95-481: The Suburban Transit Access Route (or STAR Line ) was a proposed railway project in northwest and outer suburban Chicago, Illinois , United States. On January 30, 2003, Metra announced plans to build a new service line that would introduce a new fleet of Diesel multiple unit trains (DMUs) to connect nearly 100 communities in the region and form Metra's only suburb-to-suburb service. Currently all of Metra's services are oriented on suburb-to-city travel. The route of
190-403: A Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics . In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County. By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond
285-536: A children's room. Monuments and vistas were an essential feature of City Beautiful urban planning: in Denver, Paris-trained American sculptor Frederick MacMonnies was commissioned to design a monument marking the end of the Smoky Hill Trail . The bronze Indian guide he envisaged was vetoed by the committee and replaced with an equestrian Kit Carson . Harrisburg 's movement of beautification and improvement
380-474: A consequence of high birth rates, increased immigration and internal migration of rural populations into cities. The movement flourished for several decades, and in addition to the construction of monuments, it also achieved great influence in urban planning that endured throughout the 20th century, particularly in regard to United States public housing projects. The " Garden City " movement in Britain influenced
475-482: A covered sewer interceptor along the river. The following February 1901, the population voted in favor of a bond issue that funded $ 1.1 million in new constructions and city planning. These improvements, combined with a new state capitol building in 1906, quickly transformed Harrisburg into a proud modern city by 1915. After the Southern Exposition of 1883–1887, Louisville grew rapidly with the advent of
570-651: A day. The line was to be 55 miles in length. The cost estimate for the STAR Line was $ 1.1 billion. The project was authorized under what was, in 2005, the most recent federal transportation funding bill: SAFETEA-LU . The project underwent Alternatives Analysis before cancellation. The 55-mile (89 km) Metra route would have been the first suburb-to-suburb train line in the Chicago area. The line would have started at O'Hare International Airport , run west along Interstate 90 towards Hoffman Estates , then south along
665-495: A heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer , who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election. Richard M. Daley , son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development , as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying
760-487: A model city of grand scale, known as the "White City", with modern transport systems and no poverty visible. The exposition is credited with resulting in the large-scale adoption of monumentalism for American architecture for the next 15 years. Richmond, Virginia 's Monument Avenue is one expression of this initial phase. The popularization begun by the World Columbian Exposition was increased by
855-610: A model for the new field of social work . During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera , smallpox , and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states. The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks , which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago
950-479: A new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River , and subsequently into Lake Michigan , polluting the city's primary freshwater source. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs . In 1900,
1045-748: A plan for a Civic Center, disposed along a grand esplanade that led to the Colorado State Capitol . The plan was partly realized, on a reduced scale, with the Greek amphitheater, Voorhies Memorial and the Colonnade of Civic Benefactors, completed in 1919. The Andrew Carnegie Foundation funded the Denver Public Library (1910), which was designed as a three-story Greek Revival temple with a colossal Ionic colonnade across its front; inside it featured open shelves, an art gallery and
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#17327975660611140-520: Is considered one of principal documents of the City Beautiful movement. The plan featured a dynamic new civic center, axial streets, and a lush strip of parkland for recreation alongside the city's lakefront. Of these, only the lakefront park was implemented to any significant degree. In 1913, the City of Chicago appointed a commission with a mandate to "make Chicago Beautiful." As part of the plan,
1235-407: Is known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more commonly as "ramps". The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as " Checagou " was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel , in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew profusely in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687: ... when we arrived at
1330-554: Is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports by passenger traffic , and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $ 689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse , with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. Chicago is a major destination for tourism , including visitors to its cultural institutions , and Lake Michigan beaches . Chicago's culture has contributed much to
1425-675: Is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States . With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census , it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles . As the seat of Cook County , the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area , often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on
1520-672: The American Coatings Association headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 1978, the Commission was reorganized, eliminating the field inspectors. In February 1989, the Commission moved to its present location at The Massey House in Victorian Village, Memphis . According to the author Even Bacon in his book “Orlando: A Centennial History,” Orange County sent a group of agricultural exhibitors to
1615-479: The Black Belt . While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting , completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in
1710-719: The Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow either entirely or partially through the city. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect: moderating Chicago's climate, making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. When Chicago
1805-562: The Chicago School , the development of the City Beautiful movement , and the steel-framed skyscraper . Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture , commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation . It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport
1900-611: The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway towards Joliet . The line would have connected almost 100 communities in Will , DuPage , and Cook County. The route would have used a new fleet of European-style trains running at 79 miles per hour (127 km/h), providing service at 15-minute intervals during peak periods. In June 2003, the Regional Transportation Authority board unanimously signaled their support for
1995-599: The Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy . The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts . In
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#17327975660612090-619: The Industrial Revolution . Specifically, the Old Louisville neighborhood, that was planned and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the image of the City Beautiful movement, became the largest Victorian neighborhood in the United States. Central Park sits in the middle of Old Louisville and is home to an annual free public Shakespeare festival. Adjacent to the park is the St. James–Belgravia Historic District which hosts
2185-542: The Jefferson Township , which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side . The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents. Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States . Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in
2280-667: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, held in St. Louis. Its commissioner of architects selected Franco-American architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray to be Chief of Design. Within three years he designed the following fair buildings in the prevailing Beaux Arts: the Palace of Agriculture; the cascades and colonnades; the Palace of Forestry, Fish, and Game; the Palace of Horticulture; and the Palace of Transportation. All these were widely emulated in civic projects across
2375-511: The Miami , Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region. The first known permanent settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable . Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago." In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in
2470-592: The New Negro Movement , in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919 , also occurred. The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition
2565-836: The Northwest Indian War , an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville . In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn , which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt. After the War of 1812, the Ottawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to
2660-844: The Philadelphia Museum of Art ), Pittsburgh (the Schenley Farms district in the Oakland neighborhood of parks, museums, and universities), San Antonio ( San Antonio River development), San Francisco (manifested by its Civic Center ), and the Washington State Capitol Campus in Olympia , and the University of Washington's Rainier Vista in Seattle . In Wilmington, Delaware , it inspired
2755-469: The University of Chicago , Northwestern University , and the University of Illinois Chicago , among other institutions of learning . Professional sports in Chicago include all major professional leagues , including two Major League Baseball teams. The name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami–Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion ; it
2850-698: The Washington and Jackson Parks. During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States . Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance , part of
2945-494: The 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones . This system for telling time spread throughout the continent. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at
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3040-477: The 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas , the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln , to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention , which
3135-410: The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This greatly influenced city officials and planners at the turn of the century in incorporating diverse trees (such as oak trees, Palm trees, and azaleas) and other natural fixtures into the city's design. With the arrival of the middle-aged couple William S. and Jessie Branch from Parker, South Dakota, in 1903, led to the creation of brochures extolling
3230-433: The 1920s, Palos Verdes Estates, California , was established as a master planned community by noted American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. The community was designed as a "City Beautiful." Among its early structures were the buildings comprising Malaga Cove Plaza, designed in a Mediterranean Revival style popular with the City Beautiful movement. Both European and North American cities provided models for
3325-705: The 57th mayor of Chicago. Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. It is the principal city in the Chicago Metropolitan Area , situated in both the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region . The city rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds . In addition to it lying beside Lake Michigan, two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and
3420-714: The Australian City Beautiful movement. A combination of elements about 1900 also influenced the movement: However, City Beautiful was not solely concerned with aesthetics. The term ‘beautility’ derived from the American city beautiful philosophy, which meant that the beautification of a city must also be functional. Beautility, including the proven economic value of improvements, influenced Australian town planning. There were no formal city beautiful organisations that led this movement in Australia; rather it
3515-455: The Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Mexicans in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat . From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis
3610-614: The City Beautiful Commission was officially established by a city ordinance on July 1, 1930, making it the first and oldest beautification commission in the nation. It was the brainchild of the mayor, E. H. Crump . The first Commission was appointed and had operating expenses of $ 1,500. A small office was set up in The Nineteenth Century Club . Mrs. E. G. Willingham was chosen as chairman and Mrs. William B. Fowler served as vice chairman. In 1935,
3705-646: The City Beautiful ideal with the intent of creating social order through beautification was the McMillan Plan (1902), named for Michigan Senator James McMillan . The plan emerged from the U.S. Senate Park Commission's redesigning of the monumental core of Washington, D.C. , to commemorate the city's centennial and to fulfill unrealized aspects of the city plan of Pierre Charles L'Enfant a century earlier. The Washington, D.C., planners, which included Burnham, Saint-Gaudens, Charles McKim of McKim, Mead, and White , and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. , visited many of
3800-535: The Mississippi River. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. Much of the city, including railroads and stockyards , survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed
3895-676: The Pennsylvania Union Railroad Depot was to be moved to the west side of the city and replaced with a new modern depot. The West Side Property Owner’s Association was among those that objected. As reported by the Chicago Tribune , the association’s attorney Sidney Adler of Loeb & Adler said, "As I saw the beautiful picture of the city beautiful we will have fountains in West Madison Street, with poets and poetesses walking along Clinton, and
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3990-532: The Riverside Drive project was dedicated. Costing nearly $ 1,000,000 (largely WPA funds) the City Beautiful Commission landscaped the bluffs with crape myrtle, redbuds, magnolias, dogwoods and Paul Scarlet roses. White roses were planted at each guardrail post. In 1936, Mrs. William B. Fowler became chairman of the City Beautiful Commission and served for many years. City Beautiful grew under her leadership and soon had to relocate to larger headquarters. Through
4085-727: The STAR line was planned to travel along the EJ&;E right of way and in the median of the Northwest Tollway ( Interstate 90 ). The tollway median was a proposed extension of the CTA Blue Line westward to Schaumburg, but construction plans of the Suburban Transit Access Route caused the extension to be canceled. Very high ridership was expected due to its unique travel theme: around 80,000 passengers
4180-519: The South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards. On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project . This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945. Mayor Richard J. Daley ,
4275-624: The United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis . The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal . On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago
4370-787: The United States of foreign parentage. Germans , Irish , Poles , Swedes , and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population). Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike . Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became
4465-647: The United States. Shortly after the fair opened in 1904, Masqueray resigned, having accepted an invitation from Archbishop John Ireland in St. Paul, Minnesota to design a cathedral there in the Beaux-Arts style. Other celebrated architects of the fair's buildings—notably Cass Gilbert who designed the Palace of the Fine Arts, now the Saint Louis Art Museum , applied City Beautiful ideas from the exposition throughout their careers. An early use of
4560-399: The annual St. James Court Art Show every October. South of St. James Court is the University of Louisville's Belknap Campus which is home to Grawemeyer Hall and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. Each of these areas of Louisville display the features of beautification and monumental grandeur that typified the City Beautiful movement of the 1890s. In Memphis, Tennessee ,
4655-938: The axis along State Street from the Ohio State Capitol building east to the Metropolitan Library and west to the Scioto River), Des Moines , Denver , Detroit (the Cultural Center , Belle Isle and Outer Drive ), Madison (with the axis from the capitol building through State Street and to the University of Wisconsin campus), Montreal , New York City (notably the Manhattan Municipal Building ), Philadelphia (the Benjamin Franklin Parkway museum district between Philadelphia City Hall and
4750-412: The city include the central business district, called the Loop , and the North, South , and West Sides . The three sides of the city are represented on the Flag of Chicago by three horizontal white stripes. The North Side is the most-densely-populated residential section of the city, and many high-rises are located on this side of the city along the lakefront. The South Side is the largest section of
4845-408: The city was affected by a series of tenant rent strikes , which lead to the formation of the Chicago Tenants Protective association, passage of the Kessenger tenant laws, and of a heat ordinance that legally required flats to be kept above 68 °F during winter months by landlords. Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924,
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#17327975660614940-415: The city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin . On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as
5035-424: The city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis. In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of
5130-405: The city, encompassing roughly 60% of the city's land area. The South Side contains most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago . City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It
5225-466: The city. Today, Coral Gables is one of Miami's most expensive suburban communities, long known for its strict zoning regulations which preserve the City Beautiful elements along with its Mediterranean Revival architecture style, which is prevalent throughout the city. Coral Gables has many parks and a heavy tree canopy with an urban forest planted largely in the 1920s. In Denver, Colorado , Mayor Robert W. Speer endorsed City Beautiful planning, with
5320-415: The contemporary planning of some newer suburbs of London , and there was cross-influence between the two aesthetics, one based in formal garden plans and urbanization schemes and the other, with its " semi-detached villas " evoking a more rural atmosphere. The particular architectural style of the movement borrowed mainly from the contemporary Beaux-Arts and neoclassical architectures, which emphasized
5415-407: The convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower , which in 1974 became the world's tallest building ), University of Illinois at Chicago , McCormick Place , and O'Hare International Airport , were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne ,
5510-529: The creation of Rodney Square and the surrounding civic buildings. In New Haven, Connecticut , John Russell Pope developed a plan for Yale University that eliminated substandard housing and relocated the urban poor to the peripheries. Kansas City, Missouri , and Dallas undertook the installation of parkways and parks under the influence of the movement. The City Beautiful philosophy was also heavily incorporated into Florida cities, such as in Coral Gables and Orlando . Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago
5605-432: The district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $ 1.95 billion. On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel , a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives , won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot ,
5700-508: The efforts of City Beautiful, Memphis gained the title of cleanest city in Tennessee in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1946. Memphis also received the Ernest T. Trigg "Nation’s Cleanest City" award in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1951. During this time, volunteers were organized into Wards and Block Clubs with Ward Chairmen and Block Captains. The City Beautiful staff grew to include 30 inspectors by 1954 who worked through these organizations to identify and improve eyesores. Memphis participated with
5795-416: The fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding. During World War II , the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945. The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave , as hundreds of thousands of blacks from
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#17327975660615890-416: The great cities of Europe . They hoped to make Washington, D.C., monumental and green like the European capitals of the era; they believed that state-organized beautification could lend legitimacy to government during a time of social disturbance in the United States. The essence of the plan surrounded the United States Capitol with monumental government buildings to replace "notorious slum communities". At
5985-519: The heart of the design was the creation of the National Mall and eventually included Burnham's Washington Union Station . The implementation of the plan was interrupted by World War I , but resumed after the war, culminating in the construction of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922. The success of the City Beautiful philosophy in Washington, D.C. , is credited with influencing subsequent plans for beautification of many other cities, including Chicago , Baltimore , Cleveland ( The Mall ), Columbus (with
6080-490: The horrific conditions in Harrisburg, and she set out to gain public sentiment in support of changing them. Dock’s speech was titled "The City Beautiful" or "Improvement Work at Home and Abroad", and this was the starting point for Harrisburg’s city improvements. Dock’s contemporary and closest ally in her drive for urban beautification was J. Horace McFarland , who was the president of the American Civic Association. With McFarland and Dock working together, they were able to push
6175-449: The lack of good filtration systems that could filter the sewage dumped by populations further up the Susquehanna River. A disastrous fire that consumed the state capitol in 1897 had spawned new conversation about the suitability of Harrisburg as a state capital. The improvement campaign was sparked by a riveting speech of conservationist Mira Lloyd Dock to the Harrisburg Board of Trade on December 20, 1900. Dock wanted to publicly challenge
6270-451: The lowest points are along the lake shore at 578 ft (176.2 m), while the highest point, at 672 ft (205 m), is the morainal ridge of Blue Island in the city's far south side. Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's waterfront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park , Grant Park , Burnham Park , and Jackson Park . There are 24 public beaches across 26 miles (42 km) of
6365-473: The necessity of order, dignity, and harmony. The first large-scale elaboration of the City Beautiful occurred in Chicago at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition . The planning of the exposition was directed by architect Daniel Burnham , who hired architects from the eastern United States, as well as the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens , to build large-scale Beaux-Arts monuments that were vaguely classical with uniform cornice height. The exposition displayed
6460-414: The philosophy believed that such beautification could promote a harmonious social order that would increase the quality of life , while critics would complain that the movement was overly concerned with aesthetics at the expense of social reform; Jane Jacobs referred to the movement as an "architectural design cult." The movement began in the United States in response to crowding in tenement districts,
6555-440: The present location of Jackson Park . The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The University of Chicago , formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance , a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects
6650-428: The problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River , which flows into
6745-406: The process of municipal improvement in Harrisburg by convincing prominent community leaders to donate money, and by gathering the support of the majority of citizens. In April 1901, the Harrisburg Telegraph, a city newspaper, published a front-page article on the city’s problems, which stressed Dock’s message of beautification and recreation, paved streets, clean water, a city hall, land for parks, and
6840-498: The proposed STAR Line. The project would have cost $ 1.1 billion and would have taken 10 years to build, depending on funding. In January 2012, the Daily Herald reported that Metra was no longer actively studying the project, partly due to a lack of funding from federal and state governments. Other transport modes, such as bus rapid transit, offered a cheaper alternative to the STAR Line. Chicago, Illinois Chicago
6935-593: The runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term. In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m ) of water, affecting buildings throughout
7030-615: The said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region. The city has had several nicknames throughout its history, such as the Windy City , Chi-Town, Second City, and City of the Big Shoulders. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi , an indigenous tribe who had succeeded
7125-494: The shore of Lake Michigan , Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed . It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture , such as
