Chicago
is an easy city to negotiate: streets form a grid and numbering is
consistent, beginning at State and Madison streets. State Street
- "that great street" in Sinatra's song - is at zero east
and west and Madison at zero north and south. Lake Michigan , which
provides Chicago with some of its most attractive open space (twenty
miles of lakeshore lie within the city limits), serves as a clear
point of reference for getting your bearings - the lake is always
to the east of the urban grid. Michigan Avenue is the city's main
thoroughfare, running between the lakeside museums and parklands,
the densely packed skyscrapers of downtown and the diverse low-rise
neighborhoods that spread to the north, south and west. It's here
that you might experience the full force of "The Hawk," the
nickname given to the strong wind that blows off the lake. The nickname " Windy
City " was coined by a New York newspaper editor describing
the boastful claims of the city's promoters when pitching for the
World's Columbian exhibition of 1893. The Chicago River , which cuts
through the heart of downtown Chicago to Lake Michigan, separates
the business district from the shopping and entertainment areas of
the North Side. The latter include the upscale Near North and Gold
Coast neighborhoods and the artists' lofts and galleries of River
North , plus the modestly charming area of Old Town , the young professional
enclaves of Lincoln Park Wrigleyville and Lakeview and hip Wicker
Park. Hostels in Chicago
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ROOMS USA
