WikiPortallus: Magnificent Mile.html

After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, State Street (anchored by Marshall Field's) in the downtown Loop, especially the Loop Retail Historic District, was the city's retailing center.³ The convenience of mass transit including streetcars and elevated trains, supported a retail corridor along State Street from Lake Street to Van Buren Street.³ By the 1920s, commuter suburbs began to have significant retail districts.³ Prior to the bascule bridge construction, swing bridges across the river were open for ship traffic during half the daylight hours.⁴ The Rush Street Bridge was the swing bridge for this area.⁵ The opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge in 1920 created a new commercial district.³ After 1950, suburban development reduced the role of the Loop's daily significance to many Chicagoans as downtown retail sales slipped. However, the Magnificent Mile kept a luxury shopping district close to the central business district.⁶

The Magnificent Mile was actually part of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago.¹ It was constructed during the 1920s to replace Pine Street, which had formerly been lined with factory and warehouses near the river and fine mansion and rowhouse residences farther north.¹ The earliest building constructions varied in style, but challenged new heights in construction.¹

After the Great Depression and World War II, Arthur Rubloff and William Zeckendorf bought or controlled most of the property along this stretch of the avenue and supported a plan by Holabird & Root construct new buildings and renovation of old ones that took advantage of new zoning laws.¹ Soon the property values driven by the luxury shopping districts were pricing out the nearby artists of Towertown, just south west of the Chicago Water Tower.⁷ Having acquired most of the rights to property along the Magnificent Mile at Depression-level prices, Rubloff and Zeckendorf successfully developed and promoted the area until it became one of the most prestigious addresses of the city. That distinction continues to hold today,¹ and spurred the continuing erection of more high-rise apartments and new investment along the Magnificent Mile and throughout the Near North Side.⁸

The opening of the 74-story Water Tower Place in 1975 marked the return of Chicago to retailing prominence.³ By 1979, the State Street corridor commercial corridor had lost its commercial vitality and was closed to street traffic for renovation including sidewalk widening until 1996.³

Today

Overview

The largest banks have branches along the strip including the 3 largest banks in the nation Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase's Chase Bank.¹² Additionally, the largest banks in Chicago are present such as LaSalle Bank and Harris Bank,¹³ which is technically across the street from the Magnificent Mile. American Express has a Magnificent Mile address for one of its two Chicago service offices. Fidelity Investments has an office at the foot of Magnificent Mile.

Four of the 85 tallest buildings in the world are located along the Magnificent Mile. In fact, Four of the 10 Tallest buildings in Chicago, 6 of the top 18, and 8 of the top 50 are located within a few blocks here. These buildings are:

Seasonal events

Each season the ambiance of the Magnificent Mile changes. This change is signalled by the official events:²⁹

Median planters were constructed as part of a streetscape improvement project in 1994. In the spring, Tulip Days occurs from mid April until the end of May. Hundreds of thousand of tulips bloom on The Magnificent Mile. Typically, they bloom between April 16th and May 7th. In 2008, a public art installation of kinetic sculptures designed by international architects will be placed in the garden beds.³⁰

During the summer the "Gardens of Magnificent Mile" festival event occurs. It is a self-guided landscape display walking tour. The flora from around the world are identified with horticultural signage in each of the gardens and planters. In 2007 and 2008 fashion dress forms graced the garden beds. The forms were designed by students from the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago and the International Academy of Design and Technology as well as prominent designers located on the Avenue.³¹³²

The tradition of lighting the trees of the Magnificent Mile to start the holiday season extends for over forty years. Over one million lights are lit and fireworks follow the event.²⁹ 2008 will be the 17th annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival presented by Harris, which will be the annual kick-off to the nations holiday season.³³ During the event Mickey Mouse rides a float down The Magnificent Mile from Wacker Drive to Oak Street, stopping at each block to light the trees. It is considered the first annual Holiday event of the year in the nation.

Winter brings TOAST on The Magnificent Mile featuring weekly fireworks over the Chicago River.³⁴

Malls

Intersections

Gallery

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Stamper, John W. (2005). "Magnificent Mile". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Stamper, John M., "Chicago's North Michigan Avenue," University of Chicago Press, 1991, inner cover, ISBN 0-226-77085-0
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Bennett, Larry (2005). "Shopping Districts and Malls". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Cain, Louis P. (2005). "Infrastructure". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ Stamper, John M., "Chicago's North Michigan Avenue," University of Chicago Press, 1991, pg. 4, ISBN 0-226-77085-0
^ Danzer, Gerald A. (2005). "The Loop". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ Seligman, Amanda (2005). "Towertown". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Seligman, Amanda (2005). "Near North Side". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ Sardone, Susan Breslow. "Mobil 5-Star Hotels / Award Winners 2007". 2007 About, Inc..
^ Sardone, Susan Breslow (2006-01-06). "4 Star Hotels in the USA". 2007 About, Inc..
^ "Magnificent Mile". Chicago Traveler. Search Engine Marketing (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
^ "United States' Largest Banks". Information Please Database (2005-12-31). Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ "Chicago's Largest Banks". ChicagoBusiness. Crain Communications, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ "Chicago Landmarks: Alphabetical Listing". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
^ "National Register of Historic Places: Illinois - Cook County". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
^ "National Register Information System". National Park Service (2007-01-09). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
^ "National Historic Landmarks Program". National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
^ "National Historic Landmarks Survey: Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Illinois". Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
^ "Palmolive Building". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton Office and Studio". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "Old Chicago Water Tower District". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "Allerton Hotel". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
^ "Woman's Athletic Club". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "McGraw-Hill Building". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "Tribune Tower". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "Du Sable, Jean Baptiste Point, Homesite". National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
^ "Michigan Avenue Bridge and Esplanade". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ "Site of Fort Dearborn". City of Chicago Dept. of Pl. and Devpmt., Landmarks Div. (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
^ ^a ^b "Seasonal Events". The Magnificent Mile, GNMAA/Centric Web, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ "Tulip Days". The Magnificent Mile, GNMAA/Centric Web, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ "Gardens of the Magnificent Mile". The Magnificent Mile, GNMAA/Centric Web, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ "WHEN FLORA AND FASHION COME TOGETHER". The Magnificent Mile, GNMAA/Centric Web, Inc. (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
^ "Magnificent Mile Lights Festival". The Magnificent Mile, GNMAA/Centric Web, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
^ "TOAST on The Magnificent Mile". The Magnificent Mile, GNMAA/Centric Web, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
^ Moore, R. Jonathan (2005). "Fourth Presbyterian Church". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, Streetwise Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1988, ISBN
^ "Magnificent Mile". Emporis (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.

Magnificent Mile.html

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