Precious Stone
Some of Chicago’s most iconic buildings are made of Joliet-Lemont limestone. Now the last quarry that supplies it is closing.
Custom Placements: City Life Lead
A Chicagoan’s Guide to New York City
You may have seen that map, “A New Yorker’s Guide to Chicago.” It attempts to superimpose the five boroughs of New York City onto their analogues here in our city. Manhattan is the lakefront, Brooklyn is the Northwest Side, Queens is the Bungalow Belt, the Bronx is the South Side, and Staten Island is the … Read more
The Best Place in the City to Watch Boats
Come for the smoked fish at Calumet Fisheries, stay for the lifting of the 95th Street Bridge.
What Does Division Street Divide?
In Streetwise Chicago, the 1988 definitive guide to the origins of our city street names, authors Don Hayner and Tom McNamee came up mostly empty on Division: “There seems to be no satisfactory explanation for how this street got its name, but one story is that it was so named because it divides Goose Island, … Read more
Riding the Lakefront Trail, Part Two: The South Side
Our bike ride continues down the path, from Soldier Field to South Shore Drive, with stops at a prairie and Promontory Point.
Carol Ross Barney
The architect, 74, on the Chicago Riverwalk, why design matters, and the joy of being pushy
Riding the Lakefront Trail, Part One: The North Side
We bike along the path’s humble beginnings in Edgewater, past a bird sanctuary and old-school bait shop, to its flashy stop along Navy Pier.
A Short History of Chicago’s Wildlife Celebrities
The foxes who took up residence in Lurie Garden and the peregrine falcon who dive-bombed downtown pedestrians to protect her ledge-nesting chicks are just the latest critters to enthrall us.
Long Ago, Before 312 and 773, Chicago Had Telephone Exchanges
In a time before cell phones, a call required a few letters and numbers that directed your call to the right neighborhood.