Highlights
The Loop is a designation for Chicago's central business district that dates from 1897 when the rectangle of elevated tracks --- bounded by Van Buren Street, Wabash Avenue, Lake Street and 5th Avenue (now Wells Street) --- was completed, connecting three train lines. Previously, there had been five networks of cable car lines crisscrossing the central business district, each ending in its own loop around several blocks, permitting the trains to turn around. But the term "Loop," short for "Union Loop," only entered common usage with the completion of the tracks on Oct. 3, 1897. All of the city's elevated train companies merged in 1924, and that entity was sold to the Chicago Transit Authority...
The Loop is a designation for Chicago's central business district that dates from 1897 when the rectangle of elevated tracks --- bounded by Van Buren Street, Wabash Avenue, Lake Street and 5th Avenue (now Wells Street) --- was completed, connecting three train lines. Previously, there had been five networks of cable car lines crisscrossing the central business district, each ending in its own loop around several blocks, permitting the trains to turn around. But the term "Loop," short for "Union Loop," only entered common usage with the completion of the tracks on Oct. 3, 1897. All of the city's elevated train companies merged in 1924, and that entity was sold to the Chicago Transit Authority in 1949. No other city in the world has an elevated Loop like Chicago. Yet, for much of its existence, it was considered an eyesore. As recently as 1974, Mayor Richard J. Daley, father of the city's present chief executive, planned to demolish the structure. More recently, the downtown elevated structures have been seen by city planners as a striking visual element giving character to the streetscape. From the start, the Loop has been the city's financial, political and governmental center, and its transportation hub. Its fortunes were at low ebb in the 1970s when its large department stores were battered by competition from suburban malls. But, in recent years, particularly after the re-opening of State Street, it has bounced back with new housing and five college complexes inside and around the elevated loop providing fresh blood. Loop is also the name used to designate the much larger Community Area 32 on the city's official map of 77 neighborhoods.
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CTA dedicates new 'L' station at Morgan and Lake — the first new Chicago stop to open in 15 years
Community activists have unsuccessfully prodded Chicago officials for years to build more CTA rail stations along the Lake Street elevated structure and on the branches of the Green Line to promote economic development in struggling neighborhoods below...Tags: Madison (New Haven, Connecticut), United Center, Chicago Tribune Columnists, Jon Hilkevitch, West Loop
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Bowmanville a quiet urban enclave
To hear Claire Shingler tell it, "You know you're from Bowmanville if you know where Bowmanville is." The Chicago neighborhood eight miles north of the Loop is a peaceful retreat from the clamor of surrounding North Side neighborhoods, said Shingler, a...Tags: Wrigleyville, Metra, Dining and Drinking, Lifestyle and Leisure, Environmental Issues
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Trains running in Loop slowed after switching problem, track fire
CTA “L” lines that run in the Loop were experiencing significant delays this evening, after switching problems halted Pink Line service to the Loop and a small fire stopped Brown Line service. A small track fire at Institute Place near the...
Tags: Chicago Transit Authority
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Baloney watch
Change of SubjectIn Media's negative ways hurt Chicago, a commentary in tomorrow's Tribune, Lou Raizin president of Broadway in Chicago writes: Who is really responsible for any short-term loss of revenue to retail, entertainment and business in Chicago? The protesters?... -
Let's go to the video -- Cameras everywhere subject police, protesters to further review
Change of SubjectThere will be no pictures of you and Willie May Pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run, Or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance … There will be no pictures of pigs...... -
Chicago teachers hold rally
Thousands of Chicago teachers marched through the Loop Wednesday afternoon, in a show of unity over contract negotiations with the city’s school district. CPS, which says it faces a $700 million deficit, is offering the teachers a first-year salary...
Tags: Teachers, Teaching and Learning, Career and Workplace, Rahm Emanuel, Unions
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Museums
Cantigny Park 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton; 630-668-5161, cantigny.org The 500-acre park with formal gardens, picnic spots and campgrounds also has two history-rich museums. Taking a tour of the Robert R. McCormick Museum, you can get a look at the life...Tags: Science and Technology, John Hancock Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Photography and Video, Museum of Science and Industry
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GPS leads cops to bank robbery suspect's sock: 'You got me.'
Tribune reporterA Chicago man charged with robbing a South Loop bank on Tuesday was arrested minutes later after police followed a GPS tracking device hidden with the cash to the man's right sock, according to FBI officials. Jerome D. Jackson, 50, of the 600 block of...Tags: South Loop, Criminals, Theft, FBI, Prosecution
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Let's go to the video
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May Pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run, Or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance … There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down Brothers on the...
Tags: YouTube, Politics, Chicago Tribune Columnists, Activism, Photography and Video
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The stage is set for summit, protests
After all the planning, platitudes and protest, the NATO summit officially gets under way Sunday at McCormick Place, with President Barack Obama and fellow Western military alliance leaders charting the wind-down of involvement in Afghanistan and...Tags: Wrigley Field, Obama U.S. Presidential Victory Rally (2008), Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Chicago Cubs
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R. Crumb stars at U. of C. comics panel
Over the weekend, as the NATO summit was stopping traffic across the Loop and you wondered whether Chicago would ever get a grip, farther south, at the new Logan Center for the Arts, a different, more mellow kind of summit was going on, a gathering of...
Tags: Politics, Cartoons, Michigan Avenue, Joe Sacco, McCormick Place
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Police practice bend-but-not-break approach
Chicago police have taken a bend-but-not-break approach to containing NATO protesters, and Friday's demonstrations provided the best test yet as they sharpen their approach for what is supposed to be the biggest demonstration of the weekend — an...
Tags: Health and Medical Professionals, Politics, Activism, Medical Specialization, Michigan Avenue
May 25, 2012
|Story| Chicago Tribune
May 25, 2012
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May 24, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 23, 2012
|Column| Chicago Tribune
May 20, 2012
|Story| Chicago Tribune
May 20, 2012
|Story| Chicago Tribune
May 20, 2012
|Story| Chicago Tribune
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