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| Chicago Apartment Locator Services : Chicago Apartments |  | Contents | |
| Transportation |
| Chicago can be considered one of the prime transportation
hubs in America. Much of this status stems from its geographic
proximity during a time when the United States was growing quickly
in population and area. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, completed
in 1848, allowed for transport around the world with connecting
waterways through Chicago all the way to New York and the Atlantic,
west to St. Louis, and south to New Orleans and the Gulf of
Mexico. Chicago then became one of the largest grain and lumber
ports in the world, with grain going to more established populations
and lumber being sent to the forest-starved prairies where new
settlers needed to build. |
| In the 1850s the railroads started growing from
Chicago faster than anywhere else in the world. By 1856, Chicago
was the railroad hub of America and by the end of the decade
more than 100 trains were coming and going each day. This network
allowed Chicago to become the center of the meat packing industry.
Chicago is still the railroad hub of the United States. All
of the Class I railroads in existence in the United States maintain
(often multiple) terminals in and around Chicago, and the city
is served by a large number of smaller railroads that both interconnect
the larger railroads and connect to locations not served by
the larger railroads. |
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| The "Gershwin Tunnel" at O'Hare Airport between concourses
B and C in Terminal 1, operated by United Airlines. |
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| In the 20th century, Chicago held on to its status
as a transportation hub with the building of three airports:
O'Hare International Airport, Midway Airport, and Meigs Field.
Meigs Field, which was closed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in a
nighttime coup, was a relatively small airstrip but unique because
of its proximity to Chicago's downtown, and as an airstrip for
private planes it was one of the busiest in the world. The land
is to be converted into a lakeside park. In the 21st century,
Chicago is working toward maintaining its status as a U.S. and
international transportation hub by working to expand O'Hare
International Airport. Additionally, a new airport has been
proposed for Peotone, Illinois, and the city is working toward
expanding its ties with the Gary/Chicago International Airport
in Gary, Indiana. |
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