Chicago: A Love Affair 175 Years In The Making
By Staff in News on Mar 4, 2012 7:00PM
Today marks the 175th anniversary of the incorporation of Chicago. Events are planned throughout the city to commemorate the occasion, while media outlets across the city are offering their lists of first moments in city history, ways residents can celebrate themselves, and speculating on what the future will hold for the city.
Here at Chicagoist, our infatuation with the city knows no bounds and shows no signs of waning. Whether we were born and raised in the city or only came to town a while ago, it's our passion for the city that connects us first and foremost.
Following are first-person accounts from some staff members of the moments we recognized what Chicago has to offer and how that spurs us to discover more about the place we call home.
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- I’ve lived in Chicago for exactly a year and a half, but my love for the city grew slowly. From the start, I appreciated the beautiful architecture, trying the restaurants I had heard about, and exploring new neighborhoods. But I missed Washington, D.C., where I lived for four years, its warm white buildings and the manageable compactness of its streets. I grew up and went to college in Massachusetts, and I missed the rust-colored trees, fall air that feels different from the harsh Midwest breeze, and ardent Red Sox fandom. Then about six months ago, things started to turn—suddenly I couldn’t go anywhere without meeting people I wanted to stay up and talk to all night. And we did. We talked about art or books or food, all the things I love, until the sun came up. When I kept meeting more and more people I wanted to do this with, that’s when I realized I loved it in Chicago, and was going to stay here awhile. I can always go back and visit the white buildings that glow in the sunset or make a visit to Fenway, but I’ve never been able to have those conversations elsewhere.—Amy Cavanaugh
- I realized that I loved Chicago when I came back from Atlanta to visit, and spent time just hanging out in Lincoln Park, Near North, etc. because I had friends and relative who had moved to those areas. As a kid growing up in the suburbs, most trips into Chicago were for specific functions like a museum or sporting event. It was only after college that I had a couple opportunities to experience downtown Chicago with residents. Upon returning to Atlanta, I realized it was just Naperville with four million people and decided I had to move back to Chicago. My first summer back, with all the festivals, art fairs, excursion to different neighborhoods, free concerts/movies in the parks, the beach, etc. proved without a shadow of a doubt that I'd made the right call.—Benjy Lipsman
- The moment I realized I loved Chicago: sitting on North Avenue Beach with the city skyline as my view in one direction, and sand and water in the other. Two of my favorite things in one place.—Michelle Meywes
- In the fall and winter of 2009, I was unemployed and living with my parents in Michigan for six months. While this pales in comparison to the span of unemployment many of my friends have experienced, it was nonetheless excruciating. I passed my time by reading everything I could get my little hands on, applying to about 10 jobs a day, and visiting my best friend in Chicago. I'd been to Chicago before and had always enjoyed myself, but it wasn't until I was wandering around on a beautiful summer day in Andersonville that I knew I had to relocate. Everyone was so friendly, no doubt due to the glorious temperature increase, it was so beautiful out, and I ate tons of awesome food. I was sold.—Maggie Hellwig
- When I fell in love with Chicago: Freshman year of college. Midnight screening of Werner Herzog's Nosferatu at Facets, then taking the Red Line back to my dorm at 112 S. Michigan. The fact that I could go to a movie at midnight and then get back to my domicile in the early morning hours on public transportation, and that no one in the least considered it unusual at all, was an epiphany. That was the night I knew I'd never want to live in suburbia again, and Chicago was the greatest city in the world.—Rob Christopher
- I didn't fall in love with Chicago until I left it. I went to college on the east coast and I remember the skyline coming into view as I crossed Lake Michigan on my flight home that first Thanksgiving. That did it for me. The first thing I did when I made it back to school was order a gorgeous print of the Chicago skyline at twilight. That image kept me longing for an Italian beef sandwich from its constant perch above my TV for the six years I was away.—Paul Schneider
- In 1977 Chicago Public Schools began token efforts to integrate after the Illinois Board of Education officially ruled CPS to not be in compliance with regulations designed to eliminate and prevent racial segregation in the school system. At the beginning of the school year, CTA buses—the classic "green limousines"—began shuttling students from the West side to schools on the far Northwest side of the city. Our family lived in Austin at the time, and I was among those bused from John Hay Elementary to Ernst Prussing Elementary in Jefferson Park. Central Avenue was the street we took each way, and the change in the city as we shuttled through Belmont-Cragin, the Belmont Central business district, and the Northwest side was like reading a book, the plot unfolding seemingly every eight blocks. (The combination of pristine Northwest side neighborhoods and CTA buses filled with largely black children also served to reinforce the differences between the haves and have-nots.)
Central Avenue had an overpass at Hanson Stadium, near Prosser High School. At its acme, if you looked out the bus's window, you could see the Chicago skyline miles in the distance. The Sears Tower and John Hancock Center rose majestically above all, gleaming in the morning and afternoon sun, or reaching to touch low-hanging storm clouds. Looking back, I realize my appreciation of Chicago as a city of neighborhoods was instilled in those bus rides to school, and it grew as we eventually moved out of Austin to the Northwest side, as I returned to Chicago after my Navy enlistment, and now, having lived in Bridgeport for nearly 13 years. I also believe the city skyline looks better if one views it from the South and West sides. Even as it evolves today, with buildings like Aqua and Trump Tower joining it, it seems complete. The skyline has inspired generations of people on the South and West sides to dream of a better place for themselves: to reach for the sky. I hope that it will continue to do so for another 175 years.—Chuck Sudo