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Chicago is the city that works. The city of big shoulders. Chicago contains
North America’s tallest building and one of the world’s largest office
buildings. It is a city where the ubiquitous el trains create an almost
deafening clatter. The city looks big. Feels big. Is big.
At first glance, it can be overwhelming. But like any city, Chicago is
the sum of its parts, and its parts are diverse. Chicago is known as the
city of neighborhoods. There are over 75 official neighborhoods in the
city, even more if you count the names real estate salespeople have come
up with. Each neighborhood has its own distinct quality and character.
So when trying to digest Chicago, don’t attempt to take it all in with
one big bite. Break it up into manageable portions.
In and Around Downtown
The Loop
This area takes its name from the elevated train, the “el,” that “loops”
around the city’s central core. While the downtown area continually expands
beyond these boundaries, much of the life blood that fuels the rest of the
city still pumps through the Loop. The Sears
Tower, North America’s tallest building is here, as is the Chicago
Board of Trade, one of the biggest options and futures trading floors
in the world. City government offices are based here, as are the home offices
of several major corporations.
When it's time for the city that works to relax, the Loop doesn’t disappoint.
The city’s magnificent Harold
Washington Library, the Art
Institute of Chicago and the Chicago
Cultural Center are all here. While not as ritzy as the city’s Magnificent
Mile, State Street is a shopping mecca, anchored by the flagship stores
of Marshall
Fields and Carson
Pirie Scott and Company, Old Navy, Filene's Basement and
several other chain stores have major outposts on State Street.
Thanks to a burgeoning theater district, the Loop is increasingly becoming
a place to be after the workday is ended. The recently restored Ford
Center for the Performing Arts-Oriental Theater joins the Shubert
Theater and Chicago
Theater to form an theater triumvirate where hugely lavish Broadway
productions typically play.
Many restaurants, such as The
Original Heaven on Seven, Miller’s
Pub, and Berghoff,
vie to whet the Loop-goers appetite. Newer “Boutique Hotels” such as the
Hotel
Allegro, Hotel
Burnham Chicago and Hotel
Monaco compete for guests against the more traditional Palmer
House and Chicago
Hilton Plaza and Towers.
While technically just outside the Loop’s borders, nearby Grant
Park is not to be missed. Hugging Lake Michigan, this park is frequently
termed Chicago’s front yard. The glitzy Buckingham
Fountain is here, as is a plush rose-garden and the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra’s outdoor home, Petrillo
Music Shell. The yard is immense, and has the capacity to hold up to
3 million people, as proven by the annual Taste
of Chicago festival. Grant Park also plays host to many music and arts
festivals during the summer, including Jazz
Fest, Blues
Fest, and Gospel
Fest.
Near North Side
Just to the North of the Loop, bordered by the Chicago River on the South,
the Lake on the East and North Avenue on the north, is Chicago’s Near North
Side neighborhood. This area is in turn made up of several other smaller
areas.
The city’s "Magnificent
Mile" (known as the "Mag Mile" to locals) is one the Near North’s most
famous components. Stretching along Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River
to Oak Street, this shoppers’ paradise is home to high-scale chains like
Neiman
Marcus and Bloomingdale's
at the 900
North Michigan Avenue Shops, as well as such lavish boutiques like Marylin
Miglin, Candle
Court, and
Room and Board. The city’s monument to modernity, the John
Hancock Tower, is here, just a few blocks from the city’s links to its
past, the Water Tower and the Chicago
Water Works, two of the few buildings that survived the great Chicago
Fire of 1871.
If you are wondering where the people who can afford to shop at the more
expensive stores on Michigan Avenue live, then head east to Streetervile,
or the adjoining Gold Coast neighborhoods. Theoretically, the Gold Coast
got its name from the African coast of the same name, but the moniker also
describes the area's opulence. Indeed, the neighborhood is the nation's
second wealthiest, surpassed only by New York City's Central Park East.
Sandwiched between the Mag Mile and the Chicago River is River North, home
to an eclectic mix of swank galleries, trendy restaurants (for example,
Wolfgang Puck’s Spago)
and theme restaurants here (for example, The
Hard Rock Café and Ed
Debvic’s). While many of the city’s residents would like to pretend
they have never been to these restaurants, they have--so go and enjoy with
a clear conscience.
South Loop
In stark contrast to the garish designs of the theme restaurants, the South
Loop offers a quaint, old-world charm, neighborhood bars and smaller restaurants.
Once home to one of the largest publishing centers in the Midwest, the warehouses
left behind have been renovated and taken over by young, affluent professionals
who wish to walk to work in the Loop. The area’s focal point, Dearborn
Station, sets the tone for the neighborhood. Once a rail transportation
hub, this building’s faé§ade has been lavishly restored.
Beyond Downtown
Hugging the lakefront is Lake Shore Drive, one of the city’s major north-south
arteries. While the Drive will take you to many of the city’s attractions,
don’t forget that this boulevard is an attraction itself. The lake view,
the bold skyline and even the drive’s own tree-lined medians offer some
of the best sights in the city.
But having said this, Chicagoans get in their cars to drive and have little
patience for Sunday drivers who gawk at the sites. So when you get on Lake
Shore Drive, make sure you have a destination in mind.
