About Chicago
Located in the heart of America's Midwest, Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. The city faces Lake Michigan and features 29 miles of beaches and paved trails for biking, jogging, inline skating, and other recreational activities. There are parks, boats, and Navy Pier, a major tourist destination.
You can shop on the Magnificent Mile, Chicago's premier retail corridor, or visit the Loop, the city's business and cultural center. An abundance of year-round activities includes professional sporting events, galleries, museums, zoos, the aquarium, the planetarium, and the city's newest showcase, Millennium Park. You can also enjoy excellent theater offerings, many of which debut in Chicago before heading to Broadway.
The impressive Chicago skyline features the work of many major modern architects, including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the most notable architects of the twentieth century. Mies taught at IIT for 20 years and helped develop a comprehensive Main Campus master plan. The IIT buildings he designed comprise the largest and most important collection of Mies buildings anywhere.
Chicago also hosts a vibrant business community. It is headquarters to the world's busiest commodities and mercantile exchanges; numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Boeing, Motorola, and Abbott Laboratories; and thousands of small entrepreneurial businesses.
If you visit Chicago's neighborhoods, including those close to IIT's Main Campus, you will experience one of the world's most ethnically diverse cities. Since the 1800s, immigrants from across the world have settled here, establishing colorful, vibrant neighborhoods. Among others, you'll find Chinese, Irish, Indian, Italian, Latino, Arab, and Eastern European areas of town, where festivals and parades celebrate the contributions of each group to the city's rich heritage.
Watch our Chicago video tour for more Chicago resources and information.
