Few American cities can boast a downtown area as vibrant, as diverse and as exciting as Chicago’s, known to locals as the Loop. From a geographic perspective, the Loop encompasses the blocks defined within the elevated rapid transit train lines bounded by Lake and Van Buren streets on the north and south, and Wabash Avenue and Wells Street on the east and west. But the impact of this dynamic district is felt well beyond the 40 or so square blocks outlined by the screeching, rumbling el trains.
During the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Loop was truly the heart of Chicago and center of retail, business and entertainment. There were more than a dozen movie palaces, numerous cabarets and a half-dozen department stores. In the years leading up to the 1970s, the Loop lost some of its character; for a while, State Street was converted to a “mall” as a way to compete with suburban shopping centers, and long-time retailers pulled out. But by the 1990s, the Loop was back.
The Loop today still embodies Chicago. It’s often loud and boisterous. It’s the gateway to Chicago’s “front yards” – Grant Park and its newer cousin, Millennium Park – and the famous Buckingham Fountain, now undergoing a $25 million restoration. It’s where fortunes are made (or lost) at places like the Chicago Board of Trade in the LaSalle Street financial district. It’s State Street, the site of Chicago’s original retail district and home to diverse shopping. It’s high urban architecture unparalleled in scope, from the Monadnock Building, one of the tallest masonry, load-bearing structures in the world, to the Sears Tower, once the tallest structure in the world.
It’s City Hall, the County Building and the State of Illinois center – the halls of politicians and power brokers. It’s the center of business and home to Fortune 500 companies. It’s live theater in painstakingly renovated gems like the Oriental and Cadillac, and in the new home to the Goodman Theater. It’s live music at the magnificent Chicago Theater. It’s tremendous dining at legendary restaurants like The Berghoff (Chicago’s oldest), the Italian Village and Nick’s Fishmarket, or more recent establishments like the elegant Everest and the cozy Atwood Café in the historic Reliance Building. It’s plazas and public spaces for iconic sculpture by Piccasso, Calder and Chagal. It’s a place to buy engagement rings and more in the jewelers’ row along Wabash Avenue. It’s hotels preserved from a bygone era, like the stately Palmer House and the new Burnham. It’s a center of transportation for bus and rail lines, making it readily accessible for those who work there, or just want to visit.
And, in more recent years, the Loop is a place where people live. New and renovated apartment and condominium properties now rise next to office towers and stores, creating a 24-hour population. According to U.S. Census figures, more than 16,000 people now call the Loop home, something unthinkable in the 1990s.
Not too many years ago, the Loop was nearly deserted after the office and business people left for the day. No more, as the growing theater scene draw patrons to see Broadway style productions and works from Chicago’s own playwrights. Each May, the Loop is the site of an eclectic cultural and arts event called Looptopia, which draws thousands to enjoy free music, theater, visual arts and more during a 14-hour span that ends at 7 a.m. the next day.
Newer-- and perhaps more glamorous – areas have emerged within Chicago over the past several decades. North Michigan Avenue, River North and the South Loop come to mind. None can match the history, the character, the bravado, the brawn that is found in the Loop. For the Loop will always be the heart of Chicago.
