Neighborhoods - Greek Town, China Town, Little Italy
Many interesting Neighborhoods
Greektown greektownchicago.org
Main St is Halstead
Little Italy aka University Village (U of I), Taylor St is main St
Pilsen (Was Czech, now Mexican) 1800 South west of Halstead
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/September-2012/A-Guide-to-Pilsen-Where-to-Eat-Shop-and-Play/
Chinatown - 22nd St is Main St - CTA train stop
Quick Neighborhood Visit
Greek Town, Little Italy, Pilsen (Mexican), and Chinatown
You can take CTA buses or Cabs
Crime
Most Corrupt City
U of I Professor Dick Simpson
Corruption cost the city $500 million
Police brutality, bogus contracts, bribes, theft and ghost payrolling
Between 1976 and 2010, there were 1,531 convictions for public corruption
Since the 1970s, four of seven Illinois convicted
31 members of Chicago's city council.
"The two worst crime zones in Illinois are the governor's mansion ... and the city council chambers in Chicago.
"No other state can match us."
Illinois - Where Our Governors Make Our License Plates
Four of our past seven Governors of Illinois in jail
Governors:
Rod Blagovitch
George Ryan
Dan Walker
Otto Kerner
Dr. Henry Howard Holmes - World's Fair Murderer 1893
Number of victims 4–200 (4 confirmed; 27 confessed)
I 2003 by Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
smuggled liquor and prostitution
Capone became a highly visible public figure.
He donated to various charities
"modern-day Robin Hood".
1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, when seven rival gang members were executed.
Capone was convicted on federal charges of tax evasion in 1931 and sentenced to federal prison; he was released on parole in 1939
Died in 1947 in Florida
Murders and Gang Turf in Chicago
Transportation
The Grid Plan
Chicago follows the great American grid plan, with major streets following section lines every one mile. This plan was developed by the Federal Government in 1786.
Abraham Lincoln was a surveyor in Illinois. His equipment.
Plank Roads
heavy stringers
on each side
16-foot roadway
across them were laid (but not spiked) heavy planks of pine and hemlock, oak or walnut.
$2000 per mile
$2000 per mile
Very profitable at first.
Toll gates at intervals of 5 or 6 miles
RAILROADS
Chicago Cable Cars
Airports
Midway Airport
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