Chicago Meeting Planners Guide 2009 - (Page 18) CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS TOUR THE ’HOOD! Chicago Neighborhood Tours, operated by the City of Chicago, offers a variety of ethnic and topic-specific tours. On an Ethnic Neighborhood Tour, Learn About: • Chicago’s AfricanAmerican legacy (Bronzeville) • Generations of Italian families (Little Italy) • The influx of Ukrainians (Ukrainian Village) • Early Chinese immigrants (Chinatown) • Our Greek community (Greektown) • Chicago’s Mexican heritage (Pilsen) • Indian and Pakistani cultures (Devon Ave.) A Sample of TopicSpecific Tours: • History: Pullman Historic District, Uptown • Artistic: Bucktown and Wicker Park • Architecture: Hyde Park and Kenwood Chicago Neighborhood Tours: 312-742-1190, chicagoneighborhood tours.com Tours Depart: 10am from Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St. Cost: $25 (refreshments) and $50 (lunch) Shopping on state street. ©Denise Chambers/Weaver Multimedia Group THE LOOP The area of downtown Chicago known as the Loop was destroyed by the 1871 fire, but like a phoenix it re-emerged only a short time later into a commercial hub. Today the Loop is the vibrant central core of Chicago, where corporate, financial and government affairs take place amid a thriving shopping and cultural scene. Bounded by Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south and Wells Street on the west, the Loop is so named because of the elevated train tracks that ring its circumference. The ‘L’ trains whiz by daily in a loop that encircles such Chicago icons as Macy’s on State Street department store as well as Daley Plaza, City Hall, the Theatre District and an array of restaurants. SOUTH of THE Row/Burnham Park LOOP Printer’s Chicago was once the center of the printing industry, concentrated along Dearborn Street from Congress south to Polk. Deserted in the 1970s, the buildings lining these narrow streets of Printer’s Row have since been rehabilitated and converted to high-end residential lofts along with jazz and blues clubs, trendy shops, fine-dining restaurants and art galleries. Nearby, the grassy lakeside Burnham Park is home to Museum Campus — a chunk of Chicago’s cultural institutions combining land, sea and sky: The Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. Also, Soldier Field (the Bears’ home turf) and McCormick Place (the nation’s largest convention complex) are found toward the park’s southern end. • See the map on page 50a to see all of Chicago’s neighborhoods. 18 Chicago Meeting Professionals Guide
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