The Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier

Most ballroom guests stay indoors, where they attend some sort of gala and admire the eighty-foot domed iron latticework of architect Charles Summer Frost. But for those few who slip outside to take a drag on a cigarette or to plot an assignation, the veranda offers a picturesque oasis. The city’s skyscrapers guard your back, like faithful henchman, stalwart and secure, whilst you walk the edge of the city’s easterly most precipice, staring at a 180-degree panorama of the lake at your feet.

Audience choice:
John Hancock Center

Best of Chicago 2009

Chicago Lakefront Path

Of course a cruise down the twenty-one miles of lakeshore path is scenic. It claims the skyline, Lake Michigan and miles of well-kept parks and beaches. What more? You can check out our city’s most attractive athletes, from amateur to pro. So go ahead, check out the scenery. We’ll believe you’re just out for a stroll.

Best of Chicago 2008

Civil discourse

Look, we’re not going to top that opening ceremony, with the dude running sideways in the sky, nor are we easily gonna top the sheer scale and wonder of the new architecture created in Beijing (though we should not lower our standards, by any means). But we can really outdo Beijing in one area, and that is public discourse. What’s more American than showing that we can put on a great show without locking up all the voices of dissent? The Olympics can stand for much more than a showcase for what Chicago is; it can be a forum for building consensus on what Chicago can be. This won’t be easy to accomplish, since Chicago government often resembles the one in Beijing more than the one in Washington, with a single party ruling with authoritarian power. But it’s worth a try.

Audience choice
Better air quality

Audience Comments: “Age requirements for gymnasts”; “Athletes to compete in the nude: Just like in old school Athens”; “Build an underwater Olympic City in Lake Michigan”;“Completely overhaul/redo the transit system. Create traffic lane for carpoolers”;“Don’t do anything Beijing did…i.e. stifle dissent, shut down industries, limit auto use…”; “Have Barney in the stands to distract their Gymnasts”; “Include bungee jumping off the Sears tower”

Best of Chicago 2008