Chicago - Chicago

Chicago
Attractions in Chicago
Coat of arms and flag
Chicago - Coat of Arms
Chicago - Flag
SalutationThe Windy City, City of Broad Shoulders
StateUnited States of America
Federated stateIllinois
RegionMidwest
TerritoryChicagoland
Altitude181 m a.s.l.
Surface606.10 km²
Inhabitants2.718.782 (2013 estimate)
Name inhabitantschicagoans
Prefix tel 1 872, 312, 773
POSTAL CODE606xx, 607xx, 608xx
Time zone UTC-6
Position
Map of the United States of America
Reddot.svg
Chicago
Tourism site
Institutional website

Chicago is a city of United States of America, in the state ofIllinois.

To know

(EN)

"Hog butcher for the world, Tool maker, stacker of wheat, Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the big shoulders. "

(IT)

"Pig Butcher for the World, Toolmaker, Greedy for Wheat, You who play with the railways and maneuver the nation's transports, Stormy, robust, quarrelsome, Broad-shouldered City:"

(Carl Sandburg, "Chicago" 1916)

Chicago, the third largest city of the United States after New York is Los Angeles, is the home of blues and true jazz. It has the spirit of comedy and a skyscraper body. Here, the railway age found its capital, and the airplane age seems to have followed its example. Humble pig butcher but loyal to progress - as the great poet Carl Sandburg put it - Chicago is one of the great cities of the world, but the metropolitan luxuries of the theater, the glitzy shops and restaurants did little against the traditional friendly Midwestern atmosphere. .

Chicago is a city of swagger, but without the grumpiness or false smiles found in other cities of its size. Midwestern nerve center, Chicago is easy to find - its picturesque horizons between a pleasant Michigan shore and a skyline full of skyscrapers, they soon introduce the city with world-famous museums both in the field of art and science, not to mention the miles of sandy beaches, huge parks and art scattered on the streets.

With an endless wealth of iconic places and neighborhoods to explore, there is enough to fill a visit for days, weeks, or even months, and never get enough of it.

If you come in winter, dress warmly and be prepared for long walks and long metro and bus rides. Chicago can only be understood in motion with - as someone said about her "the pride of tired feet and the eyes raised once again to the sky".

The various names of Chicago

Every big city usually collects names and nicknames from visitors or its inhabitants; Chicago makes no difference, indeed, it has collected many in its history. Each of these is important for understanding an aspect of the city.

The White City - The White City
  • Chicago was known to American Indians as a good place to find wild onions. So the first inhabitants of the place, the Potawatomi, baptized it before the arrival of the European settlers "City of the wild onion", from which the current" Chicago "comes, although many do not know it. This name gives us some information on the region where the metropolis was born; Chicagoland, was once covered by swamps, grasslands and muddy ground. Early reclamation work began with the construction of Chicago's ancestor Fort Dearborn in 1803 and continued throughout the century. Indians say that nature never wanted a city to be built there: brutal winters, year-round humidity and a land completely covered with marshes, that's what the natives saw in the place where huge skyscrapers stand today. Anecdotes aside, it took many and unprecedented complex civil engineering projects to clean up the area and equip the city with the necessary infrastructures, starting with the sewers, passing through the works of modification of the rivers, up to all the measures put in place. in place to prevent the great buildings of Chicago from sinking into the swampy soil.
Potawatomi dresses in the Field Museum in Chicago
  • A few decades pass and, after the great fire (see below), Chicago becomes famous as the White City (The White City). In 1893, in fact, Chicago hosted the great Colombian exhibition (World's Colombian Exposition) to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. On that occasion, urban planners Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted installed the first public lighting network in Chicago as well as numerous "technological innovations" of the time and Chicago became bright even at night.
  • An important nickname from the historical point of view, however, is The Second City (The Second City) which refers to its reconstruction after the fire - the current city is literally a second Chicago, after the one destroyed in 1871. This nickname is so important to Chicagoans that the city's main and largest theater, in the neighborhood of Lincoln Park it is called "Second City Theater".
Grand Central Station in Chicago
  • As every road leads to Rome, every train leads to Chicago. The city is in fact home to one of the most important railway junctions of the United States of America, not to mention the airports, which are among the most popular in the nation.
  • Carl Sandburg called Chicago there Hog Butcher for the World, Pig butcher for the world for its stockyards and the great slaughterhouse that once stood in the city, imagining that the meat produced in Chicago could be enough to feed the whole world. Later, in the same poem quoted at the beginning, he also calls it Big-shouldered city ( City of the Big Shoulders), in homage to the skyscrapers that dot the city, almost the proud shoulders of a living being.
  • Chicago's nicknames don't end there; in 1922, in one of his songs, Fred Fisher (better known as Frank Sinatra) calls the city Prancing city (That Toddlin 'Town), pointing out that in Chicago - according to him - you do things that you wouldn't do Broadway. There is certainly no shortage of tributes in many other blues songs, which by the way is one of the cultural symbols of Chicago. Just to name one, the city appears right from the title in the hugely popular Sweet Home Chicago.
City of the Big Shoulders - City with broad shoulders
Al Capone - a symbol of Chicago crime
  • Coming up to date, Chicago's fame as a corrupt city is enormous and there are countless legends and anecdotes about it. During the Prohibition era, Chicago saw internationally famous crime emblems such as Al Capone, Baby Face Nelson, and Sam Giancana on its streets. Elections and the related power games were the order of the day and even Sandburg, very close to the city, wrote fiery verses on this issue.
  • Unexpectedly linked to politics is the nickname Windy city (The Windy City). In fact, the strong winds coming from the lake did not originate this other name. Some argue that it originates from the widespread habit here of carrying on political disputes, and others see prolixity as a distinctive feature of the typical Chicago politician. As Italians we may not understand what this centers on the wind, but we must remember that in English, "verbose", "verbose" is said long-winded, and hence the easy association with the real wind, which often torments the city. The rival cities of Cincinnati is New York, then, they found another explanation for this name; in English there is, in fact, the expression "change one's mind as often as the wind" (change your mind as often as the wind, that is, to be unstable, fickle), which in their opinion would describe well the character of the chicagoans, political or otherwise.
  • The last nickname we want to list goes like this: City that works (The City That Works). There is more than one reason in this case: Chicago has, for example, a long tradition of Labor government behind it, the working hours here, moreover, are on average longer than elsewhere in America and finally the city - this they must recognize. even the adversaries - it has always been at the forefront of great works, starting with those that were necessary for its foundation on such hostile terrain.

