Driving Downtown - Michigan Ave – Chicago Illinois

• Report rights infringement
• published: 09 Jan 2015
• views: 33944

Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District. The street's southern terminus is at Sibley Boulevard in the southern suburb of Harvey, though like many Chicago streets it exists in several disjointed segments.[1] As the home of the Chicago Water Tower, the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park, and the high-end shopping on the Magnificent Mile, it is a street well known to Chicago natives as well as tourists to the city. Michigan Avenue also is the main commercial street of Streeterville. It includes all of the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and most of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District, including the scenic urban space anchored by the Michigan Avenue Bridge. North Michigan Avenue & The Magnificent Mile Michigan Avenue originally ended at the Chicago River, and what is now Michigan Avenue north of the river was originally named Pine Street, after scattered pine trees originally found in its vicinity. As early as 1891 plans were proposed to extend Michigan Avenue north across the river.[5] An early plan called for a tunnel to link Michigan Avenue south of the river with Pine Street,[6] and in 1903 an editorial in the Chicago Tribune proposed a new Bascule bridge across the river at Michigan Avenue.[7][8] This plan was further elaborated upon in Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago,[9] and in 1911 a plan was selected that included the widening of Michigan Avenue from Randolph Street to the river, replacing the Rush Street bridge with a new bridge at Michigan Avenue and the construction of a double-decked boulevard along Pine Street as far as Ohio Street.[10] When the Michigan Avenue bridge was completed, Pine Street was renamed Michigan Avenue. At its north end it merges into Lake Shore Drive near the Drake Hotel. Today, the area north of the Chicago River is referred to as the Magnificent Mile, or sometimes simply the Mag Mile. It contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, high-end retailers, office buildings and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists and the affluent. The area also 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, Water Tower Park with its historic clock, as well as the eight-level Water Tower Placeshopping center which grew up next door to, and overshadowed, the comparatively diminutive landmark. 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 edge of this district can be found the One Magnificent Mile building; Chicago Landmark East Lake Shore Drive District, 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. The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is an upscale section of Chicago'sMichigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side.[1] The district is located adjacent to downtown, and one block east of Rush Street. The Magnificent Mile serves as the main thoroughfare between Chicago's Loop business district and its Gold Coast.[2] It is the western boundary of the Streeterville neighborhood. Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff of Rubloff Company gave the district its nickname in the 1940s.[1]Currently Chicago's largest shopping district, various mid-range and high-end shops line this section of the street; approximately 3,100,000 square feet (290,000 m2) are occupied by retail, restaurants, museums and hotels.[3] Several of the tallest buildings in the United States, such as the John Hancock Center and the Trump International Hotel and Tower, lie in the district. Landmarks along the Magnificent Mile include Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, the Chicago Water Tower, and the Allerton Hotel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Mile