Chicago - Exceeding Expectations

It's a few years since I was there, but my recollections of this beautiful city are strong and clear. Friends have an upcoming visit planned. So I thought it a good time to record what made that visit great.

The first time I visited Chicago, it was so cold and windy that my luggage blew over as it stood on the kerb outside my hotel!

The second time, it was mild enough that I walked home late at night, alone, under a mild and starry sky, drink still in hand.

And the most recent time, it was again crips and very cold.

What did I love?
It's a planned city: It's stylish and different with great stories to tell. In the early 90s, the City developed a redesign plan..and set about implementing it.
The the Chicago River was filty in those early days, and emptied itself into the beautiful Lake. So the forefathers worked out how to reverse the flow of the River. Unbelievable to think that in the upper reaches of this river they changed the layout of the land, so that the water flowed from the Lake through the City!
Go to the Opera House: You will see that there is a solid stone feature wall overlooking the River. No windows, no terraces. No-one wanted to look out onto such a putrid river.
Be sure to take the Architectural Tour by Boat: That traces the origins of all the buildings along the river front. I'm not so good on the original architects, but they were all there, in Chicago, in her formative days. But what I do recall is
* The Fabric Industry building - now owned by the Kennedy family - one whole city block - the largest building in the world until the pentagon was built and the only building to have its own zip code.
* The Jewellery Industry building - beautiful art deco - designed so that each merchant could drive his car into the building, and up ten floors in a huge lift, to park on his floor, for absolute security.
* No wonder Al Capone selected the top floor of that beautiful building, under a stunning cupola, for his speakeasy..... not much chance of being raided without notice. It kind of worked for everyone.
* And it was the first city in the world to sell the airspace to developers! I remember that in the press. The heart of the city is covered in a huge railroad terminal, a left over from the strong commercial early days. However, they sold the "airspace" above the railroads to build high rise buildings. They are there today, but when you peek at the ground floor, its a fully operational Railroad Centre....
* They also built a second high rise on the same basis. However in more recent times the tracks had to be widened, and one of the supports for the building was in the way. No problem.... they cantilevered the second high rise off the first one, and removed the pesky pilon... Nothing seems impossible.
* And there's Bauhaus next to contemporary design... amazing.
** So let me tell you how Australia and Chicago are inextricably linked in my next blog.