded population of 3.6 million for the 1950 census.

As of the 2000 census, there were 2,896,016 people, 1,061,928 households, and 632,558 families residing within Chicago. More than half the population of the state of Illinois lives in the Chicago metropolitan area. The population density of the city itself was 12,750.3 /sq mi (4,922.9 /km2), making it one of the nation's most densely populated cities. There were 1,152,868 housing units at an average density of 5,075.8 /sq mi (1,959.8 /km2). Of the 1,061,928 households, 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 18.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families.[83] The median income for a household in the city was $38,625, and the median income for a family was $42,724. Males had a median income of $35,907 versus $30,536 for females. About 16.6% of families and 19.6% of the population lived below the poverty line.[84]

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey [85], the racial composition of the city are 39.9% White (Non-Hispanic Whites: 31.5%), 34.6% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 4.9% Asian, 18.6% from some other race and 1.7% from Two or more races. Hispanic or Latino (of any race) make up 27.8% of the population.

According to the 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates for Total Ancestry Reported, for the city of Chicago, the majority of residents, or 64% of 2,986,974 people, reported their ancestry as "other groups".[86] Of the 36% of residents that reported their ancestries in groups that were measured by the U.S. Census Bureau, the largest groups, based on the total population, were: Irish (6.6%); German (6.5%); Polish (5.8%); Italian (3.4%); English (1.98%); Sub-Saharan African (1.2%); American (1.1%); Russian (0.97%); Swedish (0.91%); French (except Basque) (0.85%); Arab (0.68%); Greek (0.63%); Dutch (0.53%); Norwegian (0.52%); Scottish (0.49%); European (0.47%); West Indian (0.46%); Lithuanian (0.43%); Ukrainian (0.38%); Czech (0.36%); Hungarian (0.27%); Scotch-Irish (0.21%); Welsh (0.20%); Danish (0.18%); French Canadian (0.16%); Slovak (0.15%); British (0.12%); Swiss (0.10%); and Portuguese (0.05%).[86]

Because of Chicago's large multi-ethnic population, a wide variety of faiths are practiced. Various Christian denominations, including diverse Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches, are found throughout the area, along with adherents of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Bahá'í, and many others.

Law and government

Main articles: Law and government of Chicago and Political history of Chicago
A Critical Mass gathering on the Daley Plaza, with Chicago City Hall in the background and Chicago Picasso on the right

Chicago is the county seat of Cook County. The government of the City of Chicago is divided into executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the various departments. In addition to the mayor, Chicago's two other citywide elected officials are the clerk and the treasurer.

The City Council is the legislative branch and is made up of 50 aldermen, one elected from each ward in the city. The council enacts local ordinances and approves the city budget. Government priorities and activities are established in a budget ordinance usually adopted each November. The council takes official action through the passage of ordinances and resolutions.

During much of the last half of the 19th century, Chicago's politics were dominated by a growing Democratic Party organization dominated by ethnic ward-heelers. During the 1880s and 1890s, Chicago had a powerful radical tradition with large and highly organized socialist, anarchist and labor organizations.[87] For much of the 20th century, Chicago has been among the largest and most reliable Democratic strongholds in the United States, with Chicago's Democratic vote the state of Illinois has been "solid blue" in presidential elections since 1992. The citizens of Chicago have not elected a Republican mayor since 1927, when William Thompson was voted into office. The strength of the party in the city is partly a consequence of Illinois state politics, where the Republicans have come to represent the rural and farm concerns while the Democrats support urban issues such as Chicago's public school funding. Chicago contains close to 25% of the state's population, and as such, eight of Illinois' nineteen U.S. Representatives have part of Chicago in their districts.

Former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley's mastery of machine politics preserved the Chicago Democratic Machine long after the demise of similar machines in other large U.S. cities.[88] During much of that time, the city administration found opposition mainly from a liberal "independent" faction of the Democratic Party. The independents finally gained control of city government in 1983 with the election of Harold Washington. Since 1989, Chicago has been under the leadership of Richard M. Daley, the son of Richard J. Daley. Because of the dominance of the Democratic Party in Chicago, the Democratic primary vote held in the spring is generally more significant than the general elections in November.

