Moving to Chicago – 25 Significant Facts You Should Know

Are you considering moving to Chicago?

If so, then you’ll definitely have a great time exploring and familiarizing yourself to the city once you move.

Chicago has a lot to offer, which makes it one of the most visited cities in the United States. In 2014, the city set a new visitation record estimated at 50.2 million visitors, a 3.5% increase from 2013. Also, it was estimated that domestic travelers generated about $106 million in Chicago hotel tax revenue which was a 4.9 percent increase over 2012’s tax receipt according to Chicago Business.

Now that you are moving to Chicago, here are 25 significant facts which are among the key reasons why Chicago is such an attractive city to be in.

Check the 25 Significant Fact before moving to Chicago

1. Have you ever seen a river flowing backward? Chicago River is the only river on this planet that flows backward, an impressive engineering feat. Learn more about it here.
2. The first blood bank in the United States was set up in Chicago in 1937 by Dr. Bernard Fantus at Cook County Hospital.
3. Do you love festivals or food, or both of them? Chicago is home to the largest free outdoor food festival in the world called the “Taste of Chicago.”
4. Have you ever had a ride in a Ferris wheel? Ferris wheel was invented in Chicago in 1893.
5. Chicago is home to Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States.

   

6. Chicago has 15 miles of bathing beaches. Yes, 15 miles!
7. The first automobile race ever seen in the United States, the Chicago Times-Herald Race, was held in Chicago in 1895.
8. The first cell phone was invented by Chicago inventor Martin Cooper who also made the first public call on a cell phone in 1973.
9. The first open heart surgery in the United States was performed in Chicago in 1893.
10. Chicago is home to 11 Fortune 500 companies.
11. On September 26, 1960, Chicago’s CBS Studios broadcasted the first televised U.S. presidential candidates’ debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Check out the full debate .

    

12. Chicago’s premier convention center, McCormick Place offers the largest amount of exhibition space in North America (2.2 million square feet).
13. Chicago is home to more than 200 theaters
14. Chicago has 19 miles of lakefront bicycle paths
15. Chicago is home to 552 parks.
16. The Chicago Cultural Center is the first free municipal cultural center in the U.S. and home to the world’s largest stained glass Tiffany dome.
    

    

17. At 110 stories high, the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
18. The first steel rail road in the United States was produced in Chicago in 1865
19. The first wireless TV remote control was invented by Eugene J. Polley in 1955. It was marketed as Flash the Flash Matic.
20. Chicago’s own Jane Addams, founder of the Hull House, was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931
21. Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. He studied drawing at Chicago’s McKinley High School and the Institute of Fine Arts.
22. The first all-color TV station debuted in Chicago (Channel 5).
23. The “Historic Route 66” begins in Chicago at Grant Park on Adams Street in front of the Art Institute of Chicago.
24. The Willis Tower elevators are among the fastest worldwide operating as fast as 1,600 feet per minute.
25. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago was the first skyscraper in the United States built in 1885.

You now know more about Chicago than a lot of people that have been living there for years. Go ahead, show off!!! And if you want to know how much it’ll cost to move to Chicago, try out our free moving cost calculator.