DESTINATION CHICAGO

On a cold, brutally windy day in Chicago, when the temperature's sub-zero and strong gusts keep you from walking down the street, the first question that will come to mind is, 'Who the hell decided to build a city and settle here?' Well, nearly three million hardy souls now call this great city home, and they can thank the mettle and vision of their Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Mexican and Asian immigrant forebears and the folks that migrated here from the southern US for creating it. This diverse mix has built a city with an unrivaled tradition of jazz and blues, an astonishing architecture, an appetite for hearty food, award-winning newspapers, universities full of Nobel laureates and some of the most die-hard sports fans you'll ever meet.

Facts at a Glance

Area: 230 sq mi (600 sq km)
Population: 2.7 million
Elevation: 580ft (175m)
State: Illinois
Time Zone: Central Time (GMT/UTC minus 6 hours)
Telephone area codes: 312 inside the Loop; 773 outside

History

No one is sure when Native Americans first lived in the Chicago region, but evidence can be traced back to 1000 AD. By the late 1600s, there were many tribes in the region, the dominant one being the Potawatomi Indians. In 1673, Indians directed Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet and missionary Jacques Marquette to Lake Michigan via the Chicago River. The two learned that the Indians of the region called the area around the mouth of the river 'Checaugou,' after the wild garlic (some say onions) growing there.

After the Revolutionary War, the US increasingly focused attention on its vast western frontier. Chicago's position on Lake Michigan suited the government's plan to create a permanent presence in the area, and in 1803 Fort Dearborn was built on the south bank of the Chicago River. Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833, with a population of 340. Within three years, land speculation rocked the local real estate market; lots that had sold for US$33 in 1829 went for US$100,000. The boom was fueled by the start of construction on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, an inland waterway linking the Great Lakes to the Illinois River and thus to the Mississippi River and New Orleans. The swarms of laborers drawn by the canal construction swelled Chicago's population.

The canal opened in 1848, and commercial ships began to ply the Chicago River from the Caribbean to New York. One of the city's great financial institutions, the Chicago Board of Trade, opened to handle the sale of grain by Illinois farmers, who had greatly improved access to Eastern markets thanks to the canal. Railroad construction absorbed workers freed from canal construction. By 1850, a line had been completed to serve grain farmers between Chicago and Galena, in western Illinois. A year later, the city gave the Illinois Central Railroad land for its tracks south of the city. It was the first land-grant railroad and was joined by many others, whose tracks eventually would radiate out from Chicago. The city quickly became the hub of America's freight and passenger trains, a status it would hold for the next hundred years.

Like other northern cities, Chicago profited from the Civil War, which boosted business in its burgeoning steel and tool-making industries and provided plenty of freight for the railroads and canal. In 1865, the year the war ended, an event took place that would profoundly affect the city for the next hundred years: the Union Stockyards opened on the South Side, unifying disparate meat operations scattered about the city. Chicago's rail network and the development of the iced refrigerator car meant that meat could be shipped east to New York, spurring the industry's consolidation. By the turn of the century, Chicago's population had swelled to almost 2 million.

In 1933, Ed Kelly became mayor. He strengthened the Democratic Party in the city, creating the legendary 'machine' that would control local politics for the next 50 years. Politicians doled out thousands of city jobs to people who worked hard to make sure their patrons were reelected. The zenith of the machine's power began with the election of Richard J Daley in 1955. Daley was reelected mayor five times before dying in office in 1976. With an uncanny understanding of machine politics, he dominated the city in a way no mayor had before or since.

In 1971, the last of the Chicago stockyards closed. Elsewhere in the city, factories and steel mills closed as companies moved to the suburbs or the southern US, where taxes and wages were lower. A decade of economic upheaval saw much of Chicago's industrial base erode. But two events happened in the 1970s that were harbingers of the city's future. The world's tallest building (at the time), the Sears Tower, opened in the Loop in 1974, beginning a development trend that would spur the creation of thousands of high-paying jobs in finance, law and other areas. And in 1975 the Water Tower Place shopping mall opened downtown and developers began to realize that the urban environment was an attraction in itself.