There is still much more to be said about the tradition, history and culture of this city and its importance to the entire United States, but the best way to find out all about it is to pack up and visit it as much as possible. A tip: do not stop in the center, full only of museums, banks and offices but move as much as possible in the different districts of the city. Here, in fact, the real Chicago lives with its blues, its clubs, its inhabitants of different cultures and ethnicities, its splendid restaurants and its large parks.

Geographical notes

Chicago is the largest city in Illinois, as well as the largest metropolis in the US hinterland, with its 2,718,782 inhabitants. Its metropolitan area (called Chicagoland) has more than 9 million inhabitants, distributed in a large flat area located along the shores of Lake Michigan.

When to go

Weather is definitely not one of the attractions in Chicago. While the city offers so much every season of the year, it is also true that the climate here should not be underestimated. Overshadowed by Chicago's terrible winters are the heat waves of summer. The days of July and August often go above the "normal hot temperature" to become terribly muggy and humid with peaks of humidity to be compared only with those of the Gulf of Mexico. However, in these months, the city's lakeside beaches become surprisingly attractive and can relieve the heat.

ClimategenFebmaraprmagdownJulneedlesetOctnovdec
 
Maximum (° C)-2171421272928241792
Minimum (° C)-11-8-249141717126-1-7
Precipitation (mm)43,1835,5568,5891,4481,2896,5291,44104,1388,8966,0373,6655.88

Then come those cold winters, worsened by gusts of strong wind that make us regret the summer. The months from December to March show very cold temperatures even if the snow is usually limited to a few sporadic flakes, except in cases of sudden thunderstorms. All this by now the chicagoans have got used to and there is no snow storm capable of stop Chicago's hectic life and urban public and private traffic. That said, May and September are the most pleasant and mild months; April and June are mostly quiet, although thunderstorms with strong gusts of wind can also occur.

The Chicago Math: Cold Snow Wind = Chicago in Winter

If we want to take it with philosophy, it must be considered that in winter you can enjoy museums, theaters and restaurants, and immerse yourself in the multifaceted culture of the various ethnicities of Chicago without the crowds of tourists on every corner and with prices halved throughout the city. .

If, on the other hand, you love visiting cities during lively and crowded events or demonstrations, the right time is from June to July, when the city is filled with countless festivals and events including the great "Taste of Chicago" culinary festival and many concert-related events. Live jazz and blues in large city parks.

Background

Some information on the history of the city gives us the name itself "Chicago", which means "wild leek" or "wild onion" with obvious reference to both the cultivation of onions in the swampy surroundings of Lake Michigan and the importance of this city as a market. some onions. The name is in the indigenous language of the Potawatomi. In the mid-18th century, the area where Chicago now stands was inhabited by the Potawatomi tribe, which had taken the place of two previous native tribes, the Miami and the Sauk and Fox.