Crime

Main articles: Crime in Chicago and Organized crime in Chicago

Murders in the city peaked first in 1974, with 970 murders when the city's population was over three million people (resulting in a murder rate of around 29 per 100,000), and again in 1992 with 943 murders, resulting in a murder rate of 34 per 100,000.[89] Chicago, along with other major US cities, experienced a significant reduction in violent crime rates through the 1990s, eventually recording 448 homicides in 2004, the lowest total since 1965 (15.65 per 100,000.) Chicago's homicide tally remained steady throughout 2005, 2006, and 2007 with 449, 452, and 435 respectively.

In 2008, murders rebounded to 510, 2nd highest in the country, breaking 500 for the first time since 2003.[90][91] As of late September 2009 the murder count was down about 10% for the year.[92][93]

Education

Main article: Chicago Public Schools
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Lincoln Park High School

There are 675 public schools,[94] 394 private schools, 83 colleges, and 88 libraries in the Chicago proper. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the governing body of the school district that contains over 600 public elementary and high schools citywide, including several selective-admission magnet schools. The district, with an enrollment exceeding 400,000 students (2005 stat.), ranks as the third largest in the U.S.[95] Chicago's private schools are largely run by religious groups, with the two largest systems being the Catholic and Lutheran schools. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago operates the city's Catholic schools, including the Jesuit preparatory schools. Some of the more prominent Catholic schools are: De La Salle Institute, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Brother Rice High School, St. Ignatius College Preparatory School, St. Scholastica Academy, Mount Carmel High School, Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, Marist High School, St. Patrick High School and Resurrection High School. In addition to Chicago's network of 32 Lutheran schools,[96] there are also several private schools run by other denominations and faiths, such as the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in West Ridge and the Fasman Yeshiva High School in Skokie, a nearby suburb. Additionally, a number of private schools are run in a completely secular educational environment, such as the Latin School of Chicago, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde Park, the Francis W. Parker School, the Chicago City Day School in Lake View, and the Morgan Park Academy. Chicago is also home of the private Chicago Academy for the Arts, a high school focused on six different categories of the arts, such as Media Arts, Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Musical Theatre and Theatre.

Colleges and universities

For a more comprehensive list, see List of colleges and universities in Chicago
The University of Chicago, as seen from the Midway Plaisance

Since the 1850s, Chicago has been a world center of higher education and research with several universities that are in the city proper or in the immediate environs. These institutions consistently rank among the top "National Universities" in the United States, as determined by U.S. News & World Report. Three top-tier research (RU/VH) universities are found in or adjacent to the city: the University of Chicago; Northwestern University; and, the University of Illinois at Chicago. Other selective local universities include the Illinois Institute of Technology; Loyola University Chicago; and, DePaul University.[97] Other notable schools include: Chicago State University; the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; East–West University; National-Louis University; North Park University; Northeastern Illinois University; Columbia College Chicago; Robert Morris University; Roosevelt University; Saint Xavier University and Rush University.

William Rainey Harper, the first president of the University of Chicago, was instrumental in the creation of the junior college concept, establishing nearby Joliet Junior College as the first in the nation in 1901.[98] His legacy continues with the multiple community colleges in the Chicago proper, including the seven City Colleges of Chicago, Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy–King College, Malcolm X College, Olive–Harvey College, Harry S Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College, in addition to the privately held MacCormac College.

Chicago proper also has a large concentration of graduate schools, seminaries and theological schools such as the Adler School of Professional Psychology, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, the Catholic Theological Union, Moody Bible Institute and the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Main articles: Transportation in Chicago and Roads and freeways in Chicago
A CTA Brown Line train leaving the Madison/Wabash station in the Chicago Loop.

