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Chicago, Illinois
File:Chitown jc01.jpg
Flag of Chicago, Illinois
Flag
Official seal of Chicago, Illinois
Seal
Nicknames: 
The Windy City
Motto(s): 
Urbs In Horto" (Latin: "City in a Garden"), "I Will
Location in Chicagoland
Location in Chicagoland
Country
State
Counties		United States
Illinois
Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry, Kane, Kendall, and Grundy.
Government
 • MayorRichard M. Daley (D)
Population
 (2004)
 • City
2,862,244
 • Metro
9,750,000
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Websitehttp://egov.cityofchicago.org/
Founded1795
Incorporated1837
"Chicago" redirects here. For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation).

Chicagoⓘ, known as the "Second City," the "Windy City," and "Chi-town," (and other nicknames) is the third most populous city in the United States, following New York City and Los Angeles. Chicago is located in the Midwestern state of Illinois along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. When combined with its suburbs and nine surrounding counties in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, the greater metropolitan area known as Chicagoland encompasses a population of nearly 10 million people.

Growing from its 1833 founding as a frontier town of the Old Northwest into one of the world's premier cities, Chicago is ranked as one of 10 "Alpha" (most influential) world cities by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network. Chicago was the site of the world's first skyscraper, and today is the architectural, financial, and cultural capital of the Midwest and transportation center of the country, with more rail lines and interstates radiating from the city than any other city in the country. Chicago also leads the country in the number of conventions hosted annually. The city has long been known around the world as a financial, industrial, and transportation center and for its ethnic diversity. Chicago's skyscrapers, local cuisine, political traditions, and sports teams are some of its most recognized symbols. A variety of colloquial nicknames reflect Chicago's unique character.

A resident of Chicago is referred to as a Chicagoan. There is some ambiguity regarding the suburbs - some residents call themselves "Chicagoans" and identify with the central city, while others rarely deal with or visit the central city. Typically, residents of Chicago will identify themselves with one of the many neighborhoods of Chicago. About one-third of central-city Chicagoans are Caucasian, another third African American, around a quarter Hispanic and one-twentieth Asian, with small amounts of other groups filling in the remainder. Chicago also has several dozen distinct neighborhoods to match its ethnic diversity; the city is divided into 77 official community areas.

Origin of Name

The indigenous Potawatomi tribe called the marshes on which Chicago was later built "Checagou," which translates to "wild onion" or "garlic" (also referred to as "skunk cabbage"). This name was transferred by European explorers to the Chicago River, and then by settlers to the name of the city. Before Chicago's founding, the name of the river was spelled several ways, such as "Chetagu" or Shikago".

The origin of Chicago's nickname as "The Windy City" is debated and has many possible politically-motivated origins (see List of nicknames for Chicago). The phrase was created by New York newspapers in the 1880s, during a national debate over which city would host the 1893 World's Fair. However, the Chicago citizenry turned the intended slur into a compliment of the city's new life and vitality following a quick recovery from the previous decade's Great Chicago Fire. Hence the name remains in common usage.

History

Main article: History of Chicago
The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, the world's first skyscraper.

During the mid-1700s, the Chicago area was inhabited primarily by Potawatomis, who took the place of the Miami and Sauk and Fox. The first non-native settler in Chicago was Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a Haitian of African descent, who arrived in the 1770s, married a Potawatomi woman, and founded the area's first trading post. In 1803, the U.S. Army built Fort Dearborn; in 1812 it was destroyed in the Fort Dearborn Massacre. The Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi then ceded the land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty with the Ottawa, etc.

Incorporation and growth

On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago organized with a population of 350. Within seven years a flood of new arrivals from New England and other points east gave the town a population of over 4,000. Chicago incorporated on March 4, 1837 when the State of Illinois granted Chicago a city charter. Thus began the next step in what would become massive early growth. Many factors contributed to that growth but early on the most important aspects could be attributed to Chicago's geographic proximity in an expanding nation. The city was the logical transportation link between eastern and western United States, using the Great Lakes and the river systems, and (after 1850) the railroads. The opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 allowed shipping from the Great Lakes through Chicago to the Mississippi River. The first rail line to Chicago, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, was completed the same year. These projects foreshadowed Chicago's eventual development into the transportation hub of the United States.

Chicago, looking North from State and Washington Streets

The geography of Chicago presented early citizens with many problems, including transportation and sewage. These problems were rectified by several large public works projects.

The 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago nominated home-state candidate Abraham Lincoln for U.S. president, and was the first of twenty-five in the city.

By 1890, Chicago was the second largest city in the United States, after New York City. Chicago had grown to 1.1 million people in less than sixty years.

Great Chicago Fire

Main article: Great Chicago Fire

In 1871, most of the city burned in the Great Chicago Fire. By this time the city had a population of over 300,000. Due to the fire much of the city needed to be rebuilt; this gave city planners a clean slate to fix the problems of the past. In the following years, Chicago architecture would become influential throughout the world. The first skyscraper in the world was constructed in 1885 using novel steel skeleton construction. The architecture, however, was not the only aspect of Chicago that flourished after the fire. The rebuilding kickstarted the metabolism of business in the city, and contributed to the economic prosperity of the last 135 years.

