Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

People and culture

Demographics

People living in Chicago are called "Chicagoans." The term is also sometimes applied to those living in one of the neighboring communities.

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As of the census{{GR|2}} of 2000, there are 2,896,016 people, 1,061,928 households, and 632,909 families residing in the city of Chicago proper. This encompasses about one-fifth of the entire population of the state of Illinois and 1% of the population of the United States. The population density is 4,923.0/km² (12,750.3/mi²). There are 1,152,868 housing units at an average density of 1,959.8/km² (5,075.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 41.97% White, 36.77% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 4.35% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.58% from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. Of the population, 26.02% are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Related Topics:
Census - 2000 - Population density - White - Black - African American - Native American - Asian - Pacific Islander - Hispanic - Latino

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The city itself makes up 23.3% percent of the total population of Illinois, down from a top 44.3% in 1930.

Related Topics:
Illinois - 1930

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Chicago's unique culture arises from it being a melting pot, with nearly even percentages of Caucasians and African-Americans and a sizeable Hispanic minority. The main European ethnic groups in Chicago are the Irish, Germans, Italians and Polish. Chicago has a large Irish-American population on its South Side. Many of Chicago's politicians have come from this population, including the current mayor, Richard M. Daley. Chicago has the largest ethnically Polish population outside of Poland, making it one of the most important Polonia centers. It is also considered to be the second-largest Serbian city in the world after Belgrade (which has a population of two million). The city also has the country's largest Assyrian population, numbering as many as 80,000.

Related Topics:
Melting pot - Caucasian - African-American - Hispanic - Irish - Germans - Italians - Polish - Richard M. Daley - Polonia - Serbian - Belgrade - Assyrian

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There are 1,061,928 households, of which 28.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% are married couples living together, 18.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% are non-families. Of all households, 32.6% are made up of individuals and 8.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.50.

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Of the city population, 26.2% are under the age of 18, 11.2% are from 18 to 24, 33.4% are from 25 to 44, 18.9% are from 45 to 64, and 10.3% are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.1 males.

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The median income for a household in the city is $38,625, and the median income for a family is $42,724. Males have a median income of $35,907 versus $30,536 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,175. Below the poverty line are 19.6% of the population and 16.6% of the families. Of the total population, 28.1% of those under the age of 18 and 15.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Related Topics:
Per capita income - Poverty line

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Museums and galleries

In 1998, the City of Chicago officially opened the Museum Campus, a 10 acre lakefront park surrounding three of the city's main museums, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. The Museum Campus was constructed on the southern section of Grant Park. The construction project involved re-routing Lakeshore Drive to make room for the new park. Grant Park is also home to Chicago's other major downtown museum, the Art Institute of Chicago. Some other major museums and galleries of the Chicago area include:

Related Topics:
Museum Campus - Field Museum of Natural History - Shedd Aquarium - Adler Planetarium - Grant Park - Lakeshore Drive - Art Institute of Chicago

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• Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave. One of the premier art museums in the United States. Famous pieces include American Gothic by Grant Wood, and A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. There is also a fine arts school on campus.
• Chicago Cultural Center (Home Page), 78 E. Washington St. Built in 1897 as Chicago's first public library, the building now houses the city's Visitor Information Center, galleries, and exhibit halls. The ceiling of Preston Bradley Hall includes a 38-foot Tiffany glass dome.
• Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago's natural history museum. Highlights include Sue, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the world as well as a great, kids-friendly Egyptian exhibit.
• Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Art of all types from around the world made since 1945.
• Oriental Institute, part of the University of Chicago, one of the best collections of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archeology in the world.
• Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S. Lake Shore Dr. Located on the Museum Campus, the Shedd Aquarium is home to a large collection of marine life from throughout the world. The Pacific Northwest–themed Oceanarium features dolphins, whales, and other animals from the region, as well as a panoramic view of Lake Michigan. The aquarium is also largest indoor aquarium in the world.
• Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive,
• Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, 1300 S. Lake Shore Dr.

Performing arts

Chicago is a well-known theater capital and a mecca for improvisational comedy. The city is home to The Second City and ImprovOlympic, two of the largest comedy troupes in the world. Many world-famous actors and comedians are Chicagoans or came to study in the area, particularly at Northwestern University in Evanston.

Related Topics:
Theater - Improvisational comedy - The Second City - ImprovOlympic - Northwestern University

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Since its founding in 1976 as an ensemble effort, Steppenwolf Theatre Company on the city's north side has nurtured a generation of gifted actors, directors and playwrights and grown into an internationally renowned company of thirty-five artists. Many other theatres, from new performances spaces to landmark houses like the Chicago Theatre on State and Lake, present a wide variety of plays and musicals, both touring shows and original works, such as the premiere in December 2004 of the Tony Award winner for Best Musical in 2005, Spamalot.

Related Topics:
Steppenwolf Theatre Company - Chicago Theatre - Spamalot

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The Lyric Opera of Chicago was founded in 1954 and performs in the Civic Opera Building, which was built in 1929 on the east bank of the Chicago River and is the second-largest opera auditorium in North America, with 3,563 seats. The Lyric Opera purchased the Civic Opera House from the building's owner in 1993. The company has reported an average of 100% sales for the past 16 years and approximately 34,000 subscribers for its six-month season.

