Walking Chicago: 35 Tours of the Windy City's Dynamic Neighborhoods and Famous Lakeshore
224
Walking Chicago: 35 Tours of the Windy City's Dynamic Neighborhoods and Famous Lakeshore
224Paperback(Second Edition)
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Overview
Grab your walking shoes, and become an urban adventurer. Chicagophile Robert Loerzel leads you on 35 unique walking tours in this comprehensive guidebook. Go beyond the obvious with self-guided tours through one of the nation’s most walkable cities, which is equal parts glamour and grit. Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods represent a melting pot—from Little Italy to Greektown, Pilsen to Ukrainian Village.
With this guide in hand, you’ll soak up history, political gossip, and architectural trivia. Find ethnic culture in Andersonville or high culture at the Art Institute. Listen to the blues on the South Side, or catch a ballgame on the North Side. Marvel at the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in Oak Park or at nature’s masterpiece along Lake Michigan. There are tips on the best cafes, bars, and night spots. With humorous anecdotes, surprising stories, and fun facts to share with others, this guidebook has it all.
Book Features
- 35 self-guided tours through the Windy City
- More than 20 miles of stunning shoreline along Lake Michigan
- Fun facts and unknown stories to share with others
Whether you’re looking for a walk on the beach or a slice of deep dish pizza, Walking Chicago will get you there. So find a route that appeals to you, and walk Chicago!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780899976976 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wilderness Press |
| Publication date: | 08/11/2020 |
| Series: | Walking |
| Edition description: | Second Edition |
| Pages: | 224 |
| Sales rank: | 442,987 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.50(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
10. The Magnificent Mile
Chicago’s Top Shopping
- Boundaries: Chicago River, Rush St., Cedar St., Lake Michigan
- Distance: 1.6 miles
- Difficulty: Easy
- Parking: Paid garages
- Public Transit: Any of the CTA bus routes that stop on Michigan Ave. near Tribune Tower; or walk east from the Red Line’s Grand station
The Magnificent Mile is nearly always bustling. The stores and restaurants are the main attractions on this 13-block stretch of North Michigan Avenue, but it’s also a prime spot for people-watching and architectural sightseeing.
Its origins go back to the opening of Michigan Avenue’s bridge in 1920, which spurred construction north of the river. But then the Depression hit, stalling development. After Arthur Rubloff and William Zeckendorf bought much of the property along North Michigan Avenue, Rubloff unveiled his plan to create what he called the Magnificent Mile in 1947. That kicked off a retail boom.
The wealthy Streeterville neighborhood lies east of Michigan Avenue and includes Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, and Northwestern University’s downtown campus. The River North neighborhood (Walk 9) is to the west.
Walk Description
Begin at Michigan Avenue and Illinois Street. The skyscraper at the northeast corner embodies the stylish architecture of the 1920s. It’s now the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, but the Chicago Shriners Club built the 42-story south tower in 1929 as the Medinah Athletic Club. Within four years, the Depression drove the club into bankruptcy. Architect Walter W. Ahlschlager borrowed elements from Egyptian, Greek, Celtic, Mesopotamian, medieval European, Gothic, and Art Deco styles. The hotel has a junior Olympic swimming pool on the 14th floor, where Tarzan film star and Olympian Johnny Weissmuller trained. Over on Michigan Avenue’s west side, the Purple Pig serves pig’s tails and pig’s ears, along with more typical porcine dishes like pork chops, ham, and bacon.
Walk north, and you’ll see an opening in the buildings where Michigan Avenue passes over Grand Avenue—a reminder that the Magnificent Mile is one story above ground level here. A building at 520 includes the Gwen Hotel—named after noted artist Gwen Lux, who sculpted mythological figures including Helios, Atlas, and Diana on the limestone panels above the entrance in collaboration with her then-husband Eugene Lux. This wall was salvaged from the McGraw-Hill Building, built in 1929 and demolished in 1998. The Shops at North Bridge, a four-level mall anchored by Nordstrom, fills a stretch north of the Gwen.