In the fall of 1982, a Who's Who of black Chicago gathered to propel Harold Washington, Chicago's first African American mayor - and a reformist, to boot - into office. Much of the political and social chaos that marked the years from 1983 to 1987 had ugly racial overtones, but at the heart of the conflict was the old guard refusing to cede any power or patronage to the reform-minded mayor. The irony is that when Washington died, seven months after he was reelected in 1987, he and his allies were just beginning to enjoy the same spoils of the machine they had once battled.

In 1989, Chicago elected as mayor Richard M Daley, the son of Richard J Daley. Like his father, Daley has an uncanny instinct for city politics. Unlike his father, he has shown much more political savvy in uniting disparate political forces. Daley has moved to solidify his control of the city in a way his father would have applauded, but in a much more enlightened manner. The parks are much cleaner and safer, and the schools - recently the worst in the nation - are showing signs of marked improvement. A new generation of professionals is discovering the joys of urban living, among them Chicago's vibrant cultural and social scene. Billions of dollars in private investment have flowed to neighborhoods, and the city's diversified economic base enabled it to weather the recession of the early 1990s better than others in the US.

When to Go

July and August can get really hot in Chicago, with temperatures from 80-90°F (27-32°C) and humidity in high percentages. This is also the peak of the festival season, with major events taking place in the parks and neighborhoods every weekend. September is blessed with reliably warm days and is probably the most pleasant month of the year, weather-wise, but there's less going on during this period.

The week after Christmas is when Chicago is least busy and hotels and airfares are usually at their cheapest. But it can be damp and cold - 12 and 29°F (-11°C and -2°C) if you're lucky - or snowy for days on end. Temperatures and brisk winds will guarantee that you'll spend most of this period indoors.

Orientation

The city of Chicago, in northeastern Illinois, stretches for 30 miles (50km) along the southern tip of Lake Michigan's shore. Illinois is located in the northern central part of the United States, bordered by Wisconsin and Lake Michigan to the north, Iowa and Missouri to the west, Indiana to the east and Kentucky to the south.

The Loop is the historic center of the city, drawing its name from the elevated train tracks that circle it. Its buildings constitute a virtual textbook of American architecture. The intersection of Madison and State Streets is ground zero in a numbering system that lets you navigate without knowing any street names. From this point, all street numbers are predicated on north, south, east or west, depending on which way they radiate. Many of Chicago's neighborhoods are named for their location in relation to the Loop (South Loop, Near North, West Side, etc).

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is 20 miles (32km) northwest of downtown. Midway Airport is 10 miles (16km) southwest of downtown. Amtrak's national headquarters are within Union Station, located southwest of the Loop. The Greyhound station is also southwest of the Loop, not far from Amtrak.

Attractions

Thugs with guns have since made way for banana-packing primates. The free Lincoln Park Zoo, founded in 1868, enjoys considerable community support. Among the highlights are huge monitor lizards, Galápagos turtles, naked mole rats, fruit bats and spiders. The zoo has been a world leader in gorilla breeding, with more than three dozen born here since 1970. If you're lucky, the chimpanzees will be drawing on poster board with crayons. Some of their works have been shown in galleries.

Lincoln Park borders Lake Michigan northeast of the downtown Loop.

Wrigley Field

Seventh inning stretch and the crowd belts out a beer-soaked version of 'Take me out to the Ballgame.' There's only one place in the world you could be - Wrigley Field. Home to the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field draws tourists year round who pose under the classic neon sign over the main entrance to the baseball shrine.

This ivy-covered stadium, one of the oldest in America, is described by some as being as 'big as a pillbox'. It's an old fashioned ballpark, where the scoreboard is still changed by hand and where fans fought tooth and nail to prevent the stadium being kitted out with lights. If you don't have tickets, or don't want to see the Cubbies lose (as they're prone to do), stroll over to one of the streets next to the stadium, chat with the guys who hang around all day waiting for a ball to be hit out of the park or go sink a beer in one of the neighborhood sports bar. Notice how the surrounding flats have adapted their roofs with bleachers for watching games. Players take fans on tours of the stadium several times during the season.

