The Lakefront

Lake Michigan is the the largest freshwater lake in the US and fifth largest lake in the world. Over 18 miles of Lake Michigan borders the east side of the city most of which is public space.

The Chicago lakefront is the home of one of the most spectacular skylines in the world. It is also a great source of recreation for runners, bicyclists, rollerbladers, as well as boaters and swimmers. and of course admission is FREE

Grid Unlocked

The forefathers of Chicago had the sense to layout the city in a logical grid which makes it relatively easy to find your way around the city once you understand it.

First of all the lake is always east.

The Corner of State & Madison Street is the 0, 0 point of the grid. Going north from there the address increases by 100 North each block. For instance State & Grand Avenue is 600 North (6 blocks north of Madison). Similarly each block south of Madison increases by 100 South, ie Harrison and State is 600 South (6 blocks south of Madison).

The East/West addresses work the same way., increasing as you walk in the respective direction. So if you are at 400 West and as you walk the adresses are decreasing, you are going east. If you are are at 100 East and the the adresses are increasing you are going east and eventully you will end up in the lake.

Public Transit

Chicago's public transportation, the CTA, is not only a easy and affordable way to get around the city it is also a great way it's also a great way to get a feel for varied people and cultures that make Chicago so great.

Full fare on public transit is $2.00 a ride, however you can save money by purchasing Transit card which reduces full fare travel to $1.75 and allows two transfers within two hours. The first transfer is 25 cents and the second transfer is free.

Transit cards are accepted on all buses and trains.. Buses do not give change and trains require you purchase Transit cards from the card vending machines located at all train stations. Once purchased, cards can be reloaded with more money.

The CTA also offer 1, 2, 3 ,5 and 7 day passes which allow un limited travel for a period of time.

You can purchase Transit cards at train stations, airports, major grocery stores.

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Flying Into Town

Chicago is fortunate to have two airports, O'Hare and Midway, that make coming and going from Chicago very convenient.

Most people are familiar with O'Hare International as it is one of the busiest airports in the world and a frequent stop over point for cross country travelers. Most major airlines and those arriving internationally will come through O'Hare.

Midway is a smaller airport and services mostly the discount airlines like Southwest and ATA. But unlike most cities with a secondary airport, Midway is certainly solid option to fly into.

Both airports feature a CTA train line which will get you into Chicago quickly and easy for under $2.00

I plan to go into more details on each aiport in future posts.

Blog Launched

Prior to every MAX conference I have attended there have been numerous questions about the host city. So we have created this blog as a way to pass on all sorts of information about Chicago for folks coming to our city for the 2007 Adobe MAX conference.

So the Chicago Area Adobe Users Group has launched this blog as a way to desiminate information about Chicago.

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