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November 27, 2006
Impressions of Chicago
It is nearly impossible to be objective about your place of birth. Some Americans get a tingle down their spine when they see the US Capitol. I get mine when I make the approach to O’Hare Airport flying over the Lakefront to the familiar skyline of Chicago. When you come to a city with your children, you see it in a very different way than the usual all-business all of the time schedule of yours truly. Here are some of my observations from the Thanksgiving Day weekend.
1) Millenium Park is a triumph of urban planning. The blight of the former Illinois Central rail yards has been covered over, replaced by an imaginative and inspiring 16 acre park along Lake Michigan, framed on three sides by buildings. The open space is complemented by imaginative and daring architecture, such as the Bean, a reflective giant legume that magnifies as you approach it. The combination of private philanthropy (Harris Dance Center, Pritzker Performing Arts Center) and corporate sponsorship (BP, Boeing, Wrigley) tells you that this is still a city that works.
2) The city is still obsessed with sports. I grew up thinking that Bobby Hull, Ernie Banks and Dick Butkus were more important than the President. It continues today, with “Da Bears” on everybody’s mind. Can you imagine a downtown shrine to physical fitness with 11,000 members? The East Bank Club has an area for exercise machines, about 300 by my count, with every form of self-abuse possible, from the mundane (stairs, bikes) to the arcane (in line skating simulators).
3) There is a much greater emphasis on environment and maximization of the natural assets such as the Chicago River than in New York City, Los Angeles or many other major metropolitan areas. I actually remember as a child the Chicago River being dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day! Today, the green is evident in the renovated parks and flowers planted along boulevards, with Mayor Rich Daley even planting grass on top of city buildings to reduce cooling costs.
4) The Museum Campus, which includes the Field Museum (natural history), Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, is a tremendous cultural asset and a focal point for tourism. The King Tutankhamen exhibit at the Field Museum was a wonderful example of pedagogy, appealing to children and adults alike.
5) The long tradition of architectural excellence has encouraged preservation of older buildings that might have been destroyed in the name of modernity in other cities. The Chicago Cultural Center, formerly the Public Library, has been restored to its spectacular 1890s glory, replete with Tiffany glass rotunda. There is a sense of continuity and solidity from the retention of such landmarks.
Chicago was given the sobriquet “The Windy City” in the late 1800s by a smart aleck New York journalist, fatigued by the constant self-promotion of the second city’s leading citizens. I would suggest that Chicago now under values itself. It is the most American of large cities, hard-working, self-effacing, creative, a magnet for the best and brightest from the Midwest region. It has confounded its critics, including BusinessWeek, which did a cover story in 2000 on the demise of the city in the post industrial age. As Tony Travers, professor at The London School of Economics and a specialist in city planning says, the importance of “what goes on between the buildings” is critical. He suggests that the key to attracting tourists, who might have had their fill of the “old stand-bys” is to appeal to their desire for discovery, the “magic of the little-known.” Chicago meets that test and more.
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Posted by Edelman at November 27, 2006 3:03 PM
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Comments
I enjoyed reading your comments about my hometown, Chicago, particularly after a recent fact finding trip to China with officals from the Illinois and Chicago tourism bureaus. We learned that the new, vibrant, cosmopolitan Chicago is virtually unknown there -- to the Chinese, Chicago is still defined as an industrial city that is the home of Michael Jordan. No one there has even heard of Oprah! Mayor Daley told us that he thinks that Chicago has been redefined by Millenium Park, and to many it has, but we still have a long way to go to make the Chicago brand known in many countries and continents. Hopefully, our recent trip there, composed of officials from a cross section of Chicago promotional groups, will be a good start. Even after the spectacle of the endless skyscrapers of Shanghai, I too got a chill when our beautiful skyline came into view on my flight home.
Posted by: Cathleen Johnson at November 29, 2006 2:02 PM
I am a graduate student at Kent State University and we were recently discussing non-profit organizations in one of my classes. This post on the city of Chicago really reiterated what we talked about in class about the positive power of non-profit organizations. Non-profits in Chicago seem to be flurrying in the educational, environmental and architectural aspects and you listed such great examples of what a good non-profit can bring to the table. My class came up with a list of advice for a non-profit organization in the 21st century that included:
1) Be as technologically advanced as you can.
2) Be as creative as you can, especially when planning fundraisers.
3) Collaborate within the organization and network outside of it.
4) Be conscious of branding. Be consistent with your message and recognizable to help build your image and credibility.
5) Have the ability to adapt to changes.
6) Join the Chamber of Commerce.
7) Recruit volunteers from local colleges and make internships available.
8) Be strategic about your board members.
9) Only send press releases when the item is newsworthy.
10) Recruit prominent people in your area to support your causes, such as local celebrities.
11) Stay in touch with the public, not only when fundraising.
12) Seek out corporate partners who fit with your cause.
I was curious if you would add anything to this list, from your observations about Chicago and non-profits in general. With the 1.8 million non-profits in US alone and the 400 million volunteers they utilize, it seems as though non-profits are holding more of a share of power than people may realize.
Posted by: Laura Andrews at November 30, 2006 12:28 PM