Historical map of Chicago. The area devastated by the fire of 1871 is darker

The first non-native Chicago resident was Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a Haitian of French descent, who settled on the Chicago River around 1770 and married a Potawatomi woman. In 1795, after the War of the Wabash Confederacy, following the Treaty of Greenville the Chicago area was ceded by the natives to the United States government, which created a fort there. Fort Dearborn was erected in 1803 and was in use until 1837, except between 1812 and 1816. During the 1812 war against the British, the fort was destroyed.

On August 12, 1833, the City of Chicago was created, with a population of 350. The first boundaries of the city were the streets Kinzie, Desplaines, Madison and State, which included a territory of about 1 km². Pass a few decades and the city of the onion has become a sight not to be missed, lively, always noisy , full of Gothic palaces and home to thriving businesses. But in 1871 a cow, which belonged to a certain Mrs. O'Leary - at least so the legend goes - kicks an oil lantern and the whole West Side, starting from the O'Leary house at 137 Dekoven Street, begins to burn devastating the city. Between 8 and 10 October 1871 the city was almost completely destroyed by what has gone down in history as "Great Chicago Fire"(the Great Chicago Fire). Today, almost as a paradox or who knows perhaps superstition, the headquarters of the Fire Brigade, the Chicago Fire, is located at the point of origin of the fire that destroyed the city.

Pushed by strong winds, the flames reduced much of the center to ashes, thanks also to the fact that many houses were still made of wood. In the reconstruction that followed, the first skyscraper in history was built in the city, the Home Insurance Building. The city was completely rebuilt so that today one of the city's many nicknames is "Second city" in memory of the first one destroyed by the fire.

In 1900, to solve the water pollution problems of Lake Michigan, the city embarked on an innovative engineering feat: the course of the Chicago River was reversed thanks to the construction of a canal that connected it to the Illinois River.

How to orient yourself

  • Chicago Water Works Visitor Information Center, Pearson Avenue 163 E, ☎ 1 877 244 2246. Simple icon time.svg10: 00-17: 00 (longer hours in summer). Main information center of the city. It is located on the Magnificent Mile in the historic water station, opposite the Water Tower. In addition to offering many free materials very useful for the visitor, it also has a small bar and an office for discounted theater tickets. This is the best place to inquire as soon as you arrive in town. 
  • Chicago Cultural Center Visitor Information Center, Randolph Street 77 E, ☎ 1 312 744 8000. Simple icon time.svgTimes vary according to the day and season. Indicatively always open between 09:30 and 17:00. The CCC is also a great place to start sightseeing. Here you will find knowledgeable people of the city, lots of information materials and maps and almost every week of the year an event or an art exhibition. 

Neighborhoods

Many visitors say that, despite being in Chicago, they didn't feel they had discovered it until they ventured into its suburbs and neighborhoods. The Chicagoans, named after the locals, have divided their city into large, almost geometric areas. You can therefore orient yourself by ideally dividing the metropolis into an East, a West, a North, a South and a central part, the latter called "Loop" and famous for being - as well as the historic center of Chicago - also the economic and financial.

The division is not only political-administrative but also reflects a marked identification of the inhabitants with their own neighborhood, which often varies from neighboring ones in culture, dialect, ethnicity of the inhabitants and more.Obviously there are also rivalries between the Chicagoans of the North District and those of the South District, especially on topics of vital importance such as fans during baseball games!

Districts of Chicago
      Downtown - It consists of The Loop, Near North is Near South. The Loop or Downtown, the real downtown of Chicago is the most visited part of the city with its museums, restaurants, shops, theaters, cinemas and everything that is humanly desirable. Definitely the part to focus on for a short city trip.
      North Side - It consists of the neighborhoods Lakeview, Boystown, Lincoln Park (Chicago) is Old Town (Chicago). The North Side is the upscale area of ​​the city, the North side, home to tons of shops, bars and clubs scattered around every street and the largest LGBT community in the USA.
      South Side - It consists of the neighborhoods Hyde Park (Chicago), Bronzeville, Bridgeport-Chinatown is Chatham-South Shore. The South Side o South Side is the historian Black metropolis, here are the University of Chicago, the Chinatown, the White Sox, the local baseball team, and true Chicago blues music.
      West Side - It consists of the neighborhoods Wicker Park, Logan Square, Greektown (Chicago) is Pilsen. The Western District is an ethnic enclave of Chicago. People of all races, cultures and languages ​​live here, you will find picturesque places and all that particular the city offers.
      Far North Side - It consists of the neighborhoods Uptown, Lincoln Square is Rogers Park. The Far North is the district of contradictions; here live the hippest types and the quietest people in town. It is also the part of the city with the beautiful lakeside beaches and vibrant immigrant communities.
      Far West Side - It consists of the Little Village, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park and Austin neighborhoods. Here we have already strayed far from city and the tourists have almost disappeared. It is the right area for those who love off-the-beaten path and is also the enchanting green lung of Chicago with its immense parks dotted with clubs with live blues events.
      Southwest Side - It consists of the Back of the Yards, Marquette Park and Midway neighborhoods. Ancient headquarters of the largest American meat processing and packaging industry, hence the name of Butcher of pigs for the world, the neighborhood is now home to a huge community of Poles and Mexicans and home to Midway Airport in the neighborhood of the same name.
      Far Northwest Side - It consists of the Avondale neighborhoods,
      Far Southeast Side - It consists of the Historic Pullman, East Side, South Chicago and Hegewisch neighborhoods. The Far Southeast Side is Chicago's industrial womb, but it hides a major attraction for tourists: the Historic Pullman neighborhood, home to a national monument.
      Far Southwest Side - It consists of the Beverly and Mount Greenwood neighborhoods. The last quarter, also called Ireland in Chicago it's the area of ​​the city full of Irish clubs, haunted castles, mysterious galleries and chicagoans with a weird Irish accent.