Other tragic fires have plagued Chicago. 602 persons died in the Iroquois Theater fire in 1903. The LaSalle Hotel fire in 1946 claimed the lives of 61 guests. In 1958 a Roman Catholic elementary school, Our Lady of the Angels, burned 18 minutes before the end of the school day, killing 92 children and three teaching nuns.

20th century

State Street circa 1907

Lake Michigan — the primary source of fresh water for the city — was already highly polluted from the rapidly growing industries in and around Chicago, a new way of procuring clean water was needed. The city embarked on a large tunnel excavation project and began building tunnels below Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. The water cribs were two miles (three kilometers) off the shore of Lake Michigan. The cribs failed to bring enough clean water because spring rains would wash the polluted water from the Chicago River into them. In 1900 this problem was solved by reversing the direction of the River's flow with the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal leading to the Illinois River. Fifteen years later, the Eastland, a large passenger ship, capsized in the river and sank with 841 deaths.

The 1920s brought international notoriety to Chicago as gangsters, such as Al Capone, battled each other and the law during the Prohibition era. Nevertheless, this decade also saw a large increase in industry in the city as well as the first arrivals of the Great Migration that would lead thousands of mostly Southern blacks to Chicago and other Northern cities.

On December 2, 1942, the world's first controlled nuclear reaction was conducted 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 so-called machine politics. During Daley's tenure the 1968 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, four major expressways were built, McCormick Place (the nation's busiest convention hall) was constructed, the Sears Tower became the world's tallest building and O'Hare Airport (which later became the world's busiest airport) was constructed. 1979 saw the election of the city's first female mayor, Jane Byrne. Four years later in 1983, Harold Washington became the first African American to be elected to the office of mayor. Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, became mayor in 1989. One new development under the younger Daley has sparked debate, the destruction of the city's vast public housing projects.

Starting in the 1950s, many upper- and middle-class citizens left the inner-city of Chicago for the suburbs, and the city itself shrank by nearly 700,000, leaving many impoverished neighborhoods in their wake. However, since the early 1990s, Chicago has seen a turnaround from the decline common to American cities following World War II. Many formerly abandoned neighborhoods are starting to show new life and the city's diversity has grown with larger percentages of ethnic groups such as Asians and Hispanics. In the 1990s alone, Chicago gained 113,000 new inhabitants.

The skyline of Chicago at sunset.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Chicago
USGS Landsat Image

Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan, its official Latidue/Longitude is 41°53′0″N 87°39′0″W / 41.88333°N 87.65000°W / 41.88333; -87.65000. It sits on the continental divide, at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. When Chicago was founded in the 1830s most of the early building began around the mouth of the Chicago River. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Chicago has a total area of 606.1 km² (234.0 mi²), of which 588.3 km² (227.1 mi²) is land and 17.8 km² (6.9 mi²) is water. The total area is 2.94% water. The city has been built on relatively flat land; the average elevation of land is 579 feet (176 meters) above sea level. The lowest points are along the lake shore at 577 feet (176 meters). The highest point at 735 feet (224 meters) is in the landfill on the city's far south side (41°39′18″N 87°34′44″W / 41.65500°N 87.57889°W / 41.65500; -87.57889). The highest naturally occurring point is near 95th street and Western Avenue at 666 feet (203 meters). The city lies beside Lake Michigan and two rivers, the Chicago in downtown and the Calumet in the industrial far South Side, entirely or partially flow 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.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Chicago
File:ChicagoWinter1.jpg
Chicago in winter

Chicago, like much of the Midwest, has a climate which is prone to variable weather. The city experiences four distinct seasons. In July the warmest month, high temperatures average 84°F (29°C), and low temperatures 63°F (17°C). In January, the coldest month, High temperatures average 29°F (-2°C), with low temperatures averaging 13°F (-11°C).

Chicago's yearly precipitation averages about 36 inches (914 mm). Summer is the rainiest season, with short-lived rainfall and thunderstorms more common than prolonged rainy periods[1]. Winter is the driest season, with most of the precipitation falling as snow.

Month [2] Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Avg high °F (°C) 32 (0) 38 (3) 47 (8) 59 (15) 70 (19) 80 (27) 84 (29) 83 (28) 76 (24) 64 (18) 49 (9) 37 (3) 60 (16)
Avg low temperature °F (°C) 18 (-8) 24 (-4) 32 (0) 42 (6) 51 (11) 61 (16) 66 (19) 65 (18) 57 (14) 46 (8) 35 (2) 24 (-4) 43 (6)
Rainfall in. (mm) 2.2 (55) 1.8 (45) 3.0 (77) 3.7 (93) 3.7 (94) 4.3 (109) 3.7 (94) 3.9 (98) 3.2 (82) 2.7 (69) 3.3 (84) 2.7 (67) 38.0 (965)

Geology

Since the first recorded earthquake in 1804 [3], Chicago has occasionally experienced earthquakes. More recently, an earthquake with an epicenter in Ottawa, Illinois registering about 4.3 on the Richter scale shook some buildings in Chicago on June 28, 2004. This earthquake sparked worries that the New Madrid fault might become active again. An earthquake of 6 or higher in the Missouri Fault might cause moderate to high damage in Chicago.

