Happy Birthday, Chicago!
By Karl Klockars in Miscellaneous on Mar 4, 2009 10:20PM
That's right, our fair city is 172 years young today. That's a helluva lot of candles. Did you miss the celebration at the Chicago History Museum? If so, perhaps tonight we can all raise a toast to the city of neighborhoods, windiest of cities, second-est of cities, city on the make, city in a garden, hog butcher to the world, tool maker, stacker of wheat, city of broad shoulders that so many of us call home.
What would be on the city's gift list? What would you bring the city to its party, before the pin-the-tail-on-the-alderman games and the meat cake? We canvassed the Chicagoist staff to see what they'd wrap in the comics pages - here's a short sampling:
- Hotpatch for all the potholes
- 2000 more cops on the streets
- A brand new City Council
- Fresh Aldermen all around
- A mayor with a new last name
- Increased train access to the South Side
- The CTA Circle Line
- Salt sprinklers for side streets
- Shirts (with sleeves) for all Taste of Chicago patrons
- Increased water taxi service
- More corner taverns and subsidized Old Styles for all
- More Malorts!
- The return of Perfect Strangers - but actually shot in Chicago
And a gift basket from Bath & Body (to take care of that lingering scent of pee in Uptown) and a Wii. Everyone still wants a Wii, right?
And a pinch to grow an inch! Your turn.
Chicago's birthday cake from the Mayor's Office of Special Events. Mmm, cake.