Chicago's Loop is a bustling mecca of commerce, shopping, and
tourism. An increasing amount of residential buildings are popping up, but
the overwhelming majority of the buildings are devoted to commercial and
business purposes. This is also the center of transportation as the city
trains (El) all come together in one place to assist commuters in their
route. Within this area, elevated trains run along a rectangular "loop" of
tracks 5 blocks wide and 7 blocks long.
The famed Chicago skyline originates in the Loop, giving a grand and beautiful view to the entire
city. The intersection of State and Madison streets are the heart of the Loop. Madison, which runs east and west, divides the
north and south street numbers. State, a north-south street, divides east
and west numbers. LaSalle Street is Chicago's financial
district, with many banks and the Chicago Stock
Exchange.
The most impressive of the buildings in Chicago is the
110-story Sears Tower. It has the tallest top floor of
any building in the world at 1,450 feet tall.
Printers' Row, which extends south of Congress along
Dearborn, is another part of the downtown area which has luxury housing
and top notch restaurants and is growing rapidly to fill unused and vacant
areas.
The Loop is also home to an astonishing array of
cultural destinations. It is contains a museum's worth of outdoor
contemporary art, the Art Institute of Chicago, as well
as Broadway in Chicago, a strip of theaters in which
Broadway shows are performed either by travelling companies or local
troupes.
Recent years have seen a boom of residential development around the
periphery of the Loop. Transportation here, as mentioned,
is a non-issue; one can reach nearly any point in the city from here.
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