Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Virtually all of Chicago's principal north-south and east-west arteries are
spaced by increments of 400 in the addressing system—regardless of the num-
ber of smaller streets nestled between them. And each addition or subtraction of
400 numbers to an address is equivalent to a half-mile. Thus, starting at point
zero on Madison Street and traveling north along State Street for 1 mile, you will
come to 800 N. State St., which intersects Chicago Avenue. Continue uptown
for another half-mile and you arrive at the 1200 block of North State Street at
Division Street. And so it goes, right to the city line, with suburban Evanston
located at the 7600 block north, 9
1
⁄
2
miles from point zero.
The same rule applies when you're traveling south, or east to west. Thus, head-
ing west from State Street along Madison Street, Halsted Street—at 800 W.
Madison St.—is a mile's distance, while Racine Avenue, at the 1200 block of
West Madison Street, is 1
1
⁄
2
miles from the center. Madison Street then continues
westward to Chicago's boundary with the nearby suburb of Oak Park along
Austin Avenue, which, at 6000 W. Madison, is approximately 7
1
⁄
2
miles from
point zero.
The key to understanding the grid is that the side of any square formed by
the principal avenues (noted in dark or red ink on most maps) represents a dis-
tance of half a mile in any direction. Understanding how Chicago's grid system
works is of particular importance to those visitors who want to do a lot of walk-
ing in the city's many neighborhoods and who want to plot in advance the dis-
tances involved in trekking from one locale to another.
The other convenient aspect of the grid is that every major road uses the same
numerical system. In other words, the cross street (Division St.) at 1200 N. Lake
Shore Dr. is the same as at 1200 N. Clark St. and 1200 N. LaSalle St.
STREET MAPS
Maps are available at the city's visitor information centers at
the
Chicago Cultural Center
and the
Chicago Water Works Visitor Center
(see “Visitor Information,” p. 26).
NEIGHBORHOODS IN BRIEF
The Loop & Vicinity
Downtown
In the case of Chicago,
downtown means the Loop. The
Loop refers literally to a core of pri-
marily commercial, governmental,
and cultural buildings contained
within a corral of elevated train
tracks, but greater downtown
Chicago overflows these confines
and is bounded by the Chicago
River to the north and west, by
Michigan Avenue to the east, and
by Roosevelt Avenue to the south.
The North Side
Near North/Magnificent Mile
North Michigan Avenue from the
bridge spanning the Chicago River
to its northern tip at Oak Street is
known as the Magnificent Mile.
Many of the city's best hotels, shops,
and restaurants are to be found on
and around elegant North Michigan
Avenue. The area stretching east of
Michigan Avenue to the lake is
sometimes referred to as “Streeter-
ville”—the legacy of George
Wellington “Cap” Streeter, an eccen-
tric, bankrupt showman who staked
out 200 acres of self-created landfill
here about a century ago after his
steamship ran aground, and then
declared himself “governor” of the
“District of Lake Michigan.” True
story.
River North
Just to the west of the
Mag Mile's zone of high life and
sophistication is an old warehouse
district called River North. Over
the past 20 years, the area has expe-
rienced a rebirth as one of the city's