Chicago is a major transportation hub in the United States. It is an important component in global distribution, as it is the third largest inter-modal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore.[99] Additionally, it is the only city in North America in which six Class I railroads meet.[100] As of 2002, severe freight train congestion caused trains to take as long to get through the Chicago region as it took to get there from the West Coast of the country (about 2 days).[101] About one-third of the country's freight trains pass through the city, making it a major national bottleneck.[102] Announced in 2003, the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) initiative is using about $1.5B in private railroad, state, local, and federal funding to improve rail infrastructure in the region to reduce freight rail congestion by about one third.[103] This is also expected to have a positive impact on passenger rail and road congestion, as well as create new greenspace.[104]

Chicago is one of the largest hubs of passenger rail service in the nation. Many Amtrak long distance services originate from Union Station. Such services terminate in New York, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C. Amtrak also provides a number of short-haul services throughout Illinois and toward nearby Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Detroit. An attempt was made in the early 20th century to link Chicago with New York City via the Chicago – New York Electric Air Line Railroad. Parts of this were built, but it was ultimately never completed.

Nine interstate highways run through Chicago and its suburbs. Segments that link to the city center are named after influential politicians, with four of them named after former U.S. Presidents. When referring to the expressways, local citizens tend to use the names of the expressways rather than the interstate numbers, primarily because the names denote certain sections of the interstate(s).

The Kennedy Expressway and the Dan Ryan Expressway are the busiest state maintained routes in the City of Chicago and its suburbs.[105]

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) coordinates the operation of the three service boards: CTA, Metra, and Pace. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) handles public transportation in the city of Chicago and a few adjacent suburbs outside of the Chicago city limits. The CTA operates an extensive network of buses and a rapid transit elevated and subway system known as the Chicago 'L' (for "elevated"), with lines designated by colors. These rapid transit lines also serve both Midway and O'Hare Airports. The CTA's rail lines consist of the Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Brown, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines. Both the Red and Blue lines offer 24 hour service which makes Chicago one of the few cities in the world (and one of only three cities in the United States of America) to offer rail service every day of the year for 24 hours around the clock. A new subway/elevated line, the Circle Line, is also in the planning stages by the CTA. Metra, the nation's second-most used passenger regional rail network, operates an 11-line commuter rail service in Chicago and its suburbs. The Metra Electric Line shares its trackage with Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's South Shore Line, which provides commuter service between South Bend and Chicago. Pace provides bus and paratransit service in over 200 surrounding suburbs with some extensions into the city as well. A 2005 study found that one quarter of commuters used public transit.[106]

Chicago offers a wide array of bicycle transportation facilities and events, including several miles of on-street bike lanes, 10,000 bike racks, 170 miles of bike route signage,[107] a state-of-the-art central bicycle commuter station in Millennium Park and the annual Bike Chicago festival.[108] The network has 100 mi (160 km) of on-street bike lanes and 50 mi (80 km) of off-street trails.[109] Bicycles are permitted on CTA trains and their fleet of over 2,000 buses that have been equipped with racks that carry bikes. The successes of the Bike Program are due in large part to Mayor Daley's leadership and the incorporation of bicycling into the mandates and programs of the Chicago Department of Transportation, CTA, Chicago Park District and the Mayor's Office of Special Events, in partnership with the Active Transportation Alliance.[110]

Chicago is served by Midway International Airport on the South Side and O'Hare International Airport, the world's second busiest airport, on the far Northwest Side. In 2005, O'Hare was the world's busiest airport by aircraft movements and the second busiest by total passenger traffic (due to government enforced flight caps).[111] Both O'Hare and Midway are owned and operated by the City of Chicago. Gary/Chicago International Airport, located in nearby Gary, Indiana, serves as the third Chicago area airport. Chicago is the world headquarters for United Airlines, the world's second-largest airline by revenue-passenger-kilometers and the city is a hub for American Airlines. Midway is a hub for low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines. Greyhound Lines provides inter-city bus service in Chicago.

Health systems

The new Prentice Women's Hospital at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University.

Chicago is home to the Illinois Medical District, on the Near West Side. It includes Rush University Medical Center, the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, Jesse Brown VA Hospital, and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, the largest trauma-center in the city.

The University of Chicago Medical Center was ranked the fourteenth best hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report.[112] It is the only hospital in Illinois ever to be included in the magazine's "Honor Roll" of the best hospitals in the United States.[113]

The Chicago campus of Northwestern University includes the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (rated best U.S. rehabilitation hospital by U.S. News & World Report), the new Prentice Women's Hospital, and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, which is currently under construction.

