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Chicago is the third largest city in the United States. It was founded in 1833, and has since become a major transportation, telecommunications, industry and infrastructure hub in North America. The city attracted 32.8 million domestic visitors and about 1.15 million foreign visitors in 2007. Chicago has many nicknames, out of which the most popular is the "Windy City" and "Chi-town". Other nicknames include "Second City", "City of Big Shoulders" and "the most American of big cities". Chicago got its name from the French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, which means wild onion, from the Miami-Illinois language.
After the Great Chicago Fire, the largest building boom in the history of the whole nation came about in Chicago. And of these the most exceptional event was the relocation of many of the countries most important architects from New England to this city. This was for the construction of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition.
These days Chicago's skyline is one of the worlds tallest and also most dense. Some of its historic buildings include the Chicago Board of Trade Building, the Fine Arts Building, 35 East Wacker and the Chicago Building. The Merchandise Mart was once first on the list of the largest buildings in the world and even today it has remained on the list in the twentieth position and has its own ZIP code. The four tallest building in the city are Willis Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower, the Aon Center and the John Hancock Center.
But the city is not all about skyscrapers. It has many different types and scales of houses, townhouses, condominiums and apartment buildings. Large areas of Chicago's residential areas are bungalows that were built from the 20th century through the end of World War II. This city is also a famous center of the Polish Cathedral style of church architecture.
Chicago is famous for its nightlife and attracts many residents and tourists every year. It is also home to many upscale restaurants as well as many ethnic restaurants. You can get food different parts of the world right here, from Italian to Vietnamese and from Greek to Indian. This city's theatre community is the reason behind modern improvisational theatre. Two very famous comedy troupes emerged here namely The Second City and I.O.
Chicago is a favorite destination for tourists and a large number of them who come here for leisure are here for entertainment. If you want to visit this beautiful city, you can find information on hotels, flights and car rentals in Chicago on a number of websites. So don't hesitate and come and visit this fascinating city with its beautiful parks, architecture and lots more.