Law and government

Main article: Law and government of Chicago

Chicago is the largest city and the county seat of Cook County. The government of the City of Chicago is divided into executive and legislative branches. The mayor is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years. The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the various departments. The current mayor is Richard M. Daley, a Democrat. 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.

Politics

For much of the last century, Chicago has been among the largest and most reliable Democratic strongholds in the United States. The citizens of Chicago have not elected a Republican mayor since 1927, when William Thompson was voted into office. Today, only one alderman is Republican. 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 American cities. The city is also well known for corruption in many levels of government, a typical example being the Hired Trucking Scandal.

Chicago's politics lean famously to the left compared to the rest of the Midwest, and it is often said that Chicago is the "East Coast" of the Midwest. Social liberalism is strong in the city, with a strong majority of Chicagoans supporting welfare programs. In 2004, Mayor Richard M. Daley rejected a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in the city. The issue was controversial especially in Illinois, since the state is arguably the most varied in terms of liberal urban areas vs conservative rural areas. In partisan elections, such as for the State Legislature and U.S. Congress, most elections are won by Democrats, and the landslide election of Barack Obama to the U.S. Senate in 2004 was considerably helped by his tremendous vote totals in Chicago.

Law enforcement

CPD Officers making an arrest.

The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, under the jurisdiction of the mayor. It is the second largest police department in the nation (with 13,619 sworn officers and 2,625 other employees covering 227 square miles as of 2003), and one of the oldest organized police forces in the world. By comparison, Los Angeles, the nation's second largest city, has just over 9,000 sworn officers covering 469 square miles.

There are twenty-five police districts, each led by a commander. Each commander oversees a network of administrative and operational departments that include patrol officers, detective forces, and other investigative units. Commanders report to the superintendent of police who in turn is subject to the authority of the mayor of Chicago.

Crime

Despite its prosperity and reputation as a world-class city, Chicago's crime situation in the latter half of the 20th century, and the early years of the 21st, has often been poor. In addition to its gangland problems, starting in the late 1960s Chicago, like many other major American cities, saw a major rise in violent crime which took decades to reverse. Murders in the city peaked first in 1974, with 970 murders for the year when the city's population was over three million, resulting in a murder rate of around 28.8 per 100,000; and again in 1992, with 943 murders for the year when the city had fewer than three million people, resulting in a murder rate of 33.87 per 100,000. Following 1992, the murder count slowly petered down to 703 by 1999; by this time, it had the most murders of any big city in the country and continued to until 2004. That year, after adopting crime-fighting techniques recommended by the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, Chicago recorded 448 homicides, the lowest total since 1965. Despite the impressive gains, however, the city's murder rate of 15.65 (going by the 2004 population estimate) is still significantly higher than those of New York City and Los Angeles two other cities that have as well experienced declines in the murder rate over past decade.

Chicago has been among the first U.S. cities to build an integrated emergency response center to coordinate the city's response to terrorist attacks, gang violence, and natural disasters in the city. Built in 1995, the center is integrated with over 2000 cameras, a direct link to the National Counterterrorism Center, and communications with all levels of city government. Recently installed anti-crime cameras have been introduced and are capable of pinpointing gunshot sounds, calculating where the shots were fired, and pointing and zooming the cameras in the direction of the shots. So far early results show these new cameras to be highly effective in reducing crime within a 2 block radius. Placed in residential areas, these cameras cause some Chicagoans to feel uneasy about being so closely watched. They have prompted some calls of discrimination since these cameras are prevalent in Black and Latino communities.

The FBI often does not accept crime statistics submitted by the Chicago Police Department, which tallies data differently than other cities. For instance, the police record all criminal sexual assaults as opposed to only rape, like other police departments do; and aggravated battery is counted along with the standard category of aggravated assault. As a result, Chicago is often omitted from studies like Morgan Quitno's annual "Safest/Most Dangerous City" survey. [4] [5]

See also

People and culture

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Chicago
Chicago Demographics
2000 Census Data Chicago Illinois US
Total population 2,896,016 12,419,293 281,421,906
Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000 +9.4% +8.6% +13.1%
Population density 12,750.3/mi² 223.4mi² 79.6/mi²
Median household income (1999) $38,625 $46,590 $41,994
Per capita income (1999) $20,175 $23,104 $21,587
Bachelor's degree or higher 25.5% 26.1% 24.4%
Foreign born 21.7% 12.3% 11.1%
White 41.97% 73.5% 75.1%
Black 36.77% 15.1% 12.3%
Hispanic/Latino 26.02% 12.3% 12.5%
Asian 4.35% 3.4% 3.6%
City of Chicago
Population by year [6]
Year Population Rank
1840 4,470 92
1850 29,963 24
1860 112,172 9
1870 298,977 5
1880 503,185 4
1890 1,099,850 2
1900 1,698,575 2
1910 2,185,283 2
1920 2,701,705 2
1930 3,376,438 2
1940 3,396,808 2
1950 3,620,962 2
1960 3,550,404 2
1970 3,366,957 2
1980 3,005,072 2
1990 2,783,726 3
2000 2,896,016 3
Children playing in Chicago's Millennium Park

People living in Chicago are called "Chicagoans." The metropolitan area is referred to as "Chicagoland," and the term "Chicagoan" is therefore also sometimes applied colloquially to those living in one of the neighboring communities.

