Welcome To ChicagoSmarts Blog
Welcome To ChicagoSmarts Blog
Chicago is a big city.
With nearly three million residents it’s the most populous city in the Midwest and the third most populous city in the United States. If you include the surrounding area, known as Chicagoland, then Chicago anchors a metropolitan area containing nearly 10 million people.
But why is Chicago so big? Did all these people come for Chicago-style pizza? Did all these people come to visit Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere? Did all these people come to root for the Chicago Bears, one of the NFL’s two original franchises?
Actually, Chicago’s meteoric rise from its first permanent settlement in the late 1770’s, to its incorporation as a city in 1837, to its rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1871, and finally to its current status as the center of industry for the middle-third of the United States has to do with one thing. Chicago is a major hub for transportation.
Initially, the “Chicago Portage” connected the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes. This made the Chicago area one of the most strategic locations in the interior of North America. In 1848, the area further enhanced its position as the country’s premiere transportation center with the completion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. This waterway was replaced in 1900 by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Not only was this new canal shorter it also reversed the flow of Chicago River. So instead of flowing into Lake Michigan, the Chicago River now flows into the Mississippi.
With the advent of the locomotive, these canals became obsolete. Of course, Chicago adapted to this new mode of transportation and retained its title as the country’s transportation king. Today, six of the seven Class I railroads meet in Chicago and nearly half of all U.S. rail freight passes through the city. Chicago is also a major hub for passenger trains. Amtrak has several key lines departing from Chicago’s Union Station.
The aviation industry certainly didn’t skip Chi-town. The city is served by two major airports, Midway International and O’Hare International. The latter is the world’s second busiest airport. Both are hubs for major carries, O’Hare for American Airlines and Midway for Southwest. The world’s second-largest airline, United Airlines, and the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, are headquartered in Chicago.
I’m mentioning the city’s standing as a transportation center to emphasize that if you need to travel across the United States, or if you need to ship something from one coast to the other, you or your package will probably have to go through Chicago.
A similar thing can be said about this blog. If you want to find something to do in Chicago, if you want to find one of the top 10 places to visit in Chicago or one of the top ten best Chicago entertainment Web sites then you’ll definitely want to “travel” to the new ChicagoSmarts blog and its companion site, ChicagoSmarts.
This site promises to bring you the most trusted information, the most thorough research, and the keenest knowledge of what’s going on in and around the city. And needless to say, there’s a lot going on in Chicago: Grant Park, the Navy Pier, the Field Museum, Wrigley Field, the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Theatre, and the Magnificent Mile. In fact, there’s so much stuff going on you’ll need help finding the perfect activity that fits your taste and budget.
So to find the best the Windy City has to offer—whether it’s sports, nightlife, or restaurants—you’ll need to bookmark the ChicagoSmarts blog and come back as often as you can. It doesn’t matter if you’re a resident or a tourist; if you’re from the North Side, the South Side or the West Side; if you’re a White Sox or a Cubs fans because when you’re planning an outing in Chicago this is the blog you’ll want to visit.
So welcome to new ChicagoSmarts blog and enjoy your experience in Chicago.