I left my heart in. . .Chicago

In my "history of planning" class, as I call it, we are studying Daniel Burnham, a turn of the 20th century architect and one of the world's first urban planners, and his plan for Chicago.

I often wonder where I am "from," especially in new social situations when people ask. I like to deflect the question and usually tell people that I've lived in a lot of places, but I like to say Chicago. This is partially because people know where it is and partially because it is true.

I am a citizen of the universe, and while I'd like to say that I'm from Rome, that's just not true.

However, in the US, Chicago is a city that makes me proud. I love the CTA, which gives New York stiff competition, the fact that the library has a pass that you can check out to go to the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Art Institute, etc., for free, the people who are eclectic and proud of it- they don't play second fiddle to anyone- though they may be considered New York and LA's younger, scrappier sibling they pay that categorization no mind and go about their lives with a devil-may-care attitude.

And reading through the Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City by Carl Smith, I have a renewed sense of civic pride. There are lots of tidbits of Chicago history, of long-dead people, whose names now mark streets, like, the General Committee vice chairman (of the Plan of Chicago) Charles H. Wacker, whose name is now synonymous with Wacker Drive, which yes, elicits giggles from school boys and girls for reasons I won't go into.

Yes, Chicago is a little flawed, mainly due to a long and not-so-secret history of political corruption, but as one of my best friends, who is a born-and-bred Chicago native observes with an impish smile and shrug of the shoulders, would we (Chicagoans) have it any other way?

As Vince Vaughn's character in the movie, the Breakup, observed in one of his Three Brothers tour of Chicago, "Chicago is called the Second City. But that's because in 1871, there was the Great Chicago Fire, (which destroyed about four square miles), but we rebuilt. And now we wear that nickname as a badge of honor." Contrary to the people who think that it stands for the fact that theoretically Chicago is "second" to New York.

Great, great public transportation, amazing culture- so many museums, concerts, history, etc., world-class sports teams (for those who care about those things), incredibly diversified neighborhoods from poor immigrant communities who still shine with pride at what they have accomplished to super posh zip codes filled with money almost as old as the city itself, and a mayor who responded to allegations of political corruption as "That's just silly, silly, silly." What more could you want?! Oh yeah, less freezing cold winters, but you can't have it all, though Chicago comes really close.