INTD Articles

 

Chicago is the Midwest’s largest metro and certainly its highest-profile city. With 2.8 million citizens anchoring a metropolitan area that totals nearly 10 million, it’s no wonder that Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster could easily fictionalize Chicago as the Man of Steel’s hometown by renaming it Metropolis.

That epic, larger-than-life feeling still tends to strike 21st century visitors: the skyscrapers that only a Kryptonian visitor could leap over; the trains that make Chicago the transportation capital of the Midwest, rumbling through subways and along elevated tracks; the way daring architecture seeps into the design of even parking garages and parks; the heroic size of the steaks and sausages; and the unearthly beauty of ocean-sized Lake Michigan as it sparkles in blue at the city’s eastern edge.

No wonder the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau’s current tagline is “Make No Little Plans. Choose Chicago.” November’s election of former Illinois Sen. (and University of Chicago law professor) Barack Obama as president raised the Windy City’s profile even further, putting Chicago’s tony Hyde Park neighborhood front and center as the national media followed the Obamas’ every move.

The president-elect’s victory speech—live from Chicago—didn’t exactly hurt the city’s image, says Mark Theis, executive vice president of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.

“Admittedly that was a free $50 million ad campaign blasted around the world. It was fantastic to [know it was being seen] in Beijing or Rome and everybody was watching the victory speech in Grant Park.”

Of course, Chicago tends to get great headlines to begin with. It was both GQ’s and Fast Company’s 2008 city of the year and the Wall Street Journal’s top eating city, and four of its hotels graced Travel + Leisure’s Top 100 Hotels list, while Grant Achatz, chef of Alinea, captured the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef Award.