About Chicago
www.choosechicago.comWhat is there to do in Chicago? Lots. Here are but a few of the varied things to do in and around the Chicago. From time to time, Union Board, the Residence Halls Association, Greek Council, International Students Association, and other student organizations arrange special trips to plays, concerts and other events. Read IIT Today, TechNews and campus bulletin boards for announcements, or stop by the Office of Student Life if you have questions or ideas. Here are six ideas to get you started:
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Have fun at the ballpark. Just a fly ball away, right across the Dan Ryan Expressway at 35th and Shields Streets (a few blocks west of IIT), lies U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. You also can take the CTA Red Line train north to historic Wrigley Field (at Addison and Clark streets) and catch a Cubs game. The Bears play football at Soldier Field just two miles north of Main Campus.
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Eat your way around the world. Chicago is made up of dozens of ethnic neighborhoods, each offering exotic cuisine at affordable prices. One of Chicago’s several Spanish-speaking communities, Pilsen (around 18th and Halsted streets), for example, has great Mexican restaurants. Chinatown is a little north of Main Campus at Cermak Road (22nd Street) and Wentworth Avenue. Be sure to try dim sum for lunch. A little farther north, there’s an Italian neighborhood at Taylor Street; then comes Greektown and other restaurants along Halsted Street between Van Buren and Monroe streets.
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Have a night on the town. Comedy clubs, dance clubs, blues bars and theaters are among the attractions on the Near North Side, on Lincoln Avenue and Halsted Street around Fullerton Avenue, and farther north around Belmont Avenue. There are several Near South Side spots that feature jazz and blues.
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Get some culture. Located in and around the Loop is the Civic Opera House for performances by Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Auditorium Theater for a variety of local and visiting theatrical and concert productions. Symphony Center is home to the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra. See Broadway theater productions at Loop area theaters. The Hot Tix Booth (108 N. State St. and other locations), operated by the League of Chicago Theaters, sells discounted day-of-performance tickets; call the Hot Tix hotline at 312.977.1755. Or catch a foreign film at the Fine Arts Theater, the Film Center of the Art Institute, or the Gene Siskel Film Center. For free programs at the Chicago Cultural Center (Michigan Avenue and Washington Street) and the Daley Civic Center (Dearborn and Washington streets), call the Department of Cultural Affairs information hotline at 312.346.3278.
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Go museum hopping. South of the Loop, along Lake Shore and Columbus drives, are Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum, and Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium. The Art Institute is on Michigan Avenue at Adams Street. In Hyde Park, which begins at 51st Street a few miles south of IIT, are the popular Museum of Science and Industry, the Oriental Institute and the Smart Museum of Art. On the Near North Side are the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; and the Chicago Academy of Sciences, in North Pier, 425 E. Illinois St. The Chicago History Museum is in Lincoln Park on the North Side near Clark Street and North Avenue.
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Be a tourist. The skyscraper was invented in Chicago, and three of the five tallest buildings in the world are here: John Hancock Center, 1,107 feet; AON Center, 1,136 feet; and, the tallest of them all, Sears Tower, 1,454 feet. The city has dozens of other important buildings; IIT faculty and alumnae/i contributed to the design of many of them. Ask an architecture major to show you around. Or take one of the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s tours (312.922.3432). West-suburban Oak Park has the largest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world. His own home and studio at 951 Chicago Ave. in Oak Park are open for tours (708.848.1978). The Chicago Historical Society (312.642.4600) and the Landmarks Preservation Council (312.922.1742), as well as private companies, such as Gray line (312.251.3107), offer tours. Or consult Chicago’s Famous Buildings, co-authored by IIT Professor Kevin Harrington. Another option is a boat tour. The Wendella and Mercury sightseeing boats dock in the Chicago River at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.
Chicago Design - Most of Chicago’s north-south and east-west streets are set in a simple grid pattern. The city’s numerical street system starts at the intersection of State and Madison in the Loop. From here (0,0) street numbers go up in all directions at about 100 numbers to each block.
Getting Around on Public Transit (312.836.7000) - The IIT campus is served by CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) trains and buses. The nearest elevated train, the Green Line Lake-Englewood-Jackson Park route, stops at IIT at 35th and State streets. Also, there is a Red Line Howard-Dan Ryan elevated train station at 35th Street at the Dan Ryan Expressway, just west of campus. Riders can also leave and, with a fare card or CTA UPass, access that station from a 33rd Street exit. It’s best to learn how to use public transit from someone who already knows his or her way around. Talk with your resident advisor (RA) or an upper-division student.
IIT Shuttle - IIT has regular shuttle bus transportation between the Main Campus, Downtown Campus (565 W. Adams St.), and commuter railroad stations. Students are required to display a valid IIT ID card in order to ride the shuttle bus. For additional information and a schedule, visit the shuttle bus web site .
Airport Options - CTA trains to O’Hare and Midway airports are the cheapest and often the fastest way to go, but it’s difficult if you have much luggage. Call 312.836.7000 for details. Omega Airport Shuttle (773.734-6688) also provides transportation from the IIT campus to the airports. For a taxi, dial 312.TAXICAB.