How to get

By plane

Map of the main connection routes

Chicago (IATA: CHI for all airports) is served by two major major airports:

  • 1 O'Hare International Airport (IATA: ORD), O'Hare Avenue 10000 W, ☎ 1 800 832 6352. The airport is located approximately 17 miles from downtown Chicago. Built during World War II, O'Hare Airport is now the main hub for the airline United Airlines, which has its head office right in downtown Chicago, and is also the second major hub for American Airlines. About 2500 flights depart and arrive from here a day. This airport, at the expense of its size (it is among the largest in the world), has the sad reputation of having the record in America for delays and cancellations. Often travelers are forced to get stuck there, far enough from the city, and as a result numerous hotels, clubs and restaurants have sprung up in its area. 
  • 2 Midway Airport (IATA: MDW), Cicero Avenue 5700, ☎ 1 800 832 6352. The airport is mainly used by low-cost airlines and in particular is a hub for Southwest Airlines. Most of the flights departing and arriving here are within the United States of America. Its advantage is the proximity to the city center (15 km) but if you arrive late at night, there are many hotels in the surrounding area. 

There are many taxis to and from the city center, but they are quite expensive, especially during rush hour. Expect around $ 40 for O'Hare-City Center and $ 30 for Midway-City Center. In contrast, the railways provide a direct connection for about $ 5 from both major airports - faster than a taxi at rush hour and much cheaper. The train takes 40-50 minutes from O'Hare (blue line) and 25 minutes from Midway (orange line).

It should also be added that larger hotels offer free transportation to one or both airports, or can arrange paid transportation ($ 15-25) if you ask in advance.

Other minor airports

  • 3 Chicago Executive Airport (IATA: PWK), Plant Rd 1020, ☎ 1 847 537 2580. The third airport in Chicago and the entire state, is used mostly for business travel. It is located about 14km further north of O'Hare. About 300 planes a day depart from here and they are almost all private, corporate or luxury planes that can also be rented by private individuals, provided they are willing to put their wallet. 
  • 4 General Mitchell International Airport (IATA: MKE), Howell Ave 5300 S (in the city of Milwaukee in Wisconsin), ☎ 1 414 747 5300. Medium sized airport but well connected by trains and buses (about an hour and a half from Chicago). It is located in the neighboring state of Wisconsin but is often nicknamed the "third airport of Chicago" as many tourists or Northern Chicagoans use it instead of O'Hare and Midway. Its name is reminiscent of US Army General Mitchell, linked to the city of Milwaukee. The airport is the headquarters of some smaller companies. 

By car

On boat

On the train

By bus


How to get around


What see


Events and parties


What to do

Study opportunities

University

University of Chicago campus
University of Illinois Student Center

Chicago defends itself very well in terms of culture and research centers and on its territory there are some of the most renowned American educational institutions, including:


Shopping


How to have fun


Where to eat


Where stay


Safety


How to keep in touch


Around

Useful information

  • Smoking is prohibited by federal law which applies to all restaurants, bars, nightclubs, workplaces, and public buildings. It is also forbidden within fifteen meters of any entrance, exit or window of public places and inside railway stations. The fine for offenders ranges from $ 100 to $ 250.

Consulates


Other projects

  • Collaborate on WikipediaWikipedia contains an entry concerning Chicago
  • Collaborate on CommonsCommons contains images or other files on Chicago
  • Collaborate on WikiquoteWikiquote contains quotes from or about Chicago
  • Collaborate on WikinewsWikinews contains current news on Chicago
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