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c h i c a g o
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jutting upward, dark and reflective, green river running backwards under black iron bridges...
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european arrival: 1673
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french claim: 1682
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first settlement: 1779
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incorporated: 1837
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great fire: 1871
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columbian exposition: 1893
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burnham plan: 1909
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world's fair: 1933
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democratic convention riots: 1968
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n e i g h b o r h o o d s
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swedish:
clark (1500 west) & foster (5200 north)
german:
lincoln (2300 west) & leland (4700 north)
polish/czech:
central (5600 west) & belmont (3200 north)
italian:
racine (1200 west) & taylor (1000 south)
thai/vietnamese:
broadway (1200 west) & argyle (5000 north)
korean:
hamlin (3800 west) & lawrence (4800 north)
chinese:
wentworth (200 west) & cermak (2200 south)
puerto rican:
rockwell (2600 west) & division (1200 north)
mexican:
ashland (1600 west) & 18th (1800 south)
irish:
western (2400 west) & 111th (11132 south)
indian/pakistani:
kedzie (3200 west) & devon (6400 north)
yuppie:
halsted (800 west) & armitage (2000 north)
boy's town:
halsted (800 west) & roscoe (3400 north)
girl's town:
clark (1500 west) & berwyn (5300 north)
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l o c a l s
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ernest hemingway, frank lloyd wright, david mamet, abraham lincoln, carl sandburg, anton szandor lavey, studs turkel, leo strauss, hillary clinton, harrison ford, walt disney, hugh hefner
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d e m o g r a p h i c s
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top five american cities, in population:
1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Houston
5. Phoenix
roughly 3 million people live in the city of chicago. roughly 9 people million live in the chicago-metropolitan area. roughly 13 million people live in the state of illinois. i.e., 75% of the population of the state of illinois lives in the chicago-metropolitan area.
chicago is now the second largest mexican city in the united states of america - only los angeles has a larger mexican population. chief mexican states represented: durango, michoacan, guerrero, and mexico city itself.
the bulk of chicago's recent european immigrants have been polish; eastern europe as a whole is well-represented.
chicago has a significant korean population - probably larger than any other asian community in the city - though chicago's asian population is quite small.
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g r i d
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chicago's street system is based upon a grid that utilizes an "800" or "eight block" per mile count.
100 = one full block, or 1/8 mile.
800 = eight full blocks, or 1 mile.
the distance from north avenue (1600 north) to fullerton avenue (2400 north) is 1 mile.
the distance from north avenue (1600 north) to armitage street (2000 north) is 1/2 mile.
the baseline for east/west division is state street (1 e/w); the baseline for north/south division is madison avenue (1n/s).
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b l a c k m i g r a t i o n
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roughly 40% of chicago's residents are black. the legacy of racially-based slavery continues to shape the character of the city.
fewer than 60 years ago, between wwii and the vietnam, one quarter of the country's entire african-american population moved: from agricultural communities in the south, to manufacturing centers in the north.
and then, gradually, the city's industrial jobs went away. gang activity and drug sales increased.
public housing grew vertically. every new building was taller than the last, and the problems grew proportionally.
people were left - segregated - in high-density units, unemployed, and ill-educated. in the black community there is a <50% dropout rate over the 4-year high school term.
it must be the case that close to a million of chicago's residents function on a poor grade school education.
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m u r d e r
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since 1967 at least 600 people per year, every year, have been murdered in chicago.
it was not until 2003 that the number of murders in the city plummeted below the 600 count - all the way to 599. in 2001, 666 people were murdered in chicago - more than in any other american city. in 2003 chicago lead the nation in murder, again.
chicago's murder rate is still higher than any other american city with a population over one million.
over 90% of the murder victims in any given year are, "non-white."
the relationship between segregation, poverty, drug dealing and murder has not escaped the notice of city officials.
"high rise" housing projects are being demolished, now.
where the residents will go, and what they will do, is anyone's guess...
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local - alternative paper
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chicago reader
probably the best single source for information about space for rent, the music scene, hospitality/service jobs, and other adult weirdness.
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large circulation papers
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chicago tribune
chicago sun-times
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fm radio
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88.7 fm
wluw: loyola university community radio. arguably, the most diverse and alternative broadcasting in the city.
88.9 fm
illinois insitute of technology
89.3 fm
wnur: northwestern university radio. hard and fast, saturday night.
91.5 fm
wbez: chicago public radio. coming home - blues, saturday night.
98.7 fm
wfmt: classical and fine arts radio.
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public transportation
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cta
chicago's rail (el and subway) system is divided into seven different color-coded branches: red, blue, green, brown, purple, yellow, and orange. one branch of the blue line runs from the city center to o'hare airport; the orange line runs from the city center to midway airport. most patrons do not enjoy their experience on the trains - but they tend to agree that bus operation is even worse. service is not - in all cases - 24 hour, or 7 day. check.
metra
regional rail and bus service, connecting chicago proper with its suburbs. the quality of the rail service is - in most cases - very high.
amtrak
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weather
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weather
current noaa radar stats at o'hare international airport
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guides
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guide
city of chicago, government
guide
u of c, chicago guide
guide
lonelyplanet, chicago guide
guide
uic, chicago links
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maps
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map
public transit system
map
real-time traffic
map
lonelyplanet.com map
map
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city history
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history
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city flag
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flag
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best skyline view
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location
the adler planetarium
it is arguable, of course, but chicago's skyline seems to reveal itself best when viewed from the south and the east, i.e., from the water.
lacking a yacht, such a perspective can be obtained from a man-made peninsula that extends out into lake michigan.
said peninsula contains the grounds of the field museum of natural history, the john g. shedd aquarium, and the adler planetarium.
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public housing
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cabrini green
in response to what was purported to be an inadequate supply of affordable living space, public housing "projects" were built in chicago - projects like cabrini green. [named for a nun who dedicated herself to the poor: st. frances xavier cabrini.]
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blues highway
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blues
blues
people from mississippi and alabama moved directly north - to chicago - bringing their culture along. blues and rock were born. magic sam!
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chess records
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chess records
chess records
founded in 1950.
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universities
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university of chicago
northwestern university
university of illinois
loyola university
depaul university
northeastern illinois university
columbia college
art institute of chicago
roosevelt university
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chicago hostels
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hostels
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taxi
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taxi
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bicycle
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chicagocriticalmass.org
rat-patrol.org
chicagofreakbike.org
workingbikes.org
chicagobikes.org
chicagomessengers.org
cyclingsisters.org
foreverfreeandclear.org
bikethedrive.org
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other cities
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toronto
san francisco
cities around the world
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