As of the 2000 census, there were 2,896,016 people, 1,061,928 households, and 632,909 families residing in the city of Chicago proper. A 2006 estimate puts the city's population at over 3 million. This encompasses about one-fifth of the entire population of the state of Illinois and 1% of the population of the United States. The population density was 4,923.0/km² (12,750.3/mi²). There were 1,152,868 housing units at an average density of 1,959.8/km² (5,075.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 36.39% Black or African American, 31.32% White, 26.02% Hispanic or Latino, 4.33% Asian and Pacific Islander, 1.64% from two or more races, 0.15% Native American, and 0.15% from other races. For changes between the 1990 and 2000 census, see [7].

The city itself makes up 23.3% percent of the total population of Illinois, down from a high of 44.3% in 1930.

Chicago's unique culture arises from it being a melting pot, with nearly even percentages of Caucasians and African-Americans and a sizeable Hispanic minority.

The main European ethnic groups in Chicago are the Irish, Germans, Italians and Polish. Chicago has a large Irish-American population on its South Side. Many of Chicago's politicians have come from this population, including current mayor Richard M. Daley. Chicago has the largest population of Swedish-Americans of any city in the US, numbering 123,000. After the Great Chicago Fire, many Swedish carpenters helped to rebuild the city, which is why it is sometimes called the city the Swedes built.

Today, Chicago has the largest ethnically Polish population outside of Poland, making it one of the most important Polonia centers. Polish food and customs have melted into the culture of the city. Chicago is also considered to be the second-largest Serbian and Lithuanian city in the world, and the third largest Greek city after Melbourne, Australia. The city also has the country's largest Assyrian population, numbering as many as 80,000 and is the location of the seat of the head of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Dinkha IV. It also has the second largest Mexican population in the U.S. behind Los Angeles.

The Chicago Metropolitan area is also becoming a major center for Indian-Americans and South Asians. Chicago has the third largest South Asian population in the country, after New York City and San Francisco. The Devon Avenue corridor on Chicago's north side is an example of this, as it is one of the largest South Asian neighborhoods in North America.

There are 1,061,928 households, of which 28.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 18.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. Of all households, 32.6% are made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.50.

Of the city population, 26.2% are under the age of 18, 11.2% are from 18 to 24, 33.4% are from 25 to 44, 18.9% are from 45 to 64, and 10.3% are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males. 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. The per capita income for the city was $20,175. Below the poverty line are 19.6% of the population and 16.6% of the families. Of the total population, 28.1% of those under the age of 18 and 15.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Museums and galleries

File:Millpark chi 2006.jpg
Millennium Park
The Shedd Aquarium.

In 1998, the City of Chicago officially opened the Museum Campus, a 10 acre lakefront park surrounding three of the city's main museums, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. The Museum Campus was constructed on the southern section of Grant Park. The construction project involved re-routing Lakeshore Drive to make room for the new park. Grant Park is also home to Chicago's other major downtown museum, the Art Institute of Chicago. Some other major museums and galleries of the Chicago area include:

Performing arts

File:Secondcity.jpg
A Promotional Sign for Chicago's "Second City" Comedy Troupe.
See also: Chicago theatre

Chicago is a well-known theater capital and the birthplace of improvisational comedy, where it remains extremely popular. The city is home to The Second City and I.O., two of the best-known comedy troupes in the world. It is also home to one of the longest running plays in the country the Neo-Futurarium's "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" an ensemble of 30 plays in 60 minutes. Many world-famous actors and comedians are Chicagoans or came to study in the area, particularly at Northwestern University in Evanston. The form itself was invented at the University of Chicago in the 1960s by an undergraduate performance group called the Compass Players, whose members went on to found Second City. (In honor of this, Second City returns to the school on major anniversaries to perform free shows.)

Since its founding in 1976 as an ensemble effort, Steppenwolf Theatre Company on the city's north side has nurtured a generation of gifted actors, directors and playwrights and grown into an internationally renowned company of thirty-five artists. Many other theatres, from new performances spaces to landmark houses like the Chicago Theatre on State and Lake, present a wide variety of plays and musicals, both touring shows and original works, such as the premiere in December 2004 of the Tony Award winner for Best Musical in 2005, Spamalot. Notably, the Goodman Theatre and the Victory Gardens Theatre have won regional Tony Awards, along with Steppenwolf.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago was founded in 1954 and performs in the Civic Opera Building, which was built in 1929 on the east bank of the Chicago River and is the second-largest opera auditorium in North America, with 3,563 seats. The Lyric Opera purchased the Civic Opera House from the building's owner in 1993. The company has reported an average of 100% sales for the past 16 years and approximately 34,000 subscribers for its six-month season.