Lincoln Park
Coincidentally enough, driving north on the Drive will bring you to the
city’s North Side, and once you pass North Avenue, you’ll quickly be in
Lincoln Park, one of the city’s more gentrified areas. Tree-lined Fullerton
Boulevard with its brownstones converted into condos will give you a feel
for the people who live here. Cruising down Broadway Avenue, Lincoln Avenue
and Clark Street with the many Gaps, Urban
Outfitters, Starbucks and the increasingly rare independent boutique
shops will give you an idea of how the predominantly yuppie residents of
this neighborhood spend their money.
Lincoln Park also abuts and runs into the DePaul
University neighborhood. As such, a variety of bars, dance spots, and
inexpensive restaurants in Lincoln Park cater to the college and just-out-of-college
crowd.
Not all of Lincoln Park is hustle and bustle. In fact, the park the neighborhood
takes its name from is one of the city’s largest and most bucolic.
Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed New York’s Central
Park, Lincoln
Park encompasses over 1,000 acres. It contains a zoo,
a conservatory,
a pleasant tarn and several paths connecting it to lakefront beaches. Pickup
games of soccer and ultimate frisbee abound on warm summer days.
Lakeview
Heading farther north will bring you to Lakeview, a neighborhood that serves
as a popular nightlife center for both the straight and gay and lesbian
communities. For better or worse, these groups tend to party separately,
with the standout exception being
Berlin, a late-night dance club where hipsters of all orientations party
together.
Halsted Street between Belmont Avenue and Addison Street serves as the headquarters
for nightlife for the gay and lesbian community. The area isn’t hard to
find -- just look for the gigantic rainbow-colored pylons that dot the sidewalks.
Stop in at Sidetrack
Video Bar to start the night. For dancing, head to Roscoe's
Tavern or to Spin.
If partying isn’t your thing, don’t despair, the area also offers its share
of restaurants, from Ann
Sather’s and Nookies
Tree to the 24-hour Melrose
Restaurant.
For the straight set, head a few blocks west to Wrigleyville, a bar area
that gets its name from nearby Wrigley
Field, home of the Chicago
Cubs baseball team. The numerous taverns here make for excellent bar-hopping,
so stop in Hi-Tops,
the Cubby
Bear and The
Metro, a bar that features live music and up-and-coming rock bands like
the Smashing Pumpkins, who played here before they made it big.
Uptown
For more live music head farther north, where you’ll find the Aragon
Ballroom, The
Riviera and the prohibition-era jazz bar, The
Green Mill. When you’re strolling through this area, an unfortunate
word of caution is in order. As the once-grand, now deteriorating buildings
that house the Aragon and the Riviera suggest, this once-posh neighborhood
has changed drastically in the last 20 years. Still, some of the best music
in the city -- be it jazz, rock, or something in between -- can be found
here.
Wicker Park/Bucktown
Yet another hot spot for artisans and heavy drinkers alike is the Wicker
Park/Bucktown area. Hang out at bars like the Blue
Note, Holiday
Club and Mad
Bar or restaurants like Northside
Cafe, Zoom
Kitchen or Beat
Kitchen, and it won’t be long before some hipster starts talking to
you about gentrification, how the “evil yuppies” are starting to move
into the area and will soon ruin the neighborhood.
Gentrification is a part of life in a living city like Chicago. Twenty years
ago, the now-gentrified Lincoln Park was like Wicker Park is today. So,
if in another 20 years, Wicker Park follows suit, the hipster will have
long since moved on to create another trendy neighborhood.
For the time being however, gentrification in Wicker Park is a four-letter
word. Enjoy the diversity of this area while it lasts.
The South Side
If you’re visiting the city, don’t make the mistake many North Siders do
by forgetting that Lake Shore Drive also runs south of downtown.
As you cruise south on Lake Shore Drive, observe the newly-created Museum
Campus where the Shedd
Aquarium, Adler
Planetarium and the Field
Museum converge. If you have the time, you could easily spend a day
in each museum (see Recommended Tours) but it's also well worth a stop just to enjoy the lake views
and watch sailboats go by.
Further south, you’ll pass by Soldier
Field, home of the Chicago
Bears football team—at least for now. The Bears and city officials are
deadlocked on whether to renovate the 73-year old stadium or to build a
new one at a yet-to-be-decided site.
Immediately after gawking at Soldier Field you’ll have to guard against
whiplash as you turn to stare at the gargantuan McCormick
Place. As big as this convention center is, it seems like every other
year they are adding on to it, and during the year when construction is
dormant they are talking about adding on to it.
Further south, the charming Hyde Park neighborhood has a quaint, old-world
look to it. Home to the world-famous University
of Chicago, the area boasts interesting restaurants like the Dixie
Kitchen and Medici,
great used book stores like O'Gara
and Wilson's (the oldest used bookstore in the country), and the quaint
57th
Street Art Fair. Hyde Park is also home to the gigantic 350,000 square-foot
Museum
of Science and Industry. This monument to 20th century technology houses
a replica coal mine, a German U-Boat and a Zephyr train all under one roof.
But after visiting the museum, push away thoughts of industriousness long
enough to take a leisurely stroll through Jackson
Park. Like its sister, Lincoln
Park, to the North, Jackson Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.
It features a Japanese Garden, a bird sanctuary and a reflecting pond.
So don’t be overwhelmed by Chicago’s size or grit. Just find a corner of
this city that suits you and celebrate its diversity.
- David Plowman Copyright 1999 wcities.com
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