- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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The Grid helps Chicago navigate the city’s streets—and its history
Edward Brennan’s system of street naming and numbering makes the city’s present and past comprehensible.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Long live the 1990s Bulls
Deathless memories of Jordan’s team help us cope with Chicago basketball’s dysfunctional present.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Central Time is right on
The time zone is steady, reasonable, and forgiving—not unlike Chicagoans.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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In praise of the cheap seats at White Sox park
The Cubs are the team to watch this year, but the upper deck at U.S. Cellular Field remains the best place to see a game.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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The disappearing Chicago accent is layered with local history
Da dialect of da Daleys is becoming increasingly rare.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Comfort Station is a calming cure for Logan Square whiplash
A visit to this longstanding cultural hub is the perfect antidote to overstimulation.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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In praise of Chicago’s Grid-defying diagonals
The city’s crosstown streets follow their own rules.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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The Des Plaines River Trail is a real slice of nature in the big city
This 58.6-mile forest-preserve trail gives urban cyclists a much-needed taste of the wilderness.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Drunken tattoos are indelible reminders to delight in life’s absurdity
Drinking before inking isn’t always a party foul.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Life lessons learned in the middle of the Kennedy Expressway
All the entertainment and insight you need is on an el platform, surrounded by automobile traffic.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Explaining Chicago to New Yorkers is supremely gratifying
It’s a delight to watch the slow-dawning revelation that another American city might give NYC a run for its money.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Chicago’s diversity is legible on its signs
Public written language speaks to the character and composition of neighborhoods and communities.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Reading the subtext in bathroom graffiti
Sometimes what people write on walls is nastier than it is funny, but it can tell you a lot about the culture and history of a neighborhood.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Chicago alleys are full of utilitarian wonder
The city’s 1,900 miles of backstreets make Chicago the “Alley Capital of America.”
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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The hotel lobby isn’t a way station, it’s a destination
Come for the comfortable chairs, stay for the people-watching.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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The Lucky Horseshoe is Chicago’s most distinctive gay nightlife spot
The male strip club in Boystown is an acquired taste—but there’s no reason to feel ashamed about it.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Bringing back the close-up magic that Chicago gave the world in the 1920s
The Chicago Magic Lounge in Uptown aims to be a clubhouse for the sleight-of-hand artists keeping the craft alive.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Fifty years after Dr. King’s march in Marquette Park, racial integration remains elusive in Chicago
The park no longer is a symbol of bigotry, but it isn’t a success story either.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Mold-A-Rama memories harden like molded plastic
The 1960s-era souvenir machines are about dwelling in the perpetual rather than the past.
- Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
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Chicago’s North Shore fuels architecture fantasies
The curving streets of the affluent north suburbs are lined with midcentury-modern marvels and the locations of John Hughes movies.