The University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC is the largest medical school in the United States (2600 students including those at campuses in Peoria, Rockford and Urbana–Champaign).[114]

In addition, the Chicago Medical School and Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine are located in the suburbs of North Chicago and Maywood, respectively. The Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine is in Downers Grove.

The American Medical Association, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, American Osteopathic Association, American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, American Dietetic Association, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, American College of Surgeons, American Society for Clinical Pathology, American College of Healthcare Executives and the American Hospital Association, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association are all based in Chicago.

Telecommunications

Using only 3% of the total available bandwidth capacity and 13% of the available fiber pairs, Chicago area data centers move data for local, area, regional and international networks.[6]

Utilities

Electricity for most of northern Illinois is provided by Commonwealth Edison, also known as ComEd. Their service territory borders Iroquois County to the south, the Wisconsin border to the north, the Iowa border to the west and the Indiana border to the east. In northern Illinois, ComEd (a division of Exelon) operates the greatest number of nuclear generating plants in any US state. Because of this, ComEd reports indicate that Chicago receives about 75% of its electricity from nuclear power. Recently, the city started the installation of wind turbines on government buildings with the aim to promote the use of renewable energy.[115][116][117]

Domestic and industrial waste was once incinerated but it is now landfilled, mainly in the Calumet area. From 1995 to 2008, the city had a blue bag program to divert certain refuse from landfills.[118] In the fall of 2007 the city began a pilot program for blue bin recycling similar to that of other cities due to low participation rates in the blue bag program. After completion of the pilot the city will determine whether to roll it out to all wards.

Sister cities

Chicago has twenty-seven Sister Cities and one Friendship City.[119] Like Chicago, many of them are or were, the second city of their country, or they are the main city of a country that has had many immigrants settle in Chicago. Paris is a Partner City, due to the one sister city policy of their respective French commune.[120]

To celebrate the sister cities, Chicago hosts a yearly festival in Daley Plaza, which features cultural acts and food tastings from the other cities.[119] In addition, the Chicago Sister Cities program hosts a number of delegation and formal exchanges.[119] In some cases, these exchanges have led to further informal collaborations, such as the academic relationship between the Buehler Center on Aging, Health & Society at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University and the Institute of Gerontology of the Ukraine (originally of the Soviet Union), that was originally established as part of the Chicago-Kiev sister cities program.[121]

Bibliography

  • Clymer, Floyd (1950). Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925. New York: Bonanza Books. OCLC 1966986. 
  • Madigan, Charles, ed (2004). Global Chicago. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02941-0. OCLC 54400307. 
  • Montejano, David, ed (1999). Chicano Politics and Society in the Late Twentieth Century. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-75215-6. OCLC 38879251. 
  • Norcliffe, Glen (2001). The Ride to Modernity: The Bicycle in Canada, 1869-1900. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-4398-4. OCLC 46625313. 
  • Pogorzelski, Daniel; Maloof, John (2008). Portage Park (IL) (Images of America). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-5229-1. OCLC 212843071. 
  • Sawyer, R. Keith (2002). Improvised dialogue: emergence and creativity in conversation. Westport, Conn.: Ablex Pub.. ISBN 1-56750-677-1. OCLC 59373382. 
  • Schneirov, Richard (1998). Labor and urban politics: class conflict and the origins of modern liberalism in Chicago, 1864-97. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06676-6. OCLC 37246254. 
  • Spears, Timothy B. (2005). Chicago dreaming: Midwesterners and the city, 1871-1919. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-76874-0. OCLC 56086689. 