Wrigley Field is north of Lincoln Park. The El goes straight to the stadium, as do several bus lines.

Off the Beaten Track

Chess Records

From 1957 to 1967, Chess Records occupied a humble building on South Michigan Avenue, which became a temple of blues and a spawning ground of rock and roll. The Chess brothers, two Polish Jews, ran the recording studio that saw - and heard - the likes of Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon. Chuck Berry recorded four top-10 singles here, and the Rolling Stones named a song '2120 S Michigan Ave' after a recording session in 1964. Today, the building is owned by Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation, a non-profit organization set up by the late musician to promote blues and preserve its legacy.

Spertus Museum

An excellent small museum devoted to 5000 years of Jewish faith and culture, the Spertus Museum in South Loop juxtaposes aspects of Jewish life and religion. The Zell Holocaust Memorial has oral histories from survivors as well as the names of relatives of Chicagoans who died. The basement is devoted to a children's area called 'ArtiFact Center' where kids can conduct their own archeological dig for Jewish artifacts.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park is an enclave within the city. Much of its existence is owed to the University of Chicago, a school where graduate students outnumber undergrads and 18 Nobel prizes for economics have sat on the trophy shelf since the award was first presented in 1969.

The bookish residents give the place a pleasant, insulated, small-town air, which is remarkable considering the blighted neighborhoods to the west and south. The major attraction for most visitors is the Museum of Science and Industry, which is dedicated to high-tech gadgets. It also features some bizarre body exhibits, including a transparent dissected female mannequin and a preserved man and woman whose bodies have been cut into thin cross sections.

Another worthwhile attraction is Robie House, Frank Lloyd Wright's poster Prairie-style house, designed in 1910. The house's rooms cluster around a central hearth, which may sound cosy but the neighbors hated it, Mr Robie's wife left him and Mr Robie went broke. Today, the house belongs to the university and is open to the public.

Hyde Park is 7 miles (11km) southeast of downtown Chicago and accessible via the Metra train from the Loop's Randolph St and Van Buren St stations.

Oak Park

Oak Park is an affluent suburb of Chicago that has been preserved as a National Historic District. That's because Ernest Hemingway was born and raised here and a young architect named Frank Lloyd Wright came here in 1889 to set up a practice and experiment with building styles.

Most of the Hemingway memorabilia is collected at the Oak Park Historical Society, but his boyhood home is not on display. Your time is better spent wandering around the 25 Wright buildings sprinkled about town. The Unity Temple, built in 1904, was Wright's first attempt at poured-concrete construction and one of his most famous works. His Home and Studio was remodeled repeatedly and shows off all the hallmark styles associated with Wright.

Oak Park is 9 miles (15km) west of Chicago's Loop and easily accessible via the El.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

From Chicago on a clear day you can see Gary, a miserable steel-making town 30 miles (48km) southeast along the Lake Michigan shore. Beyond this industrial blight are the Indiana Dunes, over 15 miles (24km) of sandy beaches and dunes formed by the prevailing winds on Lake Michigan. They are dotted by development and the odd steel mill, but many long stretches of pristine beach and shoreline are encompassed in state and national parks.

The Bailly-Chellberg Visitor Center and Trail is the focus of the National Lakeshore Park. A 2 mile (3km) forest nature trail passes through areas where dogwood, Arctic berries and even cactus grow. The path also passes restored log cabins from the 1820s and a farm built by Swedes in the 1870s.

On summer days, the Indiana Dunes State Park is jammed with people hitting the beach. The Kemil Road Beach is one of the less crowded; its far eastern end is dominated by Mt Baldy, a 120ft (36m) dune with good views of the lake and shoreline.

South Shore trains depart frequently from downtown Chicago for the Indiana Dunes, 40 miles (64km) east. By car, I-94 puts you close to the parks.

