Features Overrated/Underrated Chicago, edited by Jan Parr From San Giancana and the ’69 Cubs, to Howard Van Doren Shaw and Eleventh Dream Day, we identify the overhyped and the unsung of our city. A Matter of Trusts, by Robert Sharoff At stake in the battle between the Searle family and the Chicago Community Trust is … Read more
Features How Does Your Town Rate?, by Dennis Rodkin Our survey of 192 Chicago suburbs tracks crime rates, school scores, recreational amenities, library holdings, house appreciation, and other variables-and then ranks those communities based on the results. The Sad Saga of Bob Greene, by Marcia Froelke Coburn and Steve Rhodes When a woman from his … Read more
The Pritzker family’s $15-billion fortune represents a great American success story—a rags-to-riches tale of hugely profitable deals and dedicated philanthropy. Now, beset by the collapse of a financial institution it owned, and pulled apart by diverse interests, a new generation struggles to keep the dynasty on course.
Features The Dining Awards, by Dennis Ray Wheaton Here, Chicago magazine’s definitive annual list, designed to end-or start-all arguments: This year, we celebrate Chicago’s meteoric rise to Great American Dining City by ranking its 20 finest restaurants. Field of Pain, by Robert Sharoff The renovation of Soldier Field is a chance for the architect Dirk … Read more
The renovation of Soldier Field is a chance for the architect Dirk Lohan, grandson of Ludwig Mies van der Rhoe, to leave his mark on the lakefront. But relentless derision has been the overriding response to the design.
The area’s most expensive homes—as well as high-rise townhouses, well-lit urban condos, and the pricey Park Tower.
Features Cooler by the Lakeby Dennis RodkinHouse prices from more than 270 neighborhoods and towns demonstrate that, despite a chilled economy, the local real estate market continues to grow. Artists in Residenceby Philip BergerBuilding on a rich tradition that extends back to Frank Lloyd Wright, eight Chicago architects design houses with staying power. The Longest … Read more
Chicago’s residential real estate may not be selling as briskly as it did a few years ago—particularly on the high end. That hasn’t stopped people in the city and suburbs from putting their pricey pads up for sale. Case in point: a trio of distinctive 19th-century mansions that have recently hit the market.
The plan for the renovation of this Gold Coast row house was contemporary, with a European sense of style
Illustration: Iris Gan LoopFrom $300,000 to $1.5 million Reshaping the SummitDeveloper makes over the top eight stories of 34-year-old “pinstriped” tower A 49-story Loop office tower is getting a face-lift. Actually, it might be better characterized as a forehead lift, since the changes will affect only the top eight stories of 55 E. Monroe, where … Read more
