Three Days in Chicago

My dad and I spent the last three days in Chicago. It was a really fun time. Neither of us were familiar with Chicago. We had some interesting experiences. For starters, to get to our hotel from downtown, you had to drive past the National Headquarters of the Nation Of Islam. Before we left, I tried to call some of my Chicago friends to see if our hotel was in a decent neighborhood. Everything turned out alright. The immediate neighborhood just south of the city limits seemed pretty safe.

The whole trip I felt like I was visiting Cleveland's rich uncle. I was very impressed by Chicago. The whole town seemed full of life.

We spent two days at the Museum of Science and Industry. As far as museums go, this is the Taj Mahal. The entire museum was loaded with amazing things. Above is a picture of a giant model train exhibit called "The Great Train Story". The display featured a mock-up of Chicago, the Great Plains, The Rockies, and finally the Port of Seattle. The display outlined the importance of railroads to the country.

The museum also featured full-size locomotives, model boats, classic cars, an exhibit on the human body, and a tour of a mock Coal Mine.

By far the most impressive thing in the museum was the German U-Boat, U-505. The story of how U-505 wound up in American hands is quite a compelling. The U-Boat was captured in June 1944 by a US Navy Hunter Killer Group. Nearly fatally damaged by the naval taskforce, the crew of the U-505 abandoned ship in such haste that they didn't activate the self-demolition bombs. A US boarding party risked their lives and saved the boat. The fact that the US had the ship was kept from the Germans for the rest of the war.

The most impressive part of Chicago was the way the lakefront was integrated into the city. For the ten miles of lakefront I saw, it was all one big long park. The road along the lakefront was a 45 MPH boulevard. I presume that this is similar to what Cleveland leaders are planning with the Shoreway project. The way Chicago's boulevard worked, the whole city was connected to the lakefront. Pedestrian exchanges like the one above allowed visitors to walk between the city and the lakefront unimpeded.

The lakefront near downtown Chicago was pretty impressive as well. Everything was integrated. There was a nice balance of amenities aimed at locals and tourists. The lakefront was anchored by major museums and Soldier Field, but the lakefront itself seemed like a major destination. There were skate parks, basketball courts, and small beaches. The entire area had the feel of a college campus with people exercising, walking dogs, and playing ultimate Frisbee.

One of the things I noticed while walking through some of the parking garages in Chicago was that most of the cars were from Illinois. Granted a lot of tourists come in via bus and plane, but Chicago draws tons of visitors from its own state.

Likewise, I'm sure the vast majority of visitors to Cleveland come from places like Westlake and Mentor, not from the likes of Paris or California. We don't need a convention center with more bells and whistles to attract out-of-town tourists. We need a lakefront destination that will draw suburbanites like me downtown. We also need to utilize our lakefront to make city living more attractive. We need more parks and bike trails to show off what we already have.

Chicago will always have more money, flashier attractions, and bigger buildings, but there is one thing that Cleveland has that Chicago, with all its money, people, and power, can never have:

A beautiful Great Lakes sunset...