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Music

Chicago has made many significant pop-cultural contributions. In the field of music, Chicago is well-known for its Chicago blues, Chicago soul and it is known as the birthplace of the House style of music, whose history is related to the development and fostering of the techno electronic style of music in nearby Detroit.

Related Topics:
Pop-cultural - Music - Chicago blues - Chicago soul - House - Techno - Electronic - Detroit

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The rock band Chicago was named after the city, although its original name was the Chicago Transit Authority. The band's name was shortened to Chicago after the CTA threatened to sue them for unauthorized use of the original. The popular rock band The Smashing Pumpkins comes from Chicago, and Fall Out Boy from Chicago's suburbs. Chicago also has its own Symphony Orchestra, which rivals that of New York as the nation's best.

Related Topics:
Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority - The Smashing Pumpkins - Fall Out Boy - Symphony Orchestra - New York

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The hip-hop scene in Chicago is also very influential. Hip-hop artist/producer Kanye West is a native Chicagoan; his multiplatinum College Dropout album and his soon-to-be blockbuster hit Late Registration have proven that hip-hop can be successful in the mainstream music business without resorting to violent lyrics. Kanye collaborator Twista (formerly known as Tung Twista) is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's fastest rapper. Common Sense, one of the city's established rappers, is a gold selling artist. Da Brat was the first solo female rap artist to go platinum.

Related Topics:
Kanye West - College Dropout - Late Registration - Twista - Common Sense - Da Brat

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Screeching Weasel is an underground punk band from chicago.

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Also Wesley Willis grew up in chicago.

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Cuisine

Chicago's signature foods reflect the city's ethnic and working-class roots. Chicago deep-dish pizza, popularized by Uno and Due pizzerias, is world renowned, although thin-crust and other styles of pizza are also popular throughout the city. A traditional Chicago hotdog is typically loaded with mustard, chopped onion, sliced tomato, pickle relish, celery salt and a dill pickle spear. A Chicago hotdog is almost always made out of Vienna Beef, the largest provider of hot dog meat for Chicago. Chicago is also known for Italian Beef sandwiches such as Al's Beef, located near the UIC campus and the Maxwell Street Polish, topped with grilled onions and mustard.

Related Topics:
Deep-dish - Chicago hotdog - Vienna Beef - Italian Beef - UIC - Maxwell Street Polish

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Chicago also has a long list of world-renowned upscale dining establishments serving a wide array of cuisine from some of the most well-known chefs in the nation. Some notable destinations include Charlie Trotter's (chef Charlie Trotter) on Armitage in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, Frontera Grill, a gourmet Mexican restaurant owned by Food Network star Rick Bayless, and The Everest, a new-French restaurant on the top floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange building downtown.

Related Topics:
Charlie Trotter - Frontera Grill - Food Network - Rick Bayless - The Everest - Chicago Stock Exchange

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Media

Chicago is considered to command the third-largest market in North America (after New York City and Los Angeles; although Mexico City is larger, its market does not hold such importance) and as such has many different forms of media and outlets to support its status. All of the major US television networks have subsidiaries in Chicago. Chicago's local WGN-TV, which is owned by the Tribune Company, is carried (with some programming differences) as "Superstation WGN" on cable nation-wide.

Related Topics:
North America - New York City - Los Angeles - Networks - WGN-TV - Tribune Company - Superstation - Cable

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There are two major daily newspapers published in Chicago, The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the former having the larger circulation. There are also a number of regional and special-interest papers such as the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Defender.

Related Topics:
Chicago Tribune - Chicago Sun-Times - Daily Southtown - Chicago Defender

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Crime

Despite its prosperity and reputation as a safe city, Chicago's crime situation in the latter half of the 20th century, and the early years of the 21st, has often been less than ideal. In addition to its gangland problems, starting in the late 1960s Chicago, like many other major American cities, saw a major rise in violent crime which took decades to reverse. Murders in the city peaked first in 1974, with 970 murders for the year when the city's population was over three million, resulting in a murder rate of around 28.8 per 100,000; and again in 1992, with 943 murders for the year when the city had fewer than three million people, resulting in a murder rate of 33.87 per 100,000. Following 1992, the murder count slowly petered down to 703 by 1999; by this time, it had the most murders of any big city in the country and continued to until 2004. That year, after adopting crime-fighting techniques recommended by the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, Chicago recorded 448 homicides, the lowest total since 1965. Despite the impressive gains, however, the city's murder rate of 15.65 (going by the 2004 population estimate) is still higher than those of New York, Boston, and San Francisco.

Related Topics:
1974 - 1992 - 1999 - 2004 - New York Police Department - Los Angeles Police Department - 1965 - New York - Boston - San Francisco

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Chicago has been among the first US cities to build a integrated emergency response center to coordinate the city's response to terrorist attacks, gang violence, and natural disasters in the city. Built in 1995, the center is integrated with over 2000 cameras, a direct link to the National Counter-Terrorism Center, and communications with all levels of city government. Recently installed anti-crime cameras have been introduced and are capable of pinpointing gunshot sounds, calculating where the shots were fired, and pointing and zooming the cameras in the direction of the shots. So far early results show these new cameras to be highly effective in reducing crime within a 2 block radius.

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• http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-06-crime-drop_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
• http://www.cityofchicago.org/police

Related topics

• Landmarks of Chicago
• Parks of Chicago
• Tallest buildings in Chicago
• Broadcast television stations
• Newspapers
• Radio stations
• Notable citizens of Chicago