{"id":396926,"date":"2025-11-22T12:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T12:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/396926\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T12:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T12:47:11","slug":"chicagos-many-neighborhoods-beg-to-be-explored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/396926\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago’s many neighborhoods beg to be explored"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kudos to freelance journalist Jesse Wright for his Nov. 19 piece (\u201cWhen it comes to tourism, it\u2019s all about diversity\u201d<\/a>) encouraging the promotion of tourism throughout Chicago and not just Millennium Park, Navy Pier and the Magnificent Mile!<\/p>\n

As a nonnative Illinoisan who settled 50 years ago in the Chicago area in large part because of the city\u2019s many attractions \u2014 from parks, museums and restaurants to sports and architecture \u2014 in spite of its well-known high taxes and problems with crime and corruption, I have long thought that the perfect yearlong sabbatical would be to spend a few days exploring many of the city\u2019s different neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

And if \u2014 like most of us \u2014 you can\u2019t do that, then at least try a few new neighborhoods a year.<\/p>\n

From Dearborn Park to Rogers Park, Chinatown to Greektown, Little Village to Little Italy, and Wrigleyville to Andersonville, the city of Chicago offers some of the most historic, ethnically and culturally diverse, and architecturally interesting, places on the planet.<\/p>\n

(Granted, we don\u2019t have the thousand-year-old history of some of the cities in Europe, but we do have the world\u2019s first skyscraper, the site of the world\u2019s first Ferris wheel and the first sustained nuclear reaction, and some of the world\u2019s most famous and distinctive buildings, from art deco urban masterpieces to classic Chicago bungalows. And you don\u2019t need a passport or a plane ticket to see them.)<\/p>\n

An architectural river cruise will acquaint visitors and long-term residents alike with some of the sights and much of the history of downtown, but a walk down Clark Street or (as Wright suggests) down Devon Avenue will be just as informational and educational, with the added advantage of being able to get something tasty to eat.<\/p>\n

On that note, I need hardly mention that Chicago is one of the world\u2019s great restaurant towns, from hot dogs to fine cuisine, much less its many world-class museums and major league sports teams, each one of which has won at least one league championship in my half decade here.<\/p>\n

My constant encouragement to suburban neighbors whose view of the city is only the shootings they see on the news is to come into Chicago and to see it with your own fresh eyes once again.<\/p>\n

As the old Life cereal commercial featuring Mikey encouraged: Try it. You\u2019ll like it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 David Applegate, Huntley<\/p>\n

The magic of Alinea<\/p>\n

I went to Alinea for the first time one recent night. Now, I\u2019d wager that I enjoy restaurants and a good experience at them more than most. I won\u2019t argue the Michelin star thing, but I\u2019d like to say that the whole experience was magical. The food was delicious and inventive, and the staff was impeccably trained.<\/p>\n

It was \u201cfood theater\u201d at its finest. To top off the evening, during the \u201cballoon\u201d course, a young man proposed to his lady. She said \u201cyes\u201d in her best helium voice.<\/p>\n

Well done, Chef Achatz. Please keep the balloon.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kat Linville, Barrington<\/p>\n

Too much NIMBYism<\/p>\n

Reading the Tribune article about those who are objecting to building a data center in Naperville (\u201cExperts explain impact of data centers,\u201d<\/a> Nov. 19) reminded me of the BANANA principle: Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything.<\/p>\n

Come on, people. Quit throwing obstacles in front of anything that resembles progress.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Charles VanDercamp, Chicago<\/p>\n

End the \u2018war on drugs\u2019<\/p>\n

In response to Daniel DePetris\u2019 column (\u201cThe death of a mayor brings Mexico\u2019s cartel violence to the fore,\u201d<\/a> Nov. 11) about the tragic drug cartel murder of the mayor of Uruapan, there is only one way to stop the drug trade \u2014 take away the money incentive.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s give the stuff away and use the money spent on interdiction for treatment. Prohibition didn\u2019t work, and neither has the \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d Now we have President Donald Trump illegally killing people on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.<\/p>\n

It is tragic that people get addicted to drugs, but many have gotten addicted to legal drugs. A former New York City police commissioner once said we should have two sets of U.S. currency \u2014 one only legal inside the U.S. and the other only legal outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to think outside the box because what we have been doing hasn\u2019t worked.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joanne Zolomij, Evanston<\/p>\n

Sailors\u2019 trip back home<\/p>\n

I volunteer with the USO at Naval Station Great Lakes. Great Lakes is the largest training center in the Navy. The base essentially shuts down on Dec. 19. This annual event is called \u201cMass Exodus.\u201d Buses line up to transport sailors to the Milwaukee and Chicago airports.<\/p>\n

Many of these young men and women have never been away from home before. They are beyond excited to be with their families and friends for the holidays.<\/p>\n

When you see a sailor at the airport traveling before Christmas, thank them for their service. Offer to buy them a Starbucks coffee or just wish them, \u201cHappy holidays.\u201d It will go a long way for both of you!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bruce Nathanson, Glenview<\/p>\n

Note to readers:<\/strong> As part of our annual Thanksgiving tradition, we\u2019d like to hear from you about what is making you feel thankful this year. (Sincere thoughts only, please.) Email us a letter of no more than 400 words by this Sunday to letters@chicagotribune.com. Be sure to include your full name and your city\/town and use the subject line \u201cThankful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here<\/a> or email letters@chicagotribune.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kudos to freelance journalist Jesse Wright for his Nov. 19 piece (\u201cWhen it comes to tourism, it\u2019s all…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":396927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[75104,960,8296,5386,1818,17074,23306,188245,988,5331],"class_list":["post-396926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-alinea","tag-chicago","tag-data-centers","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-naperville","tag-neighborhoods","tag-nimbyism","tag-restaurants","tag-tourism"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115593428717275952","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}