The Joffrey Ballet makes its home in Chicago, as do several modern dance troupes such as the Hubbard Street Dance Company.

Music

Chicago Jazz Club

Chicago has made many significant pop-cultural contributions. In the field of music, Chicago is well-known for its Chicago blues, Chicago soul, Jazz, and Gospel. It is known as the birthplace of the House style of music, whose history is related to the development and fostering of the techno electronic style of music in nearby Michigan. The Hip-Hop scene in Chicago is also very influential, with major artists including Kanye West, Twista, R. Kelly, and Common.

The rock band Chicago was named after the city, although its original name was the Chicago Transit Authority. The band's name was shortened to Chicago after the CTA threatened to sue them for unauthorized use of the original trademark.

1990s' alternative bands Local H, Veruca Salt, Big Angry Fish!, The Lawrence Arms, Kill Hannah, Material Issue, Liz Phair, and The Smashing Pumpkins hail from Chicago. Contemporary rock band Wilco is also Chicago-based. The 2000s' have seen local artists Disturbed, Alkaline Trio, Chevelle, and Fall Out Boy also attain nationwide success.

Chicago's contribution to punk rock is generally not as highly regarded as cities on the coasts, but a handful of celebrated bands called the city home. The some of the more famous punk rock products of the city are Naked Raygun, The Effigies, Big Black (featuring Steve Albini), Screeching Weasel, and The Blue Meanies.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the nation's oldest and most respected orchestras of the nation.

Chicago's colorful history and culture have provided inspiration for a wide variety of musical compositions. In the 19th Century, for example, the chain of events surrounding the Great Chicago Fire led Chicago resident Horatio Spafford to write the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul".

Cuisine

Chicago's signature foods reflect the city's ethnic and working-class roots. Chicago deep-dish pizza was popularized by Pizzeria Uno. It is generally accepted that it was also invented at Uno in 1943. One of the creators of this new style of pizza was Rudy Malnati. Rudy's grandson, Lou, would go on to found Lou Malnati's which is another very popular purveyor of deep dish pizza. The first Lou Malnati's Pizzeria opened on March 17, 1971. Chicago deep-dish pizza is world renowned and popular locally, although thin-crust and other styles of pizza are also popular throughout the city. In particular, Chicago pizzerias also serve stuffed pizza (a close relative of deep dish), popularized by such places as Giordano's, and a style of thin crust that is crispy, rather than floppy in the style of New York and other East Coast cities. A traditional Chicago hotdog is typically loaded with mustard, chopped onion, sliced tomato, pickle relish, celery salt, sport peppers and a dill pickle spear. It is somewhat taboo to put ketchup on a Chicago hotdog; there are actually some small hotdog shops and stands that will refuse service to you if you make the request. A Chicago hotdog is almost always made out of Vienna Beef, the largest provider of hot dog meat for Chicago. Chicago is also known for Italian Beef sandwiches and the Maxwell Street Polish (always served topped with grilled onions and mustard).

Chicago also has a long list of world-renowned upscale dining establishments serving a wide array of cuisine from some of the most well-known chefs in the United States. Some notable destinations include Charlie Trotter's (chef Charlie Trotter) on Armitage in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, Frontera Grill, a gourmet Mexican restaurant owned by Food Network star Rick Bayless, and The Everest, a new-French restaurant on the top floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange building downtown.

Media and entertainment

See also: Media in Chicago
Harpo Studios, home of talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Chicago commands the third-largest market in North America (after New York City and Los Angeles) and as such has many different forms of media and outlets to support its status. All of the major US television networks have subsidiaries in Chicago. Chicago's local WGN-TV, which is owned by the Tribune Company, is carried (with some programming differences) as "Superstation WGN" on cable nation-wide.

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 a number of regional and special-interest newspapers such as the Daily Southtown, the Chicago Defender, the Newcity News, the Daily Herald, StreetWise and the Chicago Reader.

Chicago Public Radio offers diverse and informative programs and is perhaps best known for producing NPR favorites This American Life and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

Local blog sites of note are Gapers Block, FlowFeel and Bookslut.

See also

Economy

Main article: Economy of Chicago
Economic Profile
2000 Census Data Chicago Illinois US
Manufacturers shipments, 1997 ($1000) 26,789,880 200,019,991 3,842,061,405
Wholesale trade sales, 1997 ($1000) 31,971,060 205,968,383 N/A
Retail sales, 1997 ($1000) 13,882,143 176,002,177 2,460,886,012
Retail sales per capita, 1997 $4,944 $8,982 $9,190
accommodation and foodservices sales, 1997 ($1000) 4,481,917 14,826,805 N/A
Total number of firms, 1997 176,605 1,809,053 N/A
Minority-owned firms, percent of total, 1997 26.7% 12.5% 14.6%
Women-owned firms, percent of total, 1997 27.0% 27.2% 26.0%

Chicago has been a center for commerce in the United States for most of its modern history. Today, Chicago remains the United States' second financial center with the nation's second largest central business district and third largest gross metropolitan product. In fact, Chicago's gross metropolitan product would rank 18th in the world if it were a nation-state, at approximately $380 billion.