Notes

  1. ^ Chicago notoriety comes from being the subject or being referenced in novels, plays, movies, songs, various types of journals (e.g., sports, entertainment, business, trade, and academic), and the news media.
  2. ^ A. J. Liebling coined the "Second City" phrase and applied it to Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.[9] In recent times, it is also used to boost Chicago's status as the second most prestigious city in the United States in many areas, such as entertainment, culture, and finance.[10]
  3. ^ Carl Sandburg referred to Chicago as the "City of Broad Shoulders" in one of his poems, referencing both the blue-collar power house of Chicago's early economy as well as its numerous skyscrapers (whose steel frame designs were largely pioneered in Chicago).[11]

References

  1. ^ "Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2008 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (SUB-EST2008-01)". 2008 Population Estimates. Population Division, United States Census Bureau. 2009-07-01. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2008-01.xls. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographical Names Information System: City of Chicago
  3. ^ "Demographia World Urban Areas & Population Projections" (PDF). Demographia. April 2009. p. pages 35, 91. http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-18. 
  4. ^ "Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (CBSA-EST2008-01)". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2009-03-19. http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2008/CBSA-EST2008-01.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
  5. ^ "Population in Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Ranked by 2000 Population for the United States and Puerto Rico" (CSV). U.S. Census Bureau. December 30, 2003. http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t29/tab03a.csv. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
  6. ^ a b "Telecommunications Hub" (PDF). World Business Chicago. http://www.worldbusinesschicago.com/Portals/0/infocenter_files/telecom_hub.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-15. [dead link]
  7. ^ a b c "2008 Visitor Volume Economic Impact". Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. 2010. http://www.choosechicago.com/media/statistics/visitor_impact/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 
  8. ^ P.J. Taylor et al (2009). "Measuring the World City Network: New Developments and Results". Research On Relations Between World Cities. Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network. p. see Table 1. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb300.html. Retrieved 2009-04-18. 
  9. ^ Sharon. "Chicago History Journal". Chicago History Journal. http://www.chicagohistoryjournal.com/2009/08/why-is-chicago-called-second-city.html. Retrieved 2010-02-26. 
  10. ^ Sarah S. Marcus. "Chicago's Twentieth-Century Cultural Exports". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410156.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  11. ^ "Carl Sandburg Poems - Chicago". Carl-sandburg.com. http://carl-sandburg.com/chicago.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-14. 
  12. ^ Architect Gallery website. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  13. ^ Skyscraper City website. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  14. ^ Mark Caro, The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight, p. 149, (Simon and Schuster, 2009), ISBN 978-1-4165-5668-8 found at Google books website. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  15. ^ Marco Portales, Latino sun, rising: our Spanish-speaking U.S. world, p. 54, (Texas A&M University Press, 2004) ISBN 978-1-58544-381-9, found at Google books website. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  16. ^ "Timeline: Early Chicago History". Chicago: City of the Century. WGBH Educational Foundation And Window to the World Communications, Inc.. 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-05-26. http://www.webcitation.org/5h38n983V. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
  17. ^ For a historical account of interest, see the section entitled "Origin of the word Chicago" in Andreas, Alfred Theodore, History of Chicago, A.T. Andreas, Chicago (1884) pp 37-38.
  18. ^ Swenson, John F. (Winter 1991). "Chicagoua/Chicago: The origin, meaning, and etymology of a place name". Illinois Historical Journal 84 (4): 235–248. ISSN 0748-8149. OCLC 25174749. 
  19. ^ McCafferty, Michael (21 December 2001). ""Chicago" Etymology". The LINGUIST List. http://linguistlist.org/issues/12/12-3157.html. Retrieved 22 October 2009. 
  20. ^ McCafferty, Michael (Summer 2003). "A Fresh Look at the Place Name Chicago". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (Illinois State Historical Society) 96 (2). ISSN 1522-1067. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3945/is_200307/ai_n9266765/?tag=content;col1. Retrieved 22 October 2009. 
  21. ^ Quaife, Milton M. Checagou, (Chicago:University of Chicago Press., 1933).
  22. ^ Zeldes, Leah A. (2010-04-05). "Ramping up: Chicago by any other name would smell as sweet". Dining Chicago. Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide, Inc.. http://www.diningchicago.com/blog/2010/04/05/ramping-up-chicago-by-any-other-name-would-smell-as-sweet/. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
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Chicago

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - Chicago

Français (French)
n. - Chicago

Deutsch (German)
n. - Chicago

Português (Portuguese)
n. - Chicago

Español (Spanish)
n. - Chicago

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
芝加哥

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 芝加哥

한국어 (Korean)
시카고 (미국 중부 Illinois 주 미국의 제2의 대도시)

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שיקאגו‬

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