Chicago is an optimist. Give us a river flowing the wrong way and we’ll reverse it. Give us a team that loses and we’ll root for it. Give us a crumbling sidewalk and we’ll dine on it. Give us a winter that chills our bones and bursts our pipes and buries our front stoops and we’ll endure it — knowing the glorious summer and the crisp beauty of fall will send us tumbling back into love all over again.

Maybe it’s the sunrises. Our breathtaking daily reminders that we get another chance — that the past is past, the present is here, and the future is unwritten. Every morning, we get an invitation to head to our east and watch the sky light up and the clouds change hue and the lake reflect it all back to us as if to say, “Chin up. You get another go at this.”

We are a work in progress.

Chicago, for all its allure, remains far too segregated, far too unequal, far too violent, and far too removed from its promise. We need to be better and do better. But first and always, we need to stay invested, heart and soul, in the fight for better days. To help you turn the other cheek when our city lets you down, or when out-of-towners pass judgment, we’re treating these pages like a love letter to Chicago. A love letter for locals, filled with the things, places, and spirited actions that keep us (and you) calling this beautifully imperfect place home. — Heidi Stevens