Farther north, one of the street’s boldest buildings is the Burberry store (completed in 2012), which looks like it’s encased inside a shiny black package featuring the clothing brand’s signature check pattern. A bit farther north and across the street, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery was the world’s largest Starbucks when it opened in 2019, with four floors plus a roof deck, featuring a cocktail bar, an Italian bakery, and demonstrations on “the art, science and theater of coffee.” It’s not unusual to see a line of people on the sidewalk waiting to get in.
Farther north, the Allerton Hotel is a rare Chicago example of North Italian Renaissance architecture. Completed in 1924, it was a residential “club hotel” catering to single young men with white-collar jobs. Near the top, a sign advertises the Tip Top Tap, a 23rd-floor lounge where Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope reportedly performed in the 1940s and 1950s. The Tip Top Tap hasn’t actually been open since the 1960s.
When you reach Chicago Avenue, go to the northwest corner—and the Water Tower, one of very few buildings around here that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when “the whole neighborhood, for blocks around, became a ‘sea of fire,’” according to a city report. Ever since, it has been a symbol of Chicago’s rebirth. Built in 1869 and designed by William W. Boyington—who also designed the pumping station across the street—the 182.5-foot-tall yellow-limestone tower was a fancy disguise for an unglamorous piece of infrastructure: a standpipe that regulated water flowing from a crib 2 miles out into Lake Michigan. When Oscar Wilde visited Chicago in 1882, he called it a “castellated monstrosity.” The city now runs a gallery inside the Water Tower. The surrounding park, named Jane M. Byrne Plaza, is usually busy with pedestrians passing through and people relaxing in chairs. The Loyola UniversityMuseum of Art is west of the plaza’s north end, inside Lewis Towers, a 1926 building that originally served as the Illinois Women’s Athletic Club.
Walk northeast through the plaza. At Pearson Street, go east across Michigan Avenue. Water Tower Place, a mall and 74-story high-rise, is on the northeast corner. Inside, eight stories of retail spaces encircle an atrium. Water Tower Place was a big deal when it opened in 1975, with as much retail space as the rest of North Michigan Avenue combined. And it remains popular today, with a Macy’s, the region’s only American Girl store, and more than 100 other shops, a dozen restaurants, and the Broadway Playhouse.
The Chicago Avenue Pumping Station lies on the southeast corner of Pearson and Michigan. Walk through the first entrance on the building’s north side, entering a space where you can look through glass walls at the pipes and machinery. Turn left, walking east to the next room. The acclaimed Lookingglass Theatre Company has occupied the space to your right since 2003. Turn left, heading into a foyer with an information center for tourists, along with a library branch. Exit onto Pearson. Walk back west, then go south on Michigan.
Turn east on Chicago Avenue. On the street’s north side, a two-story limestone fire station with glossy red front doors houses the Chicago Fire Department’s Engine Company 98 and Ambulance 11. Built in 1902, it’s among the city’s oldest active fire stations, with a design by Charles Hermann that complements the Water Tower. As you continue east, the street’s north side features Seneca Park, including Deborah Butterfield’s 1990 sculpture Ben, a horse that looks like it’s assembled out of tree branches but is actually bronze....
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsAuthor’s Note
Overview Map
Introduction
1 Michigan Avenue at the Chicago River
2 The Loop, Part 1
3 The Loop, Part 2
4 The Loop, Part 3
5 Millennium Park & the New Eastside
6 Grant Park
7 The Museum Campus & Northerly Island
8 Chicago Riverwalk
9 River North
10 The Magnificent Mile
11 Near South Side
12 Chinatown
13 Bronzeville
14 Hyde Park & Kenwood
15 Jackson Park & South Shore
16 Wolf Lake
17 West Loop
18 Little Italy & Vicinity
19 Pilsen
20 Bridgeport
21 Pullman
22 Beverly & Morgan Park
23 Garfield Park
24 The 606
25 Humboldt Park
26 Wicker Park & Vicinity
27 Logan Square
28 The Gold Coast & Old Town
29 Lincoln Park
30 Lake View
31 The Lakefront from Addison to Foster
32 Andersonville & Uptown
33 Rogers Park
34 Lincoln Square & Nearby
35 North Branch Trail
Appendix: Walks by Theme
Index
About the Author