United States » Chicago

Chicago is the major city of America’s central area, with three million people bustling in the city of skyscrapers that appears to rise straight out of the waters of Lake Michigan (one of the five large lakes which are  located on the border of US and Canada), in northern Illinois. Famous architects, such as Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright and his Prairie School of Architecture, thrived here. 

Chicago has a tremendous climate with very hot summers and cold winters, its lakeside setting only slightly moderating the temperatures and adding some humidity to the atmosphere. Chicago has different seasons, with a short spring, when temperatures are moderate and night’s cold. Summers are hot, sunny and humid, from June to the end of September, with cool evenings when breezes blow in from Lake Michigan. The most popular months to visit Chicago are May, June, July, August and September. 

Chicago is known as The Windy City. Popular legend has it that this nickname for Chicago was coined by Charles Dana, the editor of the New York Sun, in 1893. Chicago was competing with New York to host the 1893 Columbian Exposition and Dana seemingly coined the name as a derogatory moniker.

Chicago is also known as The Second City, which refers to its rebuilding after the famous Chicago fire. The current city of Chicago is literally the second city. Chicago, however, is still the second largest financial center in the country, ahead of Los Angeles.

Carl Sandburg called Chicago the City of the Big Shoulders, referring to its tall buildings. Chicago was the birthplace of the skyscraper.