Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
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Michigan_Avenue_bridge_over_Chicago_River.jpg
Michigan Avenue is a north-south road in Chicago, Illinois. It passes over one of two double-decked road bridges across the Chicago River; the other is on Lake Shore Drive. Michigan Avenue has been designated as US 12, US 41 and US 54; it currently has no number.[1] (http://www.geocities.com/usend6069/End066/end066.htm)
In the late 1910s, Michigan Avenue was raised one level from around Randolph Street to Grand Avenue, between which the old road was kept as a lower level. Over the years other upper level streets have been built to connect to it. The new Michigan Avenue Bridge over the Chicago River, and presumably the rest of the double-decker road, opened in May 1920, and Michigan Avenue became the primary route between the Loop and northern Chicago.[2] (http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/il/il0600/il0630/data/004.gif)[3] (http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/il/il0600/il0630/data/005.gif) It was the original terminus of the double-decker Wacker Drive, which opened in 1926, feeding more traffic into it.
![[2]](http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/il/il0600/il0630/data/004.gif){kind=link}
![[3]](http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/il/il0600/il0630/data/005.gif){kind=link}
The Magnificent Mile
Magnificent_Mile_from_Hancock_Observatory.jpg
The Magnificent Mile is a stretch of North Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street. Although actually about three-quarters of a mile, the name has been chosen and is likely to stay.
Along this street is a mixture of high-class stores, restaurants, office buildings and hotels. The area has a high concentration of the city's major media firms and advertising agencies, including the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
It is the home of Chicago's famous Water Tower landmark, the postage-stamp sized Water Tower Park with its historic clock, as well as the eight-level Water Tower Place shopping center which grew up next door to, and overshadowed, the comparatively diminutive landmark. The shopping center is anchored by two department stores: Marshall Field's North Michigan store and Lord and Taylor. North of the shopping center can be found the famous John Hancock Center, the art deco Palmolive Building (also known as the Playboy Building) and the lavish Drake Hotel.
The entire mile is noted for its spectacular Christmas displays.
At the northern edges of this district can be found the exclusive One Magnificent Mile building; East Lake Shore Drive, an extremely expensive and exclusive one-block area of real estate running east from North Michigan Ave. and facing directly onto to Lake Michigan; and the on-ramp to northbound Lake Shore Drive.
Cultural institutions in this area include Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and the Terra Museum of American Art (sadly the Terra Museum of American Art closed on October 31, 2004).
The CTA Red Line's Chicago and Grand stations are useful for reaching the Magnificent Mile.
External links
- Chicago's Magnificent Mile (http://www.themagnificentmile.com)