Downtown ( The Loop , Near North , Near South ) The center of Chicago for work and play with major c

Chicago is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all. Chicago's skyline viewed from Millennium Park
Chicago is located in the Midwest . It is the third largest city in the United States . Chicago is a huge vibrant city and sprawling metropolitan area. It is the home of the blues and the truth of jazz, the heart of comedy and the first builder of the skyscraper. Here, the age of railroads found its center, and airplanes followed. It is one of the world's great cities, and yet the metropolitan luxuries of theater, shopping, and fine dining have barely put a dent in real Midwestern friendliness. It's a city with a swagger, but without the surliness or even the fake smiles that can be found in other cities.
As the hub of the Midwest , Chicago is easy to find —its picturesque skyline hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center calls across the waters of huge Lake Michigan, a first impression that soon reveals world-class museums of art and science, miles of sandy beaches, huge parks and public art , and perhaps the finest downtown collection of architecture in the world.
With a wealth of iconic sights and neighborhoods to explore, there's enough to fill a visit of weeks or even months without ever seeing the end. Prepare to cover a lot of ground: the meaning of Chicago is only found in movement, through its subways and archaic elevated tracks, and eyes raised to the sky.
Many visitors never make it past the attractions in Chicago's large central area, but there are also many attractions hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center to be found in the city's other districts. The city consists of three large Sides (the North Side, the South Side, and the West Side) each named according to its direction from the downtown area, or the Loop as it is called. Citizens tend to identify strongly with their neighborhood within the city, reflecting real differences in culture and place. hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center Rivalries between the North and South Sides sometimes run deep, while people from the West Side are usually free agents in critical issues like baseball hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center loyalty.
Downtown ( The Loop , Near North , Near South ) The center of Chicago for work and play with major corporate headquarters, skyscrapers, shopping, big theaters, parks, beaches, museums and the city's most famous hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center travel sights
North Side ( Lakeview hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center , Boystown , Lincoln Park , Old Town ) Upscale neighborhoods with entertainment aplenty in storefront theaters and the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, along with a ton of bars and clubs, and one of the largest LGBT communities hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center in the nation
hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center South Side ( Hyde Park , Bronzeville , Bridgeport-Chinatown , Chatham-South Shore ) The historic Black Metropolis, hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center brainy Hyde Park and the University of Chicago, Chinatown, the White Sox, soul food, and the real Chicago blues
Far West Side ( Little Village , Garfield Park , Humboldt Park , Austin ) So far off the beaten tourist track you might not find your way back, but that's OK given all the great food, a couple of top blues clubs, hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center and enormous parks.
Far Northwest Side ( Avondale , Irving hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center Park , Portage Park , Jefferson Park ) Polish Village, historic homes and theaters, and some undiscovered gems in the neighborhoods near O'Hare International Airport
hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center Chicago was known as a fine place to find a wild onion if you were a member of the Potawatomi tribe, who lived in this area of Illinois before European settlers arrived. It was mostly swamps, hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center prairie and mud long past the establishment of Fort Dearborn in 1803 and incorporation as a town in 1833. It could be argued hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center that nature never intended for there to be a city here; brutal winters aside, it took civil engineering projects of unprecedented scale to establish working sewers, reverse the flow of the river to keep it out of the city's drinking supply, and stop buildings from sinking back into the swamps — and that was just the first few decades.
By 1871, the reckless growth of the city was a sight to behold, full of noise, Gothic lunacy, and bustling commerce. But on October hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center 8th, Mrs. O'Leary's cow reportedly knocked over a lantern in the crowded immigrant quarters in the West Side, and the Great Chicago Fire began. hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center It quickly spread through the dry prairie, killing 300 and destroying virtually the entire city. The stone Water Tower in the Near North is the most famous surviving structure. But the city seized this destruction as an opportunity to rebuild bigger than before, giving canvas for several architects and urban planners who would go on to become legends of modern architecture.
At the pinnacle of its rebirth and the height of its newfound hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center powers, Chicago was known as The White City . Cultures from around the world were summoned to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center to bear witness to the work of Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center and the future itself. Cream of Wheat, soft drinks, street lights and safe electricity, the fax machine, and the Ferris Wheel bespoke the colossus now resident on the shores of Lake Michigan.
As every road had once led to Rome, every train led to Chicago. Carl Sandburg called Chicago the Hog Butcher for the World for its cattle stockyards and place on the nation's dinner plate. Sandburg also called it the City of the Big Shoulders , noting the tall buildings in the birthplace of the skyscraper — and the city's "lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning." But Chicago is a city in no short supply of nicknames. hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center Fred Fisher's hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center 1922 song (best known in Frank Sinatra's rendition) calls it That Toddlin' Town , where "on State Street, hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center that great street , they do things they don't do on Broadway." It's also referenced by countless blues standards like Sweet Home Chicago .
Chicago is also known as The Second City , which refers to its rebuilding after the fire — the current city is literally the second Chicago, after the one that nearly burned down in 1871. The moniker has stuck as Chicago had long-held the position of the nation's second-largest city. And many know the nickname from Chicago's great comedy theater Second City located in Old Town which has supplied countless talent to television's Saturday Night Live and many sitcoms.
During the Prohibition era, Chicago's criminal world, emblemized by names like Al Capone, Baby Face Nelson, and later Sam Giancana, practically ran the city. The local political world had scarcely more legitimacy in a town where voter turnout hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center was highest among the dead and their pets, and precinct captains spread hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center the word to "vote early, vote often." Even Sandburg acknowledged the relentless current of vice that ran under the surface of the optimistic city.
Chicago is also known as The Windy City . Walking around town, you might suspect that this nickname hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center came from the winds off Lake Michigan which can, on occassion, make for some windy days. Truth be told, Chicago is far from being excessively windy. In fact, according to the United States National Climatic Data Center, Chicago does not rank high on the list of windy cities. The origin hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center of the saying Windy City comes from politics; some saying it may have been coined by rivals like New York City as a derogatory reference; hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center at the time the two cities were battling for the 1893 World's Fair, which Chicago ultimatley won. Others say that the term originated from the city's strong political climate.
Finally, the city is also known as the The City That Works as promoted by longtime Mayor Richard M. Daley, which refers to Chicago's labor tradition and its willingness to tackle grand civic projects. Daley and his father, former Mayor Richard J. Daley, ruled the city for decades in what can only be described hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center as a benevolent dictatorship; as other manufacturing cities like Cleveland and Detroit went into decline, Chicago thrived, transforming from a city of factories to a financial giant; which now including the world's largest future exchanges (the Chicago Mercantile Exchange) no less. With Richard M. Daley deciding not to run for mayor again due to his ailing wife, and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel resigning hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center from that post to become hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center mayor of Chicago, the city elected its first Daley-less administration with Emanuel since Mayor Richard M. Daley was in office from April 1989 to May 2011.
While the city has many great attractions in its huge central/downtown area, lots of Chicagoans live and play outside of the central business district as well. To understand more of Chicago, travelers hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center can venture away from the Loop and Michigan Avenue and out into the vibrant neighborhoods to soak up the local nightlife, sample the wide range of fantastic dining, and see other sights that are also important to Chicagoans. Thanks to the city's massive public transit system, all parts of Chicago are indeed accessible.
As far as Chicago's hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center weather hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center goes, well let's just say that Chicago is a huge city so things tend to get blown out of porportion more than they would in other locales, that includes the weather. The city doesn't have weather like Honolulu - then again, what other city does? The winters in Chicago are indeed cold, but then again, so is most of the United States from Maine to Utah, with the exception of the extreme south. A fact; Chicago receives less precipitation (snow and rain) in the winter than East Coast cities like New York City or Boston receive. Chicago's summers are not much hotter than the East Coast, and definitely not as hot as the southern U.S. where there is a nonstop heatwave throughout the summer. There is a good time to be had in any season in Chicago, and the summer offers an array of parades, festivals, and events.
The winter months from December to March will see cold temperatures with cold wind chill factors. Snow is usually limited to a handful hilton garden inn orlando seaworld international center of heavy storms per season, with a few light dustings in-between and a little more along the lakefront —in the local parlance, that's "lake effect snow". Chicago is a city that's well-accustomed to winter season, so city services and publ