7220-521: The simple minded residents of the west side, after work is done, will take their gondolas and row on the limpid bosom of the Chicago River idlely strumming guitars." Planned out as a suburb of Miami in the early 1920s by George Edgar Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s , Coral Gables was developed entirely upon the City Beautiful movement, with obelisks, fountains, and monuments seen in street roundabouts, parks, city buildings and around
7315-587: The steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement , which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders. Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention , which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside
7410-562: The unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side. In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida , during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair . The theme of
7505-565: The virtues of Florida and its climate, highlighting from the Orlando area. Five years later, the city sponsored a contest to replace Orlando’s nickname which was previously “Phenomenal City”, in response to the city's beautifications efforts. Out of the many suggestions, the proposed nickname “The City Beautiful” was chosen and adopted. The city has since continued in their preservation and revitalization of its natural habitat in its city design, notably at Lake Eola Park and at Leu Gardens . In
7600-649: The visual arts, literature , film, theater , comedy (especially improvisational comedy ), food , dance, and music (particularly jazz , blues , soul , hip-hop , gospel , and electronic dance music , including house music ). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago , while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school . The Chicago area also hosts
7695-664: The waterfront. Landfill extends into portions of the lake providing space for Navy Pier , Northerly Island , the Museum Campus , and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings are close to the waterfront. An informal name for the entire Chicago metropolitan area is "Chicagoland", which generally means the city and all its suburbs, though different organizations have slightly different definitions. Major sections of
7790-539: The world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction. The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township , which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and
7885-431: Was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago. In
7980-565: Was Australia's "leading proponent" of the City Beautiful movement and, in 1921, wrote the book An Introduction to Australian City Planning . Both the City Beautiful and the Garden City philosophies were represented by Sulman’s "geometric or contour controlled" designs of the circulatory road systems in Canberra. The widths of pavements were also reduced and vegetated areas were increased, such as planted road verges. Melbourne’s grid plan
8075-513: Was a part of the progressive social reform movement in North America under the leadership of the upper-middle class , which was concerned with poor living conditions in all major cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago , Cleveland , Detroit , Kansas City and Washington, D.C. , promoted beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral and civic virtue among urban populations. Advocates of
8170-472: Was called the Society for Human Rights . It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom . Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband. The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of
8265-413: Was considered a way to increase the city’s popularity as a tourist destination. Walter Burley Griffin incorporated City Beautiful principles for his design for Canberra . Griffin was influenced by Washington, D.C., "with grand axes and vistas and a strong central focal point: with specialised centres and, being a landscape architect, used the landscape to complement this layout. John Sulman, however,
8360-576: Was considered dull and monotonous by some people, and so the architect William Campbell designed a blueprint for the city. The main principle behind this were diagonal streets, providing sites for new and comprehensive architecture and for special buildings. The designs of Paris and Washington were major inspirations for this plan. World War I prolonged the City Beautiful movement in Australia , where more memorials were erected than in any other country. Although City Beautiful, or artistic planning, became
8455-462: Was founded in 1837, most of the early building was around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176.5 m) above sea level . While measurements vary somewhat,
8550-578: Was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam . He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War . To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough 's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to
8645-533: Was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city. As the site of the Chicago Portage , the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad , and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on
8740-428: Was influenced by communications among professionals and bureaucrats, in particular architect-planners and local government reformers. In the early Federation era some influential Australians were determined that their cities be progressive and competitive. Adelaide was used as an Australian example of the "benefits of comprehensive civic design" with its ring of parklands. Beautification of the city of Hobart, for example,
8835-545: Was one of the early and more successful urban reform movements in the U.S. It began when local minded residents became convinced that their city was unattractive, unhealthy, and filthy, and lacked the appearance and facilities appropriate to its status as Pennsylvania's state capital. The causes of the city's defects were well known: industrialization in the previous half century had left the city poorly planned with unpaved streets and undeveloped water management systems. Residents of Harrisburg suffered disease and illnesses caused by
8930-461: Was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters , including Al Capone , Dion O'Banion , Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era . Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran. From 1920 to 1921,
9025-477: Was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935 the Workers Alliance of America begun organizing the poor, workers,
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