Before it was incorporated as a town in 1833, the primary industry was the fur trade. Chicago's early explosive growth led many land speculators and enterprising individuals to the area. Situated on the Great Lakes and with so many new people settling the area, Chicago became an ideal location for shipping and receiving goods. With that, many railroads started to be built from Chicago to other parts of the country, further aiding the growth of the city. Additionally, the building of the Illinois and Michigan Canal helped move goods south down the Mississippi River. In the 1840s, Chicago became the largest grain port in the world, shipping food from the Mississippi Valley region which was also growing into the largest food-producing region in the world. In 1848, Chicago built its first grain elevator, and, in 1858 there were twelve grain elevators dotting the skyline. Carl Sandburg described Chicago as a "stacker of wheat", and some would argue that the grain elevators were Chicago's first skyscrapers. In the 1850s and 1860s Chicago's pork and beef industry exploded. Great entrepreneurs such as Uwe Boll, Gustavus Swift, and Philip Armour helped the area to become the largest producer of meat products in the world at the time. By 1862, Chicago had displaced Cincinnati, Ohio, as "Porkopolis". During the 1860s two factors helped this development: first, the Civil War increased the demand for food products, and Chicago's transportation network ensured that goods could be delivered quickly to soldiers all over the northern United States; and second, meat packing plants began to utilize ice. Before this time, meat production and distribution facilities, otherwise known as disassembly plants, had to shut down in the hot summer months. More operating months meant hundreds of thousands of new man-hours in which people could work. The efficiency of Chicago's meat packing industry and its disassembly plants inspired others such as Henry Ford when he developed Model-T assembly lines. Today, we consider industries such as steel, oil, and banking to be the great global market segments, but in the 1860s Chicago's pork and beef industry represented the first global industry. As the major meat companies grew in Chicago many, such as Armour, created global enterprises and communicated with divisions spread across the globe via telegraph.

Chicago Board of Trade.

Modern-day futures and commodity trading markets were pioneered in Chicago. A number of events led to this, along with Chicago's transportation systems and geographic proximity to the rest of the country. Massive amounts of goods passed through Chicago from places in the Mississippi Valley such as St. Louis, Missouri. Grain was stored in Chicago, and people began buying contracts on it. Later, people as far away as New York City began buying contracts by telegraph on the goods that would be stored in Chicago in the future. From this were established the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and the modern systems we use today for futures and commodity trading.

Chicago, and its surrounding suburbs, are home to the second largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. The greater Chicago area hosts 31 members of the Fortune 500. The city of Chicago is home to 11 Fortune 500 companies, while the metropolitan area hosts a total of 21 members of the Fortune 500. Chicago also hosts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies and 17 Financial Times 500 companies.

Chicago, and its surrounding metropolitan area, are also home to the second largest labor pool in the United States numbering approximately 4.25 million workers.

See also

Education

Public education

File:Walterpaytonhs.jpg
Walter Payton College Prep, a part of the CPS.

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the school district that controls over 600 public elementary and high schools in Chicago. It is currently the third largest school district in the United States, with more 400,000 students enrolled in the school district and is led by CEO Arne Duncan. The CPS also includes a number of selective-admission magnet schools, such as Whitney Young Magnet High School, William Jones College Prep, Walter Payton College Prep Lane Tech College Prep and Northside College Preparatory High School.

Like many urban U.S. school districts, CPS suffered with a number of problems throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including overcrowding, underfunding, mismanagement and a high dropout rate. In 1987, then U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett named the Chicago Public Schools as the "worst in the nation." A number of school reform initiatives have since been undertaken to improve the system's performance. Reforms have included a system of Local School Councils, Charter Schools, efforts to end social promotion and others.

Higher education

Entrance to the University of Chicago's main quadrangle
Main article: Colleges and universities of Chicago

Chicago is home to two of America's leading universities, the University of Chicago in Hyde Park and Northwestern University in nearby Evanston. Northwestern also maintains a campus in downtown Chicago, near the Magnificent Mile.

The Illinois Institute of Technology in Bronzeville has notable engineering and architecture programs.

The city is also home to several honored Catholic universities, including Loyola University, with campuses in Rogers Park, Edgewater and Water Tower Place, and DePaul University, which is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private institution in Chicago, with campuses in Lincoln Park and the Loop.

The Chicago campus of the University of Illinois system, the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the city's largest university and one of the nation's largest urban public universities. Other state universities in Chicago include Chicago State University and Northeastern Illinois University.

A number of smaller colleges are known for fine arts education, including Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; annually, the latter ranks alongside the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale University as having the best graduate and undergraduate level arts programs in the country.

The Chicago region boasts 12 accredited theological schools representing Catholic and most mainline Protestant traditions. Those in Chicago are the United Church of Christ-related Chicago Theological Seminary--which is the city's oldest institution of higher education--Presbyterian-related McCormick Theological Seminary, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Unitarian-Universalist-related Meadville Lombard Theological School, the Catholic Theological Union, and the Evangelical Covenant Church related North Park Theological Seminary. These and the other accredited seminaries in the region are joined in a consortium known as the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS). The well-known evangelical/fundamentalist Moody Bible Institute is near downtown Chicago.

Dominican University, recognized for its accredited library and information science graduate programs, is located just outside Chicago in River Forest, but many of the library courses are taught at the Chicago Public Library's main Harold Washington building in the Loop.

The city also has a community college system known as the City Colleges of Chicago.

Many of these institutions have downtown campuses as well as suburban locations.

Sports

New Comiskey Park, now known as U.S. Cellular Field on Chicago's South Side. Home of the 2005 Champion Chicago White Sox.

Chicago is the only U.S. city that has two Major League Baseball teams (Chicago White Sox) and (Chicago Cubs); a National Football League team (Chicago Bears); the Major League Soccer team (Chicago Fire); the National Basketball Association team (Chicago Bulls); the Womens National Basketball Association team the (Chicago Sky); and the National Hockey League (Chicago Blackhawks); Chicago also has an American Hockey League team, the (Chicago Wolves); an Arena Football League team the (Chicago Rush); a Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) team the (Chicago Storm); a Major League Lacrosse team the (Chicago Machine) which will begin play in 2006; a National Lacrosse League team the (Chicago NLL); a National Pro Fastpitch team the (Chicago Bandits); and an {American Basketball Association (ABA)]] team the (Chicago Rockstars).

Broadcasting by Chicago TV station WGN-TV has helped spread the visibility of Chicago sports around the country. Chicago is the host for the 2006 Gay Games. The city of Chicago has also announced that it will bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Club Sport League Stadium Website
Chicago Bandits Womens Pro Softball National Pro Fastpitch Benedictine University Sports Complex softball Stadium www.profastpitch.com - www.chicagibandits.com
Chicago Bears Football National Football League Soldier Field www.nfl.com - www.chicagobears.com
Chicago Blackhawks Hockey National Hockey League United Center www.nhl.com - www.chicagoblackhawks.com
Chicago Bulls Basketball National Basketball Association United Center www.nba.com - www.chicagobulls.com
Chicago Cubs Baseball Major League Baseball-National League Wrigley Field www.mlb.com - www.chicagocubs.com
Chicago Fire Soccer Major League Soccer Bridgeview Stadium www.mlsnet.com - www.mls.net/MLS/chf/
Chicago Storm Indoor Soccer Major Indoor Soccer League UIC Pavilion www.misl.net - www.chicagostorm.net/
Chicago Sky Basketball Women's National Basketball Association UIC Pavilion www.wnba.com - www.wnba.com/SKY/
Chicago Rush Arena Football Arena Football League Allstate Arena www.arenafootball.com - www.chicagorush.com/
Chicago White Sox Baseball Major League Baseball-American League U.S. Cellular Field (New Comiskey Park) www.mlb.com - www.whitesox.com
Chicago Wolves Hockey American Hockey League Allstate Arena www.theahl.com - www.chicagowolves.com
Chicago Machine Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse Benedictine University www.majorleaguelacrosse.com - www.chicagomachine.com
Chicago NLL expansion team Lacrosse National Lacrosse League Sears Centre www.NLL.com - www.chicagonll.com
Chicago Rockstars Basketball ABA:White Conference Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center www.abalive.com - www.rockstarbasketball.com

Related topics

Transportation

In the Great Room at Union Station.

Chicago is considered to be the premier transportation hub in America. Much of this status stems from its geographic proximity during a time when the United States was growing quickly in population and area. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, completed in 1848, allowed for transportation around the world with connecting waterways through Chicago all the way to New York and the Atlantic Ocean, west to St. Louis, and south to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Chicago then became one of the largest grain and lumber ports in the world, with grain being sent to more established populations and lumber being sent to the forest-starved prairies where new settlers needed to build. Even today, Chicago's importance in global distribution remains, as it is the third largest inter-modal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore.

Streets and highways

Main article: Streets and highways of Chicago

The streets of Chicago primarily follow the grid system established by the Chicago City Council in 1908 and implemented on September 1, 1909. The baselines for numbering streets and buildings are State Street (east-west numbering) and Madison (north-south numbering). Street numbers begin at "1" at the baselines and run numerically in directions indicated to the city limits. Letters, N, S,E and W indicate directions.

The Lake Shore Drive (LSD) Bridge over the Chicago River.

The City of Chicago is divided into one-mile sections which contain eight blocks to the mile (though the street grid is not entirely uniform). Each block's addresses occupy a 100-number range, making a range of 800 address numbers cover approximately one mile. There are three exceptions to the 800-to-a-mile rule: Madison (the north-south zero point) to Roosevelt at 1200 south is one mile, as is Roosevelt to Cermak at 2200 south, and Cermak to 31st Street (3100 south). The regular 800-per-mile range resumes south of 31st Street so that 39th Street (3900 south) is one mile south of 31st Street. Even-numbered addresses are on the north and west sides of streets; odd-numbered address are on the south and east sides.

Seven interstate highways run through Chicago. Segments that link to the city center are named after influential politicians, and traffic reports tend to use the names rather than interstate numbers. The named interstate segments are the Kennedy Expressway (I-90 From the 'Loop' to O'Hare International Airport), Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94, From South of the 'Circle Interchange' to the I-57 Split), Stevenson Expressway (I-55), Edens Expressway (I-94), Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), Bishop Ford Expressway (I-94 from the I-57 Split south), and the Chicago Skyway (I-90 when it breaks off the Dan Ryan). Interstate 57 is not named.

Public transportation

 Central African Republic

Main article: Mass transit in Chicago

The Chicago Transit Authority or CTA, operates the second largest public transportation system in the United States (to New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and covers the City of Chicago and 40 surrounding suburbs. The CTA operates 24 hours a day and, on an average weekday, 1.6 million rides are taken on the CTA.

CTA has approximately 2,000 buses that operate over 152 routes and 2,273 route miles. Buses provide about 1 million passenger trips a day and serve more than 12,000 posted bus stops. CTA's 1,190 rapid transit cars operate over seven routes and 222 miles of track. CTA trains provide about 500,000 customer trips each day and serve 144 stations in Chicago, Evanston, Skokie, Wilmette, Rosemont, Forest Park, Oak Park and Cicero. The elevated train is also known as the "Chicago L" or "El" to Chicagoans.

Chicago is one of the few cities in the United States that provides rapid transit service to two major airports. From the downtown area the CTA's Blue Line takes customers to O'Hare International Airport in about 40 minutes and the Orange Line takes customers to Midway Airport in about 30 minutes from the Loop.

Metra operates commuter rail service at over 200 stations in Chicago and its suburbs. Metra features the Electric District Main Line, which offers commutes from the Far South Suburbs to Chicago's Lakefront Attractions like McCormick Place, Millennium Park, Soldier Field and Museum Campus. Metra's Electric Line is Chicago's oldest continuing commuter train (1856), sharing the railway with the South Shore Line's NICTD Northwest Indiana Commuter Rail Service, which accesses Chicago/Gary Airport.

Pace operates a primarily-suburban bus service that also offers some routes into Chicago.

Airports

Chicago skyline from a plane.
Main article: Airports of Chicago

In the 20th century, Chicago held on to its status as the nation's transportation hub with the building of two airports: Midway Airport, on the south side, which was superseded in the 1960s by O'Hare International Airport on the far northwest. Today, O'Hare is one of the world's busiest airports, playing an important role in domestic connections for many airlines. Both O'Hare and Midway are owned and operated by the city of Chicago. For years now, Illinois has debated opening a new airport near Peotone, Illinois, with no decision. For now the Gary/Chicago International Airport, located in nearby Gary, Indiana serves as the third Chicagoland airport.

See also

Health and medicine

Cook County Hospital

The United States has the largest health care system in the world, and Chicago is arguably the capital of that system. The city is first among the major dental and medical training centers in the United States. It is also home to the sprawling Illinois Medical District on the Near West Side, which includes Rush University Medical Center, the University of Illinois at Chicago medical center, and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, the largest trauma-center in the city and the basis for the hospital in NBC's popular drama ER.

The American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, American Dental Association, and the American College of Surgeons are based in the city. The American Osteopathic Association is also located in Chicago.

The University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC is the largest medical school in the United States (1300 students, including those at campuses in Peoria, Rockford and Urbana-Champaign). Chicago is also home to a large number of nationally recognized medical schools. These include the above-mentioned University of Illinois medical school, Rush Medical College, the Pritzker School of Medicine of the University of Chicago, and the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University. 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 located in Downers Grove.

The leading healthcare informatics organizations are located in Chicago, including the American Medical Informatics Association and the long-standing HIMSS Health Information Management Systems Society. These organizations include as members most healthcare I.T. vendors and the C.I.O./VP Technology leaders of most American healthcare operations.

Medical products and services companies headquartered in the Chicago area include Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Financial Services division of General Electric.

Utilities and infrastructure

Electric

Electricity is provided to residents through Commonwealth Edison, also known as ComEd. With over 6,000 employees ComEd provides service to all of northern Illinois. 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.

Telecommunications

Most landline telephone service is provided by AT&T, but there are a number of other smaller players such as RCN that service the city. New technologies allowing phone service over cable lines and the Internet are broadening the competitive landscape.

Related Topics

  • Area Codes
    • 312 (The Loop and central neighborhoods, e.g. the Near North Side)
    • 773 (Everywhere else in the city proper, the neighborhoods)
    • 847 (North and Northwest Suburbs)
    • 708 (Near West and South Suburbs)
    • 630 (Western Suburbs)
    • 224 (Overlay area code for 847)
    • 815 (far northwest and some south suburbs, Joliet)

Cable

Cable television services in Chicago are provided to the citizens through one of three providers over five service territories covering the city. The three players are Comcast, Wide Open West (WOW) and RCN. Comcast services are available city wide while RCN and WOW are only cover the North East and South side respectively. Service providers are regulated by The Office of Cable Communications which is a division of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

See also

References

  • Template:Wikitravelpar
  • City of Chicago Homepage
  • Edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, Janice L. Reiff., ed. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Chicago. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226310159. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  • The Encyclopedia of Chicago (online version)
  • Miller, Donald L. (1996). City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684801949. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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