Activities

Retrace the route of French trapper Louis Jolliet while you have an urban adventure by canoeing the Chicago River. Besides urban sprawl, you're likely to see deer, red fox, beaver and birds. You'll also see parks and houses being built that show that Chicago has finally discovered that its namesake river is good for more bucolic pursuits than as an industrial sewer. Kayaking can also be enjoyed on Lake Michigan and along the Chicago River. The best place to access both is from the Chicago Harbor at Navy Pier, where the Chicago River empties into Lake Michigan. Diversey Harbor, near downtown, is another good launching point.

Fishing has become a mayoral priority in Chicago, and a special Fishing Hotline has been set up to answer questions about what to catch, when to cast and how. Most of the lagoons in the parks are stocked in the summer, and charter boats take anglers trolling on Lake Michigan. Coho salmon, rainbow trout, chinook and perch are among the fish you'll find.

Once called 'the opiate of the masses,' bowling is a distinctly Midwestern activity. People of all shapes, sizes and ages gather in boisterous groups to send balls crashing into a set of pins. Talent is not a prerequisite. The lanes are most crowded during the cold months. For bowling with charm, try Southport Lanes in Wrigleyville, a 75-year-old bar with 4 lanes and handset pins.

Events

Blues and jazz musicians have been flocking to Chicago since 1915, so it's no surprise that the city knows how to celebrate its musical heritage with style. The Chicago Blues Festival is a highly regarded three-day festival held in Grant Park on the first weekend in June. Soon after, Grant Park hosts the weekend-long Chicago Gospel Festival and, on the last weekend in August, the Chicago Jazz Festival.

Taste of Chicago is an enormous festival that closes Grant Park for 10 days leading up to Independence Day in July. Over 100 local eateries serve some of the greasiest food you've ever tried to rub off your fingers. Live music on several stages drowns out the rumble of the belches from the 3.5 million people who attend. The German-American Festival is an enjoyable Oktoberfest-type event held in the heart of an old German neighborhood at Lincoln Square during the third weekend in September.

Getting There & Away

Chicago is served by two main airports: O'Hare International (ORD), 20 miles (32km) northwest of downtown, is the world's busiest air hub; Midway (MDW),10 miles (16km) southwest of downtown, is much smaller and is primarily served by discount carriers. Sixty-five million passengers a year - one quarter of the population of the United States - pass through O'Hare each year, continuing Chicago's historic role as a US transportation hub. Each day flights depart to close to 300 cities worldwide, a figure unmatched by any other airport anywhere.

The sole national bus line, called 'The Dog' by veteran riders, Greyhound has dozens of buses a day departing in every direction. Conditions are not posh, but neither are the prices. Indian Trails is a regional line operating buses similar to Greyhound's.

Chicago is the hub for Amtrak's national and regional train service, so it has more service than any other city. Amtrak's three trains from Chicago to the West Coast can be vacation experiences in themselves and travel to Seattle and Portland, passing through the northern Rockies and Montana. Others pass through dramatic canyons in both the Rockies in Colorado and the Sierra Nevada in California. Long-distance trains serve Texas, Washington DC, Boston and New York. Short-distance trains run more than once a day and go to Detroit, St Louis, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, Michigan. During much of the year it's crucial to have your Amtrak journey reserved well in advance.

If you want to travel by car or motorcycle, highways converge on Chicago from all points of the compass. None is especially scenic or otherwise recommended.

Getting Around

The El, an elevated train, is the quickest and cheapest mode of transportation between O'Hare and Midway airports and the Loop downtown. Shuttle buses leave at regular intervals from both airports to major downtown hotels and there are lots of taxis waiting to whisk you into the city, though they're expensive. All the major car rental companies have outposts at the airport, as well as branches in the city.

The best way to get around Chicago is by foot. It's flat, easy to navigate and the nicest way to get the flavor of the city. This is one of the few American cities you can fully enjoy without a car. When your feet need a break, public transit is not bad by American standards. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the public transportation system serving the city. It consists of the El and buses.

Most visitors should be able to use the El for almost all their transit needs, the exception being those going to Hyde Park, certain areas of Lincoln Park near the lake and the area east of North Michigan Avenue that includes Navy Pier. CTA buses go almost everywhere, but they do so on erratic schedules. A web of commuter trains running under the Metra banner serve the suburbs surrounding Chicago.