With aspirations as high as its bold skyscrapers, as deep as its extra helping of visitor attractions, and as long as its lakefront park system, the city of broad shoulders concentrates intoxicating views, culture, shopping, dining and fresh air downtown. Like most great cities, this one began with a grand plan and good geography.

    Landscape architect Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan for Chicago inspired public and business leaders to dedicate 90% of the lake front to enrich the quality of life. Following Burnham’s plan, civic leaders built grand architecture and cultural institutions in over-sized Grant Park abutting the lake front. Nearly 100 years later, Chicago features the finest urban lake front park system in the world and a spectacular maritime harbor for pleasure craft. Patrons of the arts are fanatic about the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Cultural Center, and Chicago History Museum. America’s finest architects make Chicago their showcase. Gaze upon the nation’s most charming set of Gothic buildings, Tribune Tower, Wrigley Building and the Water Tower. Marvel at the Sears Tower and John Hancock Building anchoring both ends of America’s second largest business district.

   Downtown Chicago has such a profusion of value and upscale shopping options that you might have to put a timer on your purse! Michigan Avenue, Oak Street and River North retail districts are the chic shopping equivalent of Midtown Manhattan. For professional shoppers there’s more than 90 acres of exhibit space at Merchandise Mart.

    Shall we dine? The bounty of international restaurants in Near North restaurant district and Rush Street will satisfy any craving. nd if you feel the urge, dine alongside the Chicago River. The range of cuisines from 6,000 restaurants is displayed annually in The Taste of Chicago, America’s largest outdoor food festival.

    Navy Pier, the most popular family attraction in the state of Illinois with its Chicago Children Museum, family rides, theaters, shops, and restaurants bustles with activity. Astonishing exhibits at the Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium make it one of the most visited museum campuses in worldwide. No family visit is complete without a trip to the magnificent Museum of Science and Industry, Lincoln Zoo and Brookfield Zoo. You should also visit immaculate and modern Harold Washington Library named in honor of the city’s first Black mayor.

    If you invest in commodities or just want to know the daily price of pork bellies, the Commodities Exchange on LaSalle Street calls for you. If you need to cool off on a hot summer day, the watery mist of Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park should suit just fine -- arguably, it’s the finest public fountain in America. At night, the robust Theater District in the Loop beckons you. The Northside is also home to the world-famous Steppenwolf Theatre and Second City Theatre.

    The city where Michael Jordan and Walter Payton rose to fame is no less than a pro sports nirvana with United Center (Bulls & Black Hawks), Soldier Field (Bears), and US Cellular Field (White Sox) and a beloved baseball relic, Wrigley Field (Cubs). Sports junkies can inhale that vibe every night at an unusually large selection of sports bars & grills.

    Residents and visitors enjoy numerous attractions that have special Black Culture appeal. Shop and dine along 47th Street, Cottage Grove and Hyde Park. Chicago has an extra helping of Soul Food and Barbeque restaurants. The remarkable Du Sable Museum of African American History, 47th Street Market Place, Harold Washington Cultural Center, Little Black Pearl art school, historic churches, monuments and historic markers along Martin Luther King Drive will tickle your funny bone for culture. PUSH/Rainbow Coalition Headquarters, Nation of Islam’s mother temple, and the Asa Phillip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum keep it real. Soulful nightclubs, galleries and specialty shops are topped off with annual Blues, Jazz and Gospel festivals, the Southside’s big daddy -- the Bud Billiken Parade each summer.

    Perhaps the best historical and cultural treat is Bronzeville, the city’s first Black District on the Southside is making a gradual, but nonetheless dramatic comeback. High-rise housing projects are being replaced with new town homes and restored town homes nearby. Historic properties are being renovated, new shops, galleries and cafes are opening and middle-income African Americans gradually returning.

    With so much to see you’ll be pleased that Chicago is both a driver-friendly and transit-friendly city. The streets are laid out in a simple grid pattern that is easy to navigate by rental car. Chicago has CTA subway lines from both airports to attractions in the Loop (Downtown), Near North, Near South, Near West, Southside, Westside and Northside. The complimentary Metra commuter train system has a central station under Millennium Park and travels frequently to McCormick Place Convention Center and popular Hype Park/U. of Chicago district. And for those who prefer guided tours, there’s plenty of lake cruises from Michigan Avenue at the river, at Navy Pier and private charters in Chicago Harbor.

    Few cities have the "Can Do" attitude to reroute a highway so that a museum complex, football stadium and park shore front can form a cohesive pedestrian-friendly campus. It is that Can Do attitude that makes residents tolerate the harsh winter for bounty in other seasons. And what a bounty! Chicago is a one-of-kind visual, gastronomic, theatrical, musical, and cultural treat for all Americans. No one should be prouder of Chicago than African Americans since the area was first settled by a person of African descent, Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable.