In the current, June 2008 issue of Fast Company, they celebrate Chicago as the U.S. City of the Year. As someone who considers Chicago to be home, I think it is an inspired selection. The author, Alex Kotlowitz, makes a compelling case for why so many people love the city.
The real Chicago isn't so easy to keep up with. It's constantly reinventing itself. Jumpy. Agitated. Impatient. It's as if the place is trembling. Move aside. Don't linger. And if you're going to dawdle, get out of the way. But what any Chicagoan will also tell you is that the past is very much present. It doesn't go away. It shouldn't. In fact, that's Chicago's lure and its beauty: its ability to take what was and figure out what could be.
And for me, this is the "money" quote:
"This place gets in your bones and ruins you for anywhere else."
