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Renting an Apartment in Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the state of Illinois, and is the third most
populous city in the United States. Often referred to as the "Windy City," the
"Second City," the "City of Big Shoulders," or "Chi-town", Chicago is located
along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Chicagoland encompasses a
population rapidly approaching 10 million people and is made up of Chicago
combined with its suburbs and nine surrounding counties in Illinois, Indiana,
and Wisconsin.
Chicago was founded in 1833 as a frontier town of the Old Northwest and has
grown into one of the world's premier large cities, and is ranked as one of 10
most influential world cities by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group
& Network. Chicago was the home of the world's first skyscraper, built in the
early 20th century, and today is the financial, architectural, and
cultural capital of the Midwest. Chicago is also one of the largest
transportation center in the country, with more rail lines and interstates
radiating from the city than any other city in the U.S. Chicago is also third in
the country behind Orlando and Las Vegas in the annual number of conventions
hosted. The city's skyscrapers, sports teams, political traditions, and local
cuisine are some of its most recognized symbols.
Residents of Chicago are referred to as Chicagoans. Typically, residents of
Chicago will identify themselves with one of the many local neighborhoods. About
one-third of central-city dwellers are Caucasian, another third African
American, around a quarter Hispanic and one-twentieth Asian, with small amounts
of other groups filling in the remainder. Chicago also has several dozen
distinct neighborhoods to match its ethnic diversity; the city is divided into
77 official community areas.
The streets of Chicago primarily follow the grid system established by the
Chicago City Council in 1908 and implemented on September 1, 1909. The baselines
for numbering streets and buildings are State Street (east-west numbering) and
Madison (north-south numbering). Street numbers begin at "1" at the baselines
and run numerically in directions indicated to the city limits, with N, S, E,
and W indicating directions. Chicago is divided into one-mile sections which
contain eight blocks to the mile. Each block's addresses occupy a 100-number
range, making a range of 800 address numbers cover approximately one mile.
Even-numbered addresses are on the north and west sides of streets; odd-numbered
address are on the south and east sides.
Seven interstate highways run through Chicago. Segments that link to the city
center are named after influential politicians, and traffic reports tend to use
the names rather than interstate numbers. The named interstate segments are the
Kennedy Expressway (I-90 from the 'Loop' to O'Hare International Airport), Dan
Ryan Expressway (I-90/94, from south of the 'Circle Interchange' to the I-57
Split), Stevenson Expressway (I-55), Edens Expressway (I-94), Eisenhower
Expressway (I-290), Bishop Ford Expressway (I-94 from the I-57 Split south), and
the Chicago Skyway (I-90 when it breaks off the Dan Ryan). Interstate 57 is not
named.
The Chicago Transit Authority or CTA, handles public transportation in the City
of Chicago and a few adjacent suburbs, and the Regional Transportation Authority
or RTA, provides service in forty surrounding suburbs and partially into the
city. On an average day, 1.6 million rides are taken on the CTA, which operates
public buses, a rapid transit system, and an elevated train known as the
"Chicago L" or "El" to Chicagoans. The CTA also operates rapid transit service
to Midway and O'Hare Airports.
Metra operates commuter rail service in Chicago and its suburbs. Metra features
the Electric District Main Line, which offers commutes from the Far South
Suburbs to Chicago's Lakefront attractions. Metra's Electric Line is Chicago's
oldest continuing commuter train (1856), sharing the railway with the South
Shore Line's NICTD Northwest Indiana Commuter Rail Service, which accesses
Chicago/Gary Airport. Pace operates a primarily-suburban bus service that also
offers some routes into Chicago.
Chicago is served by two major airports: Midway Airport on the south side and
O'Hare International Airport on the far northwest. O'Hare is one of the world's
busiest airports, playing an important role in domestic connections for many
airlines. Both O'Hare and Midway are owned and operated by the city of Chicago.
The State of Illinois has debated opening a new airport near Peotone.
Gary/Chicago International Airport, located in nearby Gary, Indiana, serves as
the third Chicagoland airport.
Chicago is home to many institutions of higher education within its city limits
and nearby environs. While some of these institutions are primarily located
outside of central Chicago, many have downtown branches. The city is home to the
University of Chicago in Hyde Park on the near South Side and Northwestern
University in nearby north side suburb Evanston. Both maintain campuses near the
Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. The Illinois Institute of Technology in
Bronzeville has notable engineering and architecture programs. It is also
notable for its campus, which was designed by Mies van der Rohe, in addition to
its being accessible by the CTA Green Line.
The city is also home to several Catholic universities. Loyola University has
campuses in Rogers Park, Edgewater and Water Tower Place. DePaul University,
which is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest
private institution in Chicago, has campuses in Lincoln Park and the Loop.
The Chicago region boasts 12 accredited theological schools representing
Catholic and most mainline Protestant traditions. Those in Chicago are the
United Church of Christ-related Chicago Theological Seminary (which is the
city's oldest institution of higher education), Presbyterian-related McCormick
Theological Seminary, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago,
Unitarian-Universalistic-related Meadville Lombard Theological School, the
Catholic Theological Union, and the Evangelical Covenant Church related North
Park Theological Seminary. These and the other accredited seminaries in the
region are joined in a consortium known as the Association of Chicago
Theological Schools (ACTS). The well-known evangelical/fundamentalist Moody
Bible Institute is near downtown Chicago.
The Chicago campus of the University of Illinois system, the University of
Illinois at Chicago, is the city's largest university and one of the nation's
largest urban public universities. Other state universities in Chicago include
Chicago State University and Northeastern Illinois University. The city also has
a large community college system known as the City Colleges of Chicago.
A number of smaller colleges are known for fine arts education, including
Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art
Institute of Chicago. Dominican University, recognized for its accredited
library and information science graduate program, is located just outside
Chicago in River Forest. Many of the library courses are taught at the Chicago
Public Library's main Harold Washington building in the Loop.
Chicago's unique culture arises from it being a melting pot, with nearly even
percentages of Caucasians and African-Americans and a sizable Hispanic minority.
The main European ethnic groups in Chicago are the Irish, Germans, Italians and
Polish. Chicago has a large Irish-American population on its South Side. Many of
Chicago's politicians have come from this population, including current mayor
Richard M. Daley. Chicago has the largest population of Swedish-Americans of any
city in the US, numbering 123,000. After the Great Chicago Fire, many Swedish
carpenters helped to rebuild the city, which is why it is sometimes called the
city the Swedes built.
Today, Chicago has the largest ethnically Polish population outside of Poland,
making it one of the most important Polonia centers. Polish food and customs
have melted into the culture of the city. Chicago is also considered to be the
second-largest Serbian and Lithuanian city in the world, and the third largest
Greek city after Melbourne in Australia. The city also has the country's
largest Assyrian population, numbering as many as 80,000 and is the location of
the seat of the head of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Dinkha IV. It is
also the location of the ELCA headquarters. It has the second largest Chicano
population in the U.S. behind Los Angeles.