To get the most out of your visit to Chicago, it helps to know the historical and cultural influences that shaped the city. Here, you'll get an overview of the issues facing the city today, as well as a quick primer on Chicago's history. Because architecture plays such an important role in the look of the city -- and so many influential architects have worked here -- you'll also find a guide to the major styles of buildings you'll pass by during your visit. Chicago has been home to many great writers and has served as a setting for dozens of films, so we include a section on recommended books and movies. Picking up a few of these books or movies before your trip should put you in a Chicago state of mind.
Sky Train: Chicago's El
Watch any Hollywood film or TV series set in Chicago, and chances are they'll feature at least one scene set against our screeching elevated train system, more commonly known as the "El" (witness The Fugitive, ER, and others). The trains symbolize Chicago's gritty, "city-that-works" attitude, but they actually began as cutting-edge technology.
After the Great Fire of 1871, Chicago made a remarkable recovery; within 20 years, the downtown district was swarming with people, streetcars, and horses (but no stoplights). To help relieve congestion, the city took to the sky, building a system of elevated trains 15 feet above all the madness. The first El trains were steam-powered, but by the end of the century, all the lines -- run by separate companies -- used electricity. In 1895, the three El companies collaborated to build a set of tracks into and around the central business district that all the lines would then share. By 1897, the "Loop" was up and running.
Chicago's El wasn't the nation's first. That honor belongs to New York City, which started running its elevated trains in 1867, 25 years before Chicago. But the New York El has almost disappeared, moving underground and turning into a subway early last century. With 289 miles of track, Chicago has the biggest El and the second-largest public